Page 5 of Her Seven Nights with the Duke

Despite his flirtation, he’d made certain that she didn’t see his lover’s face, painfully aware of her every move.

It baffled him that it was a lady who had caught them. Despite his actions, it made no sense that a lady would come so far out without a chaperone, considering it could cost her her reputation.

Samuel had not seen her face, since she was wearing a mask, and he could not tell who she was. However, despite that, he had known her every reaction as she watched them. Her lips had parted as she watched him.

All Samuel had been able to make out was her wide green eyes and the faint blush on her cheeks, which had rapidly turned a deeper shade of red the more she watched them. He laughed, unable to stop himself. He could only hope that she was not prone to gossip, which was also the reason he had to finish up things with his lover quickly before they were missed.

“We should return to the ballroom,” he said abruptly.

She pouted, her long lashes lowering over large hazel eyes, the features that had drawn him to her in the first place.

“Can we not tarry a while?” she asked, allowing her lips to flatten into a smile.

Samuel shook his head. “I’m afraid not, My Lady. We’ve been gone quite sometime now.”

He held his hand out to her as her face fell. “Come on. It’s for the best if we go in now. We cannot risk anyone noticing your absence.”

She didn’t need to know how close they had come to having her reputation ruined. Things might have turned out differently if it had been someone else who walked in on them, or even a group of self-righteous and overzealous mamas.

Samuel had always been protective of his lovers despite not truly caring about them. The last thing he could ever be accused of was being careless with their reputations.

He didn’t think that the masked lady saw Lady Priscilla’s face, so she should be fine. However, there was a tiny part of him that was worried. She was the first person he’d been in a situation like this with, which was terrible, considering it was his last day with her.

Lady Priscilla was beautiful. Her black hair and big hazel eyes, coupled with a face of innocence, meant that she would be popular among the men and would have lots of suitors lined up at her door no matter what. The only thing that could ruin that was a scandal, and he would not allow it.

“Come along, Lady Priscilla,” he said, not giving her the chance to argue.dispute.

She followed after him, her footsteps hurrying to match his pace.

They arrived close to the entrance of the hall, right before they turned the corner, and he stopped, his action causing her to stop as well as she stared up at him. She sighed, knowing what was about to happen.

“Very well, Lady Priscilla. I’m afraid we must say goodbye,” he said abruptly.

She nodded, slipping her hand out of his. “I really wish we didn’t have to.”

He stepped away from her, leveling her with a steely gaze. There was no point in delaying the inevitable any further. His time with her was up.

“Very well, Your Grace. I suppose I had begun to expect more than was agreed upon,” she said as the last bit of hope disappeared from her gaze.

Samuel watched her as she made her way into the ballroom, the pep in her steps that had been quite evident when she came out to meet him gone now.

He had never broken his rule, no matter how many people he had been with and how great they were at conversations or how pliant they were when it came to his requests. He knew he seemed like a cad, but that was just as well.

The moment the seven nights were over, no matter how long or how short it spanned out, they went their separate ways and no longer had anything to do with each other, although he was certain that some of them would have been happy to be more than just a number of nights.

It was time for him to move on to someone new.

Samuel adjusted his coat and ran a hand through his hair to make sure nothing was out of place. He waited for some minutes to pass, not bothering to tie his mask into place. The dratted thing had been a bother to him several times during the night anyway.

As he walked into the ballroom, people scurried out of his way in a hurry, some bowing to him as he passed. Samuel had always known he had an intimidating presence. It was not something that could be helped, considering that he towered over most people, had piercing blue eyes, and did not much care to smile freely at people.

It did not help that he had a reputation for being a cruel man. He could see that exact thought behind the eyes of some masked faces, their lips parted in slight gasps as though they had not expected to see him. He did not much frequent these events.

Samuel nodded in the direction of a group of men as he walked towards them. There was a hint of fear in their gazes but also respect as they watched him. He was not a man whose bad side they wished to be on.

“Your Grace,” the Viscount of Silvermere greeted him.

Samuel turned to the Viscount. He had known him for years, and although they did not run in the same circles, they were often civil towards each other and indulged in business discussions whenever they met at the club, as gentlemen were wont to do.

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