Page 26 of It's In The Duke's Kiss
“I couldn’t agree more,” Danby said. “Perhaps Lady Emmaline will be the incentive Nathaniel needs to mature.”
Lucian gripped the glass he’d just picked up. “Lady Emmaline?”
His great-uncle nodded. “He seems quite taken by her. I heard him make a plan to call on her tomorrow to take her to your race.”
“He what?” Lucian barked.
Danby frowned. “You seem upset.”
Lucian glared at his great-uncle, who sounded amused despite his expression. “Of course I’m upset. Nathaniel is not a good match for Lady Emmaline.”
“Darling,” his mother interjected, “don’t you mean Lady Emmaline is not a good match for your brother?”
He took a long swig of his drink, then set the glass down with athunk. “Yes, of course that’s what I mean. A marriage between the two of them would be a disaster.”
“Are you sure?” Danby prodded.
“I’m positive,” Lucian thundered. “We need to keep the two of them apart and find a suitable lady to capture Nathaniel’s interest.”
“Perhaps it would be easier to find a suitable gentleman to capture Lady Emmaline’s interest,” Danby suggested.
“No,” Lucian growled, not liking the idea of another man’s lips on Lady Emmaline’s. His feelings of possessiveness puzzled him. Lady Emmaline wasn’t his. He didn’t even know her well enough to feel this way, not to mention that he was sure life with her would be anything but peaceful. And he wanted peace. He wanted a wife who would never cause him a moment’s concern. Didn’t he?
He yanked on his cravat, and the bloody thing fell to the floor. Devil take it, kissing Lady Emmaline had clouded his judgment.
How had he allowed that to happen? He almost laughed at the question. He knew damn well how it had happened. She’d licked her full lips and he’d felt himself burn with desire. She had taken a deep breath and her chest had risen invitingly. Yet it had been her wit, her honesty in the way she revealed what her mother wanted of her, that had made her impossible to resist. He simply had to kiss her and see for himself if she was as guileless and sweet as she seemed. And God help him, she was.
“Lucian?”
He jerked his gaze back to his mother at the sound of her voice. He never lost his focus. Ever. And he had done so several times tonight. He abruptly stood. “I’m to bed. I need to rise early.”
“To be well rested for the race?” Danby inquired.
“Among other things. I think I’ll call on Lady Emmaline and escort her to the race to avoid Nathaniel doing so.”
“A sound plan,” Danby said, sounding pleased and looking oddly smug.
Lucian frowned as his mother nodded, a satisfied look on her face as well. “A good idea considering you’re certain they’d be disastrous together.”
Lucian nodded in return and then headed out the door and toward his bedchamber, thoughts of Lady Emmaline’s very kissable lips haunting him every step of the way.
Curious about Danby’s opinion of Lucian and Lady Emmaline, Adelia watched with bated breath as Danby stared at the door Lucian had just fled through. Danby chuckled as he rose, poured a drink for himself, and went back to the settee to sit next to her. “I never thought I’d see this day.”
Adelia exhaled, feeling supremely satisfied that Danby also noticed Lucian’s interest in Lady Emmaline. “Neither did I. I can tell you, I am greatly relieved that Lucian has finally encountered a woman who’s making him question his ideas of what he wants in a wife.”
Danby took a sip of his drink, then set it down. “I have to admit that when you and my sister came to me and told me you thought Lady Emmaline had piqued Lucian’s attention, I thought the two of you absurd. And when you asked me to come here tonight and participate in your plan to secretly encourage him to spend time with her, well, I’m ashamed to say I only came to prove you wrong. I, of course, intended to make a perfect match for him myself. I’m rather good at that, if you’ll recall. I had a hand in many of my grandchildren’s happy marriages.”
“I recall,” Adelia said, patting Danby affectionately on the knee. “David always said you were as wily as a fox.”
“Your husband was my favorite nephew.”
Adelia chuckled. “I’d wager you say that about all your nephews.”
Danby tilted his glass to Adelia, as if in salute. “I do, but with your husband it was true. His death pained me greatly.”
Adelia sighed. “As it did me.”
This time Danby patted her hand. “Have you ever set Blackbourne straight about how his father died?”
