Page 59 of Seven Nights with the Wicked Duke
Cecilia buried a sigh as she watched the easy smile on his handsome face. Her heart hadn't stopped beating since he had arrived unexpectedly at their home, worse still when she saw the frigid look in his eyes as he looked at her suitor.
She couldn't understand why his usually charming demeanor seemed forced around the man and wondered if perhaps there was some history between the two men.
Even Lord Hickling, who usually had a beatific look on his face looked as though he didn't mean the smile he sent the duke's way. The air between them was potent, like the air before lightning struck across the sky.
How was she to eat when the air was so charged?
The only person oblivious to the tension hovering in the air happened to be her usually perceptive brother who had been smiling and making jokes –making jokes– all evening.
She didn't understand this change her suitor had wrought in him and while anyone else would have celebrated this change in him, she dreaded it. It announced the fact he was already overjoyed by a possible match between her and Hector.
While anyone else or even her might have been overjoyed as well by a match to a man who was everything she had wanted in a husband, she felt only dread at the probability of the match being finalized too quickly.
She felt nothing but a pleasant cordiality when they conversed, nothing like the heat that the duke set in her blood with only a gaze from him.
She had thought she knew what she wanted in a husband before, now that she had tasted what passion could exist between man and woman, she wanted nothing more than to experience that for the rest of her life.
"I believe I have spoken enough about myself today, Your Grace," Hector answered. "I do not want to bore the lady and His Grace by reiterating my tale."
"Oh I'm sure you might prove adept at telling the same story in a more entertaining manner," Theo said, cutting into his beef. "What are your hobbies and interests?"
"Have I perhaps sparked your attention, Your Grace?" Hector asked.
"Indeed. You are most interesting," he answered. "I cannot look away."
Hector laughed. "I am flattered, Your Grace."
Cecilia watched the conversation between the two men with bated breath. If she didn't somewhat know the duke, she would have thought the duke was being merely inquisitive but his eyes betrayed something else.
Still, she was grateful he was saving her from the conversation that would have ensued had he not monopolized Hector's attention.
She tried to catch his eyes to tell him that she wanted to speak to him later on but he seemed hell bent on ignoring her.
The conversation moved from the dinner table to the drawing room as the meal ended and coffee was served for her and Hector with the duke and her brother opting for whisky.
She suggested a round of cards but the men were deep in their discussion so didn't even hear her. She sat in silence and used the time to watch the duke feeling guilty all the while she did.
She was supposed to be making conversation, or at least admiring her perfect suitor who would, from the looks of things, soon be her husband. Yet she was watching another man who had done naught but help her in corrupting herself.
"I regrettably must bid you all good night," Hector announced suddenly, drawing her gaze. "The hour is late."
“'Tis still early, Hickling. You cannot leave just yet," Theo teased with a charming smile that didn't fool her. There was pure ice behind his eyes as he looked at the man. "Or are you perhaps meeting a mistress?"
Cecilia choked on the coffee she had been drinking and coughed violently. Her eyes burned with unshed tears and mortification and she readily accepted the kerchief handed to her by Hector.
"Are you alright, Lady Cecilia?" he asked with a hand on her back.
She felt uncomfortable at his touch and nodded, moving away from him.
"I am well. Thank you, my lord," she told him. "I was surprised, that is all."
"As was I," Magnus said with a stormy look. "Emerton should know better than to discuss such things in front of a lady."
"My apologies, Lady Cecilia," he said, turning to her with a look that scalded her. "I didn't mean to offend your delicate sensibilities."
He was mocking her.
If anyone else looked at his eyes they would have seen that he knew she didn't possess said delicate sensibilities.
