Page 7 of The Duke and the Hellion Bride

“No, Madam,” Miss White shook her head. “It is His Grace, the Duke of Albury.”

All three ladies' jaws hit the floor.

“His Grace?” Diana’s mother gasped finally. “Are you sure?”

“I am, Madam.”

“But why? How – he is here? Right of this second?”

“He awaits you in the drawing room. He did not give his reason, but I thought it best to acquiesce to his request to see you.”

The room turned into a flurried panic. Diana’s mother half made as if to stride from the room without further delay, only to stop and then look down at herself. “This will not do! No, I cannot --” She turned back, then stopped again. Face stricken. “I cannot see the duke dressed as this – Miss White. Give the duke my apologies, that I will be with him in a few moments. I must change!”

“Of course, Madam.”

“Diana! Evelyn! Do not sit there, girls! And do not think for a moment that you will see the duke as you are! Quickly, upstairs the two of you. Your very best, thank you very much.”

“We are to see him?” Evelyn asked excitedly. “Are you sure?”

“No, I am not. But if he is here, it is for good reason. Best to present a united front – Diana! Why are you just sitting there!”

Diana was staring past Miss White toward the direction of the drawing room. Like her mother, she was shocked that the Duke of Albury was here. That he even knew of their existence. She had never heard of him before, knew nothing about the man. Which had her thinking, what did he want?

“What could he possibly want?” she asked curiously. “Miss White, he gave no indication?”

“None --”

“It does not matter why!” Diana’s mother screeched. “What matters is that he is here now. And waiting! Come girls!” She swept across the room and pulled Diana from the lounge. “Up. Up! We shall meet outside the drawing room in five – ten minutes. Miss White, please present the duke with tea while he waits.”

“It will be done.” Miss White offered a short bow and vanished around the corner.

With nothing else for it, Diana was ushered upstairs with her cousin, told in no uncertain terms that she was to dress in her very best or there would be hell to pay. And Diana, nowhere near as ecstatic as her mother, could not help but feel some sense of curiosity. Even excitement.

Is it possible that he is here because of me? No... of course not. Likely, this is some sort of misunderstanding. But still...

As she hurried up the staircase, she spared another look in the direction of the drawing room. And where she knew it was silly to think, she could not scrub the feeling that she was at the center of this most random appearance. Only why that might be? She would find out soon enough.

* * *

Diana had never considered herself a true beauty before. That wasn’t to say that she was unattractive, but she had not grown up to be one of those girls who relied upon their looks like some of the other ladies about thetonwhom she knew.

Having said that, these last few days had seen a slight change in her self-appreciation. She might have hated Lord Herrod with all her heart but one could only be told so many times how beautiful they were before the words began to stick.

She looked at herself in the mirror before heading down to meet with her mother and cousin so they might greet the duke. She was dressed in an emerald pelisse with an open neck, the pattern was floral, the cut was longer on the arms and tight under her bust, while it flowed loosely down her legs. She had always been curvy, which made such garments uncomfortable to wear as she felt all ‘tucked-in’ as if the dress was struggling to contain her curves. But she was indeed pretty, ‘adorable features’ they had been described as, with big brown eyes that were a tad larger than what might be considered normal. She had never liked being called ‘cute’ before, but since coming of age she had come to realize how much men coveted it.

But why do I even care? It is not as if the duke is here for me.

Nonetheless, she could not escape the feeling that there was more here at play than she knew, and thus as she made her way back downstairs it was with extreme caution.

Surprisingly, her mother and cousin were not waiting outside the drawing room for her. She clicked her tongue at this, thinking them to have grown impatient and gone in without her. If she had stopped to think, she might have realized how foolish this notion was. But she did not stop, and thus she hurried into the drawing room without delay.

She froze stiff the second she stepped across the threshold.

The Duke of Albury was standing across the room, his gaze taken by the view of the grounds through the window. When he heard the door open, he turned around, saw Diana standing there, and smiled expectantly, not in the least bit surprised by what he saw.

Diana, however, was stunned speechless.

“Ah, Miss Goldsmith, I presume,” he said with a charming smile as he made his way toward her. “What a pleasure it is to see you again.” He reached her and took her hand, rising it to his lips and kissing the back without breaking his gaze from her own. “And under far less incriminating circumstances.”

---