Page 37 of A Duke But No Gentleman
“Oh, Imogene,” the duchess lightly chided her.“I told you that young lady was besotted with the marquess.It is plainly obvious to all that Lady Charlotte cares too much, and Lord Norgrave barely tolerates her.”
“I wanted to help her, Mama,” she said glumly.“All I did was upset Lady Charlotte and Lord Norgrave was obnoxious and deliberately rude to us.The next time he tries to leave his card, I have a mind to order Sandwick to tear it up and shower the marquess with the pieces.”
Her mother laughed.“He was that terrible?”
“Positively beastly,” Imogene replied.“Lady Charlotte did not deserve his callous regard.Neither did I.”She rubbed her forehead with her fingers.“I am tempted to retire to my bedchamber and sleep the rest of the day away.”
“I have something to show you that will make you reconsider.”
She followed her mother into an alcove where a small trunk seemed out of place.“Who is it from?”
“I have my suspicions, but the boy who delivered it refused to give me the name of the person who hired him.You have been invited to the masquerade at Ranelagh Gardens.There are several groups planning to attend.Cassia has already asked that you ride with her.”
“Perhaps she was the one who sent the trunk.”
“The note within implies you have received two invitations to the masquerade.”
Imogene glanced back at her mother.“Did you look inside?”
The duchess shook her head, and handed her the note.“I assume it is a costume.If not, then you will need one unless we have something suitable buried in an old trunk.”
Imogene folded the note and tucked it away.She recognized the handwriting as Blackbern’s.
“Who sent the note?”
She ignored the question and opened the trunk.She pursed her lips as she scrutinized the vibrant patchwork dress.At the bottom of the trunk she discovered a black half-mask and a tambourine.
“Someone wishes that you dress as Columbine for the masquerade,” her mother observed.The duchess did not appear to be pleased with the choice, but she was not threatening to burn it.“Hmm… who could be so thoughtful, I wonder?”
The duke was responsible for the costume.Only he would insist that she dress as Harlequin’s mistress.The man had a peculiar sense of humor.
Chapter Eleven
“Norgrave will be vexed with us for leaving the masquerade without telling him.”
Tristan silently agreed, but not for the reasons Imogene assumed.He and Norgrave had often shared a woman or two.Bending a female to their will and overwhelming her with their passions had been adventurous and extremely satisfying.He could not summon any regrets about his past, or the countless females with whom he had honed his skills as a lover.If he had suggested to the marquess that they forget about the wager and slowly introduce Imogene to the carnal delights of taking multiple lovers, he had little doubt that Norgrave would have eagerly amended the terms of their wager.
Even so, Tristan had kept his mouth shut.He had lied to the man who was almost a brother to him, and he would continue to do so.When it came to Imogene, he had discovered that he was a selfish man.The thought of Norgrave kissing and touching the lady sitting beside him could provoke him to violence.
Imogene was not one of the nameless and faceless fucks that he and his friend had shared when they had figured out what they could do with their cocks.She was a goddess among women, and she deserved to be worshiped.
He was her devoted acolyte if she would have him.
Imogene had been concerned about abandoning Norgrave, because they had arrived together.Tristan observed her and his closest friend together, and he noted only friendship in her gaze.Occasionally, regret flashed across her expressive face, but it occurred when the marquess tried to coax a kiss from her.In public, she was content to have two gentlemen court her, but there would be only one man in her bed—and that man was him.
Imogene leaned back against her seat and sighed.She had not removed her black half-mask when they had slipped away from Ranelagh Gardens, and he was content to leave the disguise in place so she would not be recognized when they disembarked from the coach.
He kept his hands to himself until they had reached their destination.
“Where are we?”she asked sleepily.
“A quiet place where no one will try to steal you from me,” he said, his voice gruff as he recalled Norgrave’s attempt to pull her into an alcove.He did not want to contemplate what his friend had in mind, when he was filled with his own lusty thoughts.
The coachman opened the door, and he took her hand to help her descend the few steps.Imogene yawned.“Is this your residence?”she asked, squinting at the house that was barely visible in the darkness and lamplight.
“When it suits me,” he said, reluctant to reveal that the house was where he had built his reputation with the notorious balls he had held over the years and the many lovers he had escorted through the front hall and upstairs to one of the bedchambers.“I inherited the house from my mother.Before her, my grandmother used it as her dowager house.It has a rich history.”
Most of it she would never hear from his lips.
