Page 75 of Never Dare a Duke
“Good morning,Madre.”
Instead of a smile, she gave him a frown. “I did not see you earlier.”
“I have been working.”
“I am sure your absence confused Lady May and Lady Theodosia, to whom you gave hope with your outrageous flirting yesterday.”
His smile started to feel a bit forced. “I have to converse with every young lady, don’t I? Wasn’t that your plan for this week?”
She sighed. “Do not put your behavior on me. You gave them hope again, when it was already obvious to me that you have stopped thinking of them as potential duchesses. You have renewed their rivalry with Miss Shaw, and the three of them went off together this morning.”
Christopher straightened. “Off where?”
She threw up a hand. “I do not know! But just a few minutes ago, they returned without her. I was about to send for you.”
“Surely she is outside enjoying the day,” Christopher said placidly.
“Is she? Then why did those two ladies seem so pleased with themselves?”
“You can’t be accusing them of something underhanded.”
“There are many things that women can do to one another that might not break the queen’s laws but can wound just the same. I suggest you find Miss Shaw. Unless you’re punishing her?” she added dryly.
Was he about to break into a blush, which she’d often inspired in him when he was a boy? “I am not punishing her,” he said with conviction. “I will speak to the ladies.”
“That would be pointless. They will not admit anything.”
“Then I will go to see if Miss Shaw needs assistance. She is probably at the ruins.”
His mother only arched a brow, then returned to her menu planning.
Abigail wasn’t at the ruins.
After speaking to several gardeners, he at last discovered that the three ladies had gone into the woods. When he took the path in, the sunlight dappled overhead beneath the spreading branches of the oaks as they grew ever closer together. This woodland had once been part of a king’s royal hunting ground, and many of the trees were ancient.
He started calling Abigail’s name, walking ever deeper. Several paths left the main one, and he had no idea which one she might have used. Or if she were even here.
At last he heard the echo of his own name, and with several more shouts, they found each other. Across a clearing, they stopped and stared. For a dark moment, all he could think was that they were alone, that no one would know what they did in these remote woods. He imagined pressing her up against a tree, lifting her hips to his, finding the slit in her drawers and—
He came back to himself, stunned. Abigail wore a blush, as if his expression had given away his lustful thoughts, and she was no longer meeting his eyes.
“Can you not even look at me?” he asked hoarsely.
Her gaze shot to his. “It is difficult, because when I do, I remember where you put your mouth.”
His mouth went completely dry, and he knew his gaze moved hotly over her. “Abigail—”
“No, you didn’t let me speak last night, but I will now. I’m not Lady May or Lady Theodosia, the women you’re accustomed to. I won’t scream public hysterics because of what we did together. I am a grown woman who made a choice to be your lover for a night. But I have plans for my life, and they don’t include you. I am a journalist, and I will take care of myself and remain independent.”
He cocked a brow, trying to hide his irrational amusement. Was his anger toward her fading so easily? He didn’t want to admire her, not after everything she’d done. But he was not above his own sins, and he’d had to beg forgiveness more than once in his life.
“I don’t even know if I wish to marry,” she continued, crossing her arms over her chest. “I think men have their uses, but allowing one to have total say over my life? I think not.”
“We have our uses?” he choked out, pretending to smother a cough. “As in rescuing damsels in distress in the forbidding forest?”
She lifted her chin. “As must be apparent, I am London-born and -raised. I have no idea of the countryside. Except for a city park, I think I drove through a woodland once as a child.”
“So you weren’t raised in Durham.” He tilted his head, finding that it wasn’t difficult to wear a faint smile when he was around Abigail.
