Page 8 of My Daring Duchess
“Let’s,” he agreed. “Ye begin first with the truth.”
“Me?” She frowned. “I’m hiding no truth from you! I don’t even know you!”
He’d talked himself into a corner. Quite the surprise. He was usually very adept with these sorts of verbal games, but he supposed his natural attraction to a beauty like Anne had made him stumble. He could not very well mention Rutledge or that his friend was the reason Simon had first noticed her, as he could not afford to bring her attention back to Rutledge when he was supposed to be drawing it away from the man. “Ye lied when ye said ye did not care for dancing,” he drawled, recalling the catch of emotion in her voice from earlier.
Her mouth parted, and a perfect ring of white puffed out from her lips. He had the sudden urge to cover her delectable pink lips with his own. Clearly, he’d been without a woman’s touch for entirely too long.
“I—” A frown appeared between her brows, and she immediately pressed her middle finger to it, as if deep in thought. He had the notion that it was a habit she did not even realize she had. This was a most private glimpse into Anne, and one that, for some inexplicable reason, his gut told him to store. “I, well…” Her hand moved to her leg, which she grazed her fingers over before drawing her hand up to cross her arms over her abdomen. “I did lie,” she said in a suffocated whisper.
Triumph flared within his chest. At least she had the good grace to be embarrassed by her lying. He leaned against the balcony and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why?” he demanded harshly, watching her flinch but refusing to feel guilt. This woman was a self-admitted liar, and she was actively spreading falsehoods to ruin Rutledge. Sheshouldfeel the heat of her sins.
“Why did you wish for an introduction to me?” she countered.
“Because ye’re beautiful,” he replied, the statement a truth, though not the one she sought.
“Come now,” she said, her voice chiding. “I thought we were revealing truths.”
Surprise tied his tongue for a moment. The lady either truly had no notion of her loveliness or she was quite an adroit deceiver. “We are,” he agreed, scooting toward her. She immediately retreated, backing directly into the wall she’d clearly forgotten was behind her.
“Oh,” she murmured.
Aye. Oh…She had nowhere to retreat to, and he found he was enjoying caging her in far too much for a man who was supposed to be seducing only for revenge. He glanced behind him, ensuring the other couple had departed before he straightened, one hand on the stone of the balcony and his other palm flat against the wall on her other side. Anne was very nicely captured in his embrace, yet he was not touching her. Not yet.
He looked down at her and leaned close, until only a hairsbreadth separated them. “Ye were supposed to go first, if I recall.”
When she let out a breath she must have been holding, the warmth of it caressed his face and caused a jolt of desire to shoot through him. “I never learned to dance,” she blurted, her cheeks already nicely pinked from the cold now turning scarlet.
His first reaction was shock, then wariness. Clearly, she was still lying, but why? “I’ll admit, I don’t know much about English society, but is it not customary for debutantes to be taught to dance? Even required?”
She nodded. “It is, but I did not grow up in England.”
“Where were ye raised?”
“America,” she replied. “New York to be exact.”
“When and how did ye come to be in London?” he prodded, knowing each fact he learned of her would aid his plan.
“Almost two years ago. My mother died quite suddenly, and my sister and I—” She stopped. “Let us just say we petitioned my grandfather for aid, and he came straightaway and whisked us to London.”
Simon could well imagine her grandfather taking control of their lives and packing them up swiftly to bring them to London. The old devil probably relished the thought of two more pieces to maneuver on his chessboard, though it did seem Anne was skilled at the game of chess, or rathersocial maneuvering. “I find it hard to believe the Duke of Rowan did not insist his own granddaughter learn to dance for the marriage mart,” he said, watching her. He was sure she was withholding some vital piece of information.
“He did not,” she said, her words halting.
“Tsk, tsk,” he admonished. “I thought we had agreed upon the truth.”
“We had. I mean, we have. I am telling you the truth, though I honestly cannot even fathom why I’m speaking with you. You,Your Grace, are a rake. I can tell it without even knowing you!”
It was true, though he was quite out of practice. He’d been so busy with his company the past year that he’d scarcely had time to think of any women other than the sisters he supported. And honestly, even before that, he’d tired of having to sever ties with women who claimed they wanted nothing from him when they agreed to a mutual seduction, and then upon discovering his wealth, always decided they loved him and wanted marriage.
Lady Mary had taught him well just how manipulative women could be—his sisters excluded, of course. If she’d been the only woman to show him her manipulative nature, he may have thought it a personal characteristic, and not one most women had, but woman after woman had endeavored to trap him into marriage once he’d started to amass his fortune.
He shoved the memories of his past to the far recesses of his mind. “I assure ye,” he said, holding Anne’s gaze, “my intentions toward ye are honorable.” And they were. At least until she proved they should not be, and she was on the verge of doing so by continuing to lie.
She gave him an incredulous look. “Do you mean to stand here and tell me that you did not know of my fortune and that it was not my status as an heiress that sent you to ask Sophia to introduce you to me?”
“I knew of yer fortune because someone mentioned it, but yer wealth had no part in why I sought an introduction. I assure ye, Anne, I don’t need yer dowry. I’ve plenty of coin of my own from my timber company alone, without utilizing what my grandfather left me. I sought an introduction to ye for ye and ye alone.” That was the truth in a convoluted manner. “Now, tell me, why ye are refusing to dance tonight? Is this a little game ye like to play with men?”
“I do not play any games with men, Your Grace,” she said, fire flashing in her eyes. “I will give you a truth, as you purport to have given me one, and I keep my word, but heed this: they will be the very last words you get from me. I was not required to learn to dance by my grandfather because I am lame!”
