Page 1 of Alone with the Beastly Duke
ChapterOne
Loud footsteps jarred Jasmine awake from the realm of the book she was reading.
“Who stole my hat?” an angry voice shouted.
Jasmine looked up from her book to see her angry brother in the middle of the drawing room. She sighed.
One simply cannot have a moment of quiet in this house.
Jasmine’s household was always bustling with some issue or another as the five siblings of Thornhill House could hardly get along given their different personalities. William, Jasmine’s two-and-twenty-year-old brother, who was also the heir of Thornhill, was perfectly obsessed with his clothing.
Rose, at nine-and-ten, was the first daughter, but she only took interest in science and was always conducting experiments which their parents deeply frowned upon. She had her debut two years ago but was yet to be engaged due to her feisty spirit and big mouth.
Cassian and Daphne, the mischievous twins, were ten-and-six but they still played pranks like they were twelve. Cassian was often the mastermind while Daphne executed the pranks. When they were not pulling expensive pranks and vexing other members of the family, they were an adorable pair.
“Jasmine, did you take my top hat?” William asked her.
Jasmine shook her head. Jasmine was the middle child and an official wallflower. She often joked with her friends that if she disappeared for a week, her family would not take notice. Neither would the gentlemen of Ton who barely spared her a second glance. Jasmine often wondered if that had to do with her petite frame and unremarkable features.
“I did not,” she replied before she returned to her book, eager to avoid William’s wrath.
“Rose did you–”
“And what would I do with your top hat?” Rose, her older sister, said with scorn. “Perhaps, you should ask the twins. Or you should stop wasting your precious money on such useless things.”
Cassian and Daphne, who were chasing each other around the drawing room, giggled. William huffed and puffed with the self-importance of an heir.
“The hat cost a fortune, I would have you know,” William reprimanded the twins.
Rose scoffed in jest. Rose was indeed annoyed, but she was even more so with William. There was no love lost between the two eldest children. Jasmine knew William would not take kindly to being made jest of.
“You would not understand how important appearances are for a gentleman.” William turned his attention to Rose. “Perhaps if they stole one of those quizzing glasses you so much adore you would know how foolish it is that you spend your money on such things.”
“What else would I buy other than the things that interest me?” Rose retorted.
“Maybe pretty dresses like other ladies your age?” William shrugged.
Rose scoffed again.
“And what would I do with the dresses? Wear them to a bothersome ball? When I can conduct my experiments and learn exciting things? Tell me, William, do you even enjoy wearing your hat inside the house or do you simply do it because you want to appear important?”
Jasmine rolled her eyes. Rose loathed having to wear dresses and attend balls, and she always made sure everyone was reminded of the fact. Rose’s words seemed to fluster William because he suddenly became red in the face.
“I do,” William responded eventually, “and maybe you would have caught the eye of an eligible bachelor if you took more interest in wearing dresses and attending balls than wasting your time studying rocks and herbs.”
Jasmine froze, Daphne gasped, and almost tripped over Cassian, and everyone else was silent. Rose’s imminent spinsterhood was a subject that most of them stayed away from since it seemed to sadden their mother.
“William, leave your sister be,” the Countess scolded as she entered the drawing room. “Now, let us have breakfast.”
Jasmine was relieved that her mother was in time to separate her quibbling siblings.
“Rose is simply unpleasant, and I will not have her disrespect me. I am the heir of Thornhill and as such…” William’s words continued on as he stormed off to the breakfast room.
Jasmine made her way to the breakfast room while trying to hide her book behind her dress.
“You cannot enter with your book, Jasmine,” the Countess chided.
Jasmine groaned before leaving her book in the drawing room. Now, she had to actually pay attention at the table while her siblings quibbled and fought with each other.
