Page 51 of The English Duke
He smiled at her, an expression warming her entire body. Did he realize the power he held with one simple smile? She wouldn’t be surprised if he did. She suspected beautiful people were aware of their effect on lesser individuals.
“I doubt any of your thoughts could be considered unimportant, Miss York. You seem to me to be a singular female.”
“You mustn’t say such things to Martha, Your Grace,” Josephine interjected, a trilling laugh accompanying her words. “She isn’t used to flirting. Why, she hated her season, can you imagine? She said she’d had her fill of people saying all sorts of things they didn’t mean.”
Was there anything more exasperating than being talked about as if you weren’t sitting there listening?
“Another example of your uniqueness, Miss York,” the duke said, punctuating his remark with a small bow to her.
Josephine was not to be outdone. Evidently tired of being ignored she said, “Do you not entertain at Sedgebrook, Your Grace?”
“I do not, Miss York,” he said. He moved his right leg slightly, leaning heavily on his walking stick.
Why on earth didn’t the silly man sit if he was in pain? The answer was just as swift. Because he didn’t want to be seen as different from Reese. She frowned at the other man, but he didn’t get her hint. If he didn’t sit, the duke wouldn’t, either.
“What about traveling to London? I adore London. So much to see and do. I don’t think I’ve ever seen as many people in one place. And the fashions!”
If she didn’t stop Josephine, she would go on and on and by the glazed look on the men’s faces, she would succeed in boring them entirely.
She could either excuse herself and she and Josephine could leave—although she wasn’t entirely certain Josephine would do so without an embarrassing verbal tug-of-war. Or she could come up with another topic. Weather? She couldn’t think of anything to say. The days had been fair, not a cloud in the sky.
“Do you like to travel?” she asked when Josephine took a breath. “Have you done a great deal of it? What is your favorite country to visit?”
The two men looked a little bemused at the onslaught of questions, but thankfully the duke answered.
“I’ve done a great deal of it, although I don’t think I prefer traveling over remaining at home.”
“I have as well,” Reese said. “I like it, unlike Jordan. My favorite country? It’s a city, instead. Paris. I quite like the French.”
Josephine smiled.
“Do you feel the same about Paris, Your Grace?” Josephine asked.
“It’s not my favorite city, no,” he said to Josephine’s obvious disappointment. “Although it does have history to recommend it.”
Should she ask about their reading next? Or simply give up, stand, and hope Josephine came along without an argument?
The duke saved her from having to make a decision.
“If you’ll excuse me,” he said, placing his half-empty snifter on the mantel, “I must leave you. I’ve correspondence I need to ready for the morning post.”
With that, he headed for the door, leaving them all staring after him. Josephine evidently wanted to continue to charm him. As for her? She was glad he was gone. Truly. Perhaps now he would rest his leg.
She couldn’t help, however, but anticipate meeting with him in the boathouse in the morning and wasn’t that the height of foolishness?
He didn’t know what Josephine had planned, but Reese knew it was something. He knew that determined look. He’d seen it in his own eyes.
For some reason, titles attracted the venal and the amoral. Josephine, for all her youth, was both.
He liked her, though, and that surprised him. She was both greedy and unapologetic about it.
He wanted her, too, another surprise. He preferred mature women, those who knew what life was about. He suspected Josephine wasn’t a virgin, but he doubted she was all that experienced.
She was doomed to failure, however. Miss York didn’t understand that Jordan didn’t give a flying farthing for grasping, mercenary women. Her sister had a better chance with Jordan only because she didn’t seem to care about a ducal title or the fact that Sedgebrook was one of the great houses of England.
It was also one of the great millstones around Jordan’s neck.
Just because she was determined didn’t mean Josephine was without virtues. She was a beauty, he’d give her that. Plus, she intrigued him on several levels. He admired ambition. He had it himself. He also admired practicality. She was, if nothing else, eminently pragmatic. He had a feeling that she was willing to barter what she had to get what she wanted.
