Page 33 of Saved By the Rakish Duke

Just before the awkward silence overpowered them, the duke reached for the teapot and asked whether she would like a cup.

Even though she was worried about not being able to sleep for the rest of the night, she would also be grateful for anything to calm her down after all the excitement.

Accepting the cup from him, she gently blew the rising steam away. She caught him staring at her and froze up, wondering if she was doing something wrong again. “What?”

He shook his head. “Nothing, it’s just- you’re quite the menace, Lady Pen.”

Her face fell.

“It’s a good a thing,” he added, raising his cup to her. “The real Lord Steepwharf won’t stand a chance.” He grinned.

Penelope couldn’t help but let out a delighted squeal. After all, it was high praise from someone so... adept at this sort of thing.

He nudged the plate of biscuits towards her, “But don’t let your guard down,” he tutted, “Like I said, remain observant anddeliberate. If you do, your wedding bells might ring sooner than your friend Jerry’s.”

She chuckled, grabbing one of the jam-filled biscuits. “Please tell me you see the irony in someone like yourself telling another person to ‘not let their guard down’.”

He clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Don’t make me kick you out to the hallway.”

CHAPTER11

“Well, well, well... Look who finally brought himself to leave the house.” Matthew Leeson—the Duke of Fairhaven—puffed through his pipe.

Duncan retrieved his own pipe from his coat before handing it to the servant. “At least I go home every once in a while,” he retorted, accepting a lit match from the servant to start his pipe. “You, on the other hand, have practically melted into that armchair.”

Duncan thought the lads should consider themselves rather fortunate that Gillingham’s still tolerated them after all the stunts they pulled—collectively and individually—within it. And something about the air in this particular gentlemen’s club always made it stick to you.

As a result, when Duncan was younger, one of the easiest ways for his parents to tell whether he had snuck out during the night or hadn’t been carrying out his errands would be to smell his hair—and if it smelled like rosemary and cigars, well, it could only mean Gillingham’s.

His friend exhaled deeply, dangling his free arm over the chair’s side. “What do you expect, old bean? When one’s heart is broken, even standing upright feels impossible!”

“Or apparently, evensittingupright,” Duncan retorted, nodding to his friend’s slumped posture. “So which unwilling lady have you imposed your heart on this time?” He blew out a puff of smoke.

“Hmph! As usual, you display no sympathy for my plight!” his friend lamented.

“That’s because most of your ‘plights’ are self-inflicted.” Duncan rolled his eyes, taking the armchair next to him.

“Someone without a sliver of romance in his bones couldn’t possibly understand,” the red-haired duke huffed. “And for your information, I really did love Lady Beatrice.”

“Just as much as you ‘loved’ Lady Augusta?”

“That was different!” Fairhaven snapped. “We had a rather unfortunate series of irreconcilable differences in-”

“Her father asked you if and when you were going to propose and youtook offense,” Duncan reminded him. “While she was also present and while you were intheirhouse, mind you.”

“If he hadn’t rushed me, Iwouldhave proposed... eventually,” his friend returned. “But no, his impatience ruined everything!”

Duncan opened his mouth to protest his friend’s skewed reasoning but decided against it in the end.

After all, there’s only so many times we can have the same conversation—albeit in slightly different variations.

“Has Harlington arrived yet?” Duncan asked, changing the subject.

“Billiards,” mumbled the other duke. “He too had no sympathy to spare for my anguish.”

Duncan sarcastically bowed his head. “O Caesar, forgive our transgression! We were but fools to assume the world revolves around anything or anyone other than your resplendent self!”

“If I’m Caesar, then that makes the pair of you Brutus and- who was the other main fellow that led that dastardly ploy?” inquired his friend.

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