Page 14 of A Duke But No Gentleman
“I hate to disappoint you, but the fresh faces this year are rather disappointing,” he lied.
“Truly?How very cynical of you, Blackbern.There are usually one or two ladies who are passable in looks.”Norgrave sounded unconvinced as he scrutinized the females in the ballroom.“Ah, there… what of that fine creature?”
Tristan yawned.“Which one?The redhead?”
The marquess tilted his head in contemplation.“She is quite fetching in an unconventional way, but I was speaking of the blonde.”
Naturally, Norgrave had honed in on Imogene even though there were at least fifty women in the ballroom.Tristan swallowed his annoyance.“The blonde in the green dress?”
“You never mentioned having problems with your eyesight,” his friend said, frowning.“The lady in the green dress bests both of us in age.I am referring to the lady in blue.Do you see her?”
He saw her.Clearly, he and Norgrave were not the only ones who were captivated by Imogene’s beauty.Two more gentlemen were hastening to join her growing collection of admirers.
“Oh, the lady in blue.”Tristan pursed his lips as he stared thoughtfully in her direction.“I will admit she is pretty.”
The marquess’s eyebrows lifted in incredulity.“Pretty?Such faint praise for a lady many would view as a goddess.”
“You only consider them goddesses until they fall at your feet,” he said, knowing his friend relished the chase.Once a lady surrendered, Norgrave quickly lost interest in his conquests.
“I prefer to have them on their backs,” his friend countered.“Or on all fours.As for the petite blonde, I long to try her out in all my favorite positions.”
Tristan shrugged.“If you say so.”
Norgrave’s eyes narrowed with suspicion, and it was then that he realized he had overplayed his indifference toward the lady.
“When did you meet her?”
His mild annoyance was not feigned.“I didn’t—”
“You lie quite well, Blackbern, and are capable of fooling most people, but not me.I have known you since we were boys.We have no secrets between us.So tell me, how the devil did you gain an introduction?”
Feeling cornered, Tristan combed his dark hair with his fingers in agitation.“We were not properly introduced.”
“Did her dragon of a mother snub you?”Norgrave’s eyes brightened with glee.“How dreadfully humiliating for you, Blackbern!”
“Enough.”
His friend was taking perverse pleasure in what he perceived as Tristan’s failure to impress a young lady and her mother.“Ho!How the mighty have fallen if your handsome visage and title could not sway the ladies.”
“I fear my reputation casts a long shadow,” Tristan admitted, not particularly distressed by the notion.He had always managed to work around such hindrances in the past.
Norgrave clapped his hand on his friend’s shoulder in sympathy.“Well, no one can say that the stories about you and me are untrue.”
“Less entertaining as well.”
“There is that.”The marquess leaned against the column, and stared at Imogene and her mother as if they were a puzzle he desired to solve.“Not to boast—”
Tristan laughed.“When have you ever restrained yourself?”
“Never,” he replied without hesitation.“I should warn you in advance—I saw her first.Not only that, I know the lady’s name,” was Norgrave’s smug reply.
Imogene Constance.It was on the tip of his tongue to admit that he knew her name, however, there was a chance his friend was exaggerating.“You were in the card room.I doubt you had time to be introduced to the young lady.”
Because Imogene was too busy pressing her body against mine.
“Arse.There are other ways to glean information,” his friend said, enjoying their verbal jousting.“We are not the only gentlemen who have noticed Lady Imogene Sunter.Several gentlemen at the table were speculating on her dowry, now that her family is taking great pains to introduce her to all of the prominent families while they are in London.”
“Sunter.So she is—” he said, his brows lifting as he realized that her lineage was almost as impressive as his own.
