Page 46 of Her Ruse with the Rakish Duke
“Did you all hear?” Lady Emerson, the Countess of Winterhaven, announced as they stepped into the room they had converted into their workstation.
“What is it, Minerva?” Lady Ursula, Marchioness of Cloven Park, asked excitedly as she pulled out her tools.
“The Duke of Kensington saved Lord Pascal from what would have been a terrible accident today,” the woman announced earning a gasp from all the ladies in the room.
Daphne resisted the urge to sigh as she had chosen to spend time away from the duke in order to avoid him, but it seemed inevitable that it was not meant to be. His presence was hard to ignore.
“How?” Someone else asked but she did not look up from her work to identify the owner of the voice.
“They went riding and decided it would be fun to hunt larger prey. Lord Pascal’s horse got spooked by all the shooting and bucked, nearly throwing him off.”
“Oh my! Lord Pascal is almost sixty. He could have broken certainly something, or worse.”
Despite her attempt to feign disinterest, Daphne’s attention was piqued as the gravity of the situation settled over them.
“His Grace leaped off his horse and caught him just as he was about to fall.” The woman explained with wide eyes. “I hear it was all very exciting. Thankfully, Lord Pascal and His Grace were not hurt.”
“Oh thank God,” the women cried.
“We should go and see His Grace.” A voice she identified as Lady Rose’s, the daughter of the Marquess of Farnworth said. “We should go and show our gratitude.”
All the women stood up with her in front rushing out of the room, leaving Daphne, Amelia, Melanie, and her mother in the room, the latter staring at her with a pointed look.
“What is it, Mother?” she asked with a sigh when she got tired of feigning interest in her design.
“Aren’t you going to go see the duke?” her mother huffed exasperatedly. “You know that tiny-footed girl has her sights set on him as well as the other marriage-minded mamas who just heard how he had saved Lord Pascal.”
“And?”
She knew she was being rude, and it was for good reason. Her parents had been staunchly against her courting Victor.
“What do you mean ‘and’,you silly girl?” Her mother scolded. “Do you want the duke to set his sights on her?”
No, in truth, she did not want that but…
She groaned rising from her seat.
“But you and Father did not want him courting me,” she said exasperatedly. “What has changed?”
“Well…”
Amelia snorted slapping a hand over her mouth a minute too late at their mother’s sheepish expression.
“I can’t believe you,” she shouted, storming out of the room.
It turned out she needed space from everyone. Not just Victor.
* * *
“Oh,” said Daphne —the sole object of Victor’s anger the past few days— as she pulled back from him.
He had been about to go looking for her after escaping the flood of feminine attention he had been receiving since saving Lord Pascal from an untimely demise.
Usually, he would be one to entertain female attention, but they all suddenly had marriage on their minds. And it was only one woman’s attention he had been near begging for, for days, so he made an excuse of needing to rest in an effort to find his elusive partner.
She looked resplendent. Not at all ridden with a headache as she had claimed, in a lovely light purple day gown that gave her a youthful glow. Her round cheeks glowed red as she flushed with embarrassment and not desire, which he would have preferred. He had begun to understand her expressions as well as his own.
Why is she embarrassed?
