Page 13 of In Need of a Duke
“Yes, Your Grace.” Susan adjusted her glasses. “On the subject of this evening, it is why I have been sent to find you. Your guests wish to put on a play…”
CHAPTER 2
Her hairstill hung around her face as if it were the damn sunshine, and he despised it.
His duchess.
Ian Gairdner, the Duke of Dandridge stood silently in the doorway of his family’s ancestral seat, Stonehurst, deep in Cumbria, disgusted with the view in front of him.
Charlotte lay reclined on a velvet chaise, with a sheet draped around her curvy figure, only drawing his attention to her large bust. A soft, sensual smile was spread across her lush pink lips as she giggled at something another guest whispered above her.
She was beautiful.
But that had never been the problem.
It was well past midnight, and he had ordered the carriages to drive well past a sensible time. His only savior, the full moon that lit the way.
Besides, no one would dare tell a duke no.
Him, especially.
Everyone feared him, though he had no vicious streak. It was more something about his demeanor. And since people’s reactions andperceptions of him often worked in his favor, he didn’t spend the time to change their minds.
Let them think what they wish.
Ian stretched his neck from side to side, attempting to shake the stiffness from the journey. Not that it mattered. The sharp bite of sleep nipping at his eyes was nothing in comparison to the fury simmering through his body as the guests before him shrieked and laughed, spilling claret on the floor, and losing themselves in the debauchery of a country house party.
That he was paying for.
“Hark,” a familiar voice called out. Then a man… no, not a man—his reprobate younger brother, Nathaniel—leaped out from behind a room divider dressed as a Roman foot soldier, staggering back a step. “I have come to pillage…Damn it, Brother!You scared me.”
The rest of the guests tittered before swinging their astonished stares to Ian standing idly in the doorway, bored with their poor behavior.
Of course, Nathaniel had such acquaintances but to bring them here at Stonehurst? Had Charlotte allowed it?
His father had warned him once never to marry for love. He had ignored that advice, and now he had truly made a mess of things.
Ian cleared his throat but remained still. He wouldn’t give Charlotte the satisfaction of his anger. Better to let her believe he didn’t care. He found it only bothered her more.
“This is my house,” he said.
“I am aware…” Nathaniel shook his head and rubbed his eyes, laughing as if he didn’t believe Ian was standing before him. “It’s only…”
“We are so glad you have decided to join us.” An older woman, her hand pressed to the base of her throat as if in shock, blinked, then grinned wide. “I last heard you were traveling the continent. No doubt you have some excellent stories to share with us.”
Ah, Mrs. Vessey. An old acquaintance of his mother’s. He knew he recognized that grin, and the same silk turban she always insistedupon wearing. As if her crimson hair and wide-set emerald-green eyes weren’t memorable enough.
Ian slowly moved his stare to the woman married to an absolute buffoon of a man who slept most of the time while occupying the House of Lords. It didn’t help he was nearing his seventies, not that his much younger wife minded. Or so the rumors went.
“Join you?”
The woman nodded, and he wondered if she knew he had just returned from burying his mother in Italy.
All the while, he studied Charlotte who refused to look at him. She moved to make herself smaller as if attempting to disappear altogether.
Convenient.
That had always been her problem, whether intentional or not, Charlotte would never fade from view.
