Page 10 of My Daring Duchess
Damnation. He’d pushed too far. “Anne,” he called to her, as she was already walking away.
For a moment, he did not think she’d stop, but finally, she did. She turned to him. Snow had just begun to fall, and her gaze darted up for one brief second, joy flittering across her face. His chest squeezed at the sight. But when her gaze settled on him once more, it was cold and unfriendly.
He swallowed the odd emotion her pleasure stirred in him. “I’d caution ye to be absolutely certain of yer friend’s accounting of the events before ye continue to slander Rutledge’s good name. He has a family, and as ye hurt him, ye hurt them, as well.” He was giving her every opportunity to pull back and show that she had a heart and a conscience.
Her eyes widened. “I am certain,” she said, but he vowed he heard her voice waver. “Good night, Your Grace.”
“Simon,”he replied, watching her depart with his topcoat still draped across her shoulders as he had hoped it would be. He smiled, thinking upon the fiery Anne. No doubt, she would not want to keep his topcoat in her possession, and she’d not chance anyone learning she had come out on the balcony alone with him. She’d be at his house tomorrow, of that he was certain, and then his seduction would commence.
Five
“Anne, you must tell us every detail of last night and your attempt to thwart Rutledge,” Honora said, her voice so loud that Anne cringed.
“Shh!” Anne hissed. She scrambled out of her chair in the parlor and rushed to the door to shut it just as her grandfather’s butler, Sims, passed by. The footman trailed behind him carrying a tray of medicines that Dr. Talbot had recommended for her grandfather. Apparently, he had congestion in his chest that was giving him sharp pain, and Dr. Talbot had been most clear that Grandfather stay abed until he was fully recovered. “You mustn’t speak so loudly,” Anne admonished. “My grandfather’s servants tell him everything, and I don’t want him concerned that I’m involved in anything that will bring trouble to his door.”
“Will you be declining the remainder of our social functions for the rest of the winter, then, so that Rowan will not be alone?” Mary asked, looking suspiciously hopeful.
Anne refrained from pointing out that the only reason Mary had any parties to attend was because others felt obligated to invite her whenever they invited Anne and her grandfather. She would have felt horrid for even thinking it, except Mary had not offered to stay home with Grandfather and had automatically assumed Anne would be the one to do so. Mary had not even inquired about his welfare since learning he was ill. The woman was self-serving and cold, which Anne supposed was why Mary almost always ended up at a table with the nastiest matrons, who loved to sit and point out any and all faults of each guest.
Anne looked to Mary. “I’ll still be attending social functions. Grandfather was adamant that I should.” She’d offered to decline her obligations for the next week, but he’d insisted she go, albeit with her chaperone. Anne guiltily acknowledged that her first thought upon realizing she’d have to contend with Mrs. Featherstone as a chaperone rather than her grandfather, had been one of joy. Mrs. Featherstone was apt to take naps in the middle of her duties, which made it easy for Anne to do as she pleased.
Anne quickly relayed what had occurred last night in her endeavors to thwart Lord Rutledge while purposely leaving out the parts involving Simon. She saw no need to tell the ladies that she’d met him. It was in the accounting of the night that she recalled Simon’s words about her being certain she had the events straight between Fanny and Lord Rutledge.
“Fanny, are you certain the incident between you and Rutledge occurred precisely as you remember?” Anne asked.
Fanny shifted restlessly in her seat as Anne found herself once more brushing her hand over the superfine material of Simon’s overcoat. She intended to return it today, though most definitely not during the hours when he’d be waiting at his home to teach her to dance. Simon was a rogue, and quite possibly the most dangerous one she had ever encountered.
He made her heart thunder and her palms sweat when he looked at her with those astounding eyes, but the way he had fought for his friend’s honor made her want to throw caution to the wind and believe Simon was actually an honorable man—or could be. Foolishness! The scoundrel likely had stood up for Rutledge so vehemently simply to make her think he was the sort of man who would defend a friend to his dying breath.
“Fanny?” Anne prompted when her friend simply stared at her, openmouthed. “How exactly did you end up in the library with Lord Rutledge?”
Fanny exchanged a glance with Mary, and Anne clenched her teeth. Whyever did Fanny act as if she could not speak without Mary’s consent?
“Fanny,” Anne said, “the details, if you please.”
“Why do you insist on Fanny recounting the specifics?” Mary demanded.
“Because,” Anne said slowly, not wanting to reveal that she had met Simon or that he had introduced doubt into her mind, “I wish to know how Lord Rutledge operates so when I’m warning other debutantes away from him, they know what sly actions of his not to succumb to.”
“That makes sense,” Honora said. “Simply tell us how you came to be in the library with the man.”
“I cannot speak of it!” Fanny moaned.
Mary rushed to Fanny’s side and took the woman’s hand in hers, giving her a protective look. “I’ll do the telling for her.”
Fanny glanced at Mary with wide eyes. “You will? Oh, Mary!” Fanny said, dashing at tears that had started to trickle down her face.
“Don’t you see the pain you’ve caused by demanding she recount the horror of that night?” Mary asked.
Heat touched Anne’s cheeks. “I—”
“Of course,youcannot understand!” Mary snapped. “You have never been compromised and nearly ravaged!”
Anne did not think a stolen kiss counted as ravishment, but she kept that opinion to herself, as she felt quite small at the moment. She’d not meant to embarrass or upset Fanny. “Fanny, I—”
“I don’t see what the fuss is about,” Honora snapped. “We simply want to know how Lord Rutledge managed to persuade Fanny to go to the library with him. Where did you first encounter him?”
“Oh!” Fanny wailed.
