Page 72 of The Texan Duke
Her cheeks were warming even though her hands were cold. Even her toes felt cold. It wasn’t being in the Highlands in winter. It wasn’t even the occasional draftiness of Bealadair that was making her feel frozen. No, Rhona’s words were accomplishing that.
“You want me to try to convince the duke not to sell Bealadair?”
The duchess smiled. “Yes, I do. I believe that it’s within your power to do so.”
“How?” she asked.
“A little seduction would go a long way to accomplishing that task.”
Elsbeth’s eyes widened.
“Come now, Elsbeth, if you’ve already kissed the man you evidently feel something for him. Would it be all that difficult to seduce him?”
How many times had she been lectured on propriety? On how many occasions had her behavior been held up as a lesson of how not to act or what not to do?
And now the Duchess of Lothian was urging her to seduce Connor?
“You would have me ruin myself to protect the family. Is that it?”
How very odd that her voice was so level and even. She wasn’t shrieking. She didn’t even sound angry.
Perhaps she was coming down with something. Or perhaps, somewhere deep inside, she wasn’t surprised at Rhona’s words.
If Gavin had suggested such a thing, she would have been distraught. She would’ve felt betrayed. But the duchess?
“Don’t be dramatic, Elsbeth. What is going to happen to you otherwise? You’ll probably go off and live by yourself somewhere in the country. Something good might come from an alliance with my nephew.”
What about a child, if that should happen? What about people finding out she’d been a light skirt and shunning her for her loose morals?
“Just what kind of good do you think might come from my seducing Connor?”
“There, you see, right there,” Rhona said, pointing her finger at Elsbeth. “You called him Connor. None of us do. I suspect there is a closer relationship there than you want to admit, Elsbeth. Why, that scene at his bedside was positively romantic.”
“Your Grace,” she began, a little annoyed that she suddenly felt so close to tears. “There is no relationship there. Perhaps friendship, but nothing more.” The woman did not need to know that she found Connor fascinating or that she knew she’d never forget kissing him.
“I think you’re being too modest, Elsbeth, and while there is always a place for modesty in a young woman’s deportment, it’s wasted in this situation. Let us be honest with one another, shall we? We have always been able to do that, haven’t we?”
When she remained silent, the duchess smiled again.
“A man is often dictated to by his needs, Elsbeth. A beautiful woman can make him think of those needs.”
Really, she had had enough of this.
“Your Grace, even if I followed your advice and seduced the Duke of Lothian, it wouldn’t stop him from selling Bealadair.”
“Of course it would. Especially if you asked him not to. Especially if you shed a few tears, perhaps. But most definitely if you surrendered your innocence to him.”
This was a man who’d gone to war. This was a man who was still a warrior in a great many ways. Didn’t Rhona see that? He wouldn’t be swayed by a woman’s tears. Or even a woman’s virginity.
Was the duchess daft?
“I don’t know anything about seduction, Your Grace.”
“You don’t have to know, Elsbeth. Nature will guide you. It’s all instinct.”
Elsbeth had had enough. She stood, forcing a smile to her face. “I’ll think about what you said.”
When had she become so adept at lying?
