Page 115 of Courting Scandal With The Duke
The drawing room was most tastefully decorated in gold and red after the Chinese style.
‘How elegant,’ Barbara murmured.
‘Wait here, please,’ the butler said. ‘Her Ladyship will join you shortly.’
Barbara looked at Charles as the butler departed. ‘This doesn’t seem like much of a party. We cannot be the only guests, surely?’
‘As I said, I think we are a little early.’
Barbara wished she had kept the letter of invitation, to see exactly what time they were expected. But she hadn’t.
The minutes ticked by.
‘We are going to have to apologise for our mistake,’ Barbara said. ‘I am going to put all the blame at your door, Charles,’ she teased.
He looked a little grim.
‘I am jesting.’
The drawing room door opened. Barbara turned to see who the butler would announce.
She stumbled back as she realised she was face to face with—her father?
‘What are you doing here?’ she said and looked at Charles.
Guilt had replaced grimness in his expression.
‘You knew he would be here?’
Her father regarded her with hooded eyes and pulled at his bottom lip.
‘You have been behaving very badly, my girl. It is time you saw sense.’
She glared at him. ‘What I do is none of your business. I am a widow and independent of anyone. I suppose you want me to marry the Duke. Well, be assured, he wouldn’t marry me if I was the last person on earth.’
Her father’s eyes narrowed. ‘And why is that, daughter?’
‘Because I made sure he won’t.’ By her visit to the boxing saloon. Her heart ached with the knowledge, but she could not help but feel atingle of gladness. Xavier did not deserve to have her father as part of his family. Or her.
She breathed deeply against the burning sensation at the back of her nose. She would not let her father see her cry.
Charles rose to his feet. ‘Good evening, Ambassador. Your daughter has managed to break every social rule possible by attending a boxing match today.’
‘It wasn’t a match,’ she said. ‘It was sparring.’
‘No difference,’ Charles said. ‘You are ruined and you know it.’
He actually sounded self-congratulatory.
She stared at him, puzzled by the expression on his face, a sort of triumphant look.
‘Well, if the Duke won’t marry you, we have to find a different suitor.’
Father looked at Charles with a smirk.
The back of her neck prickled. ‘Charles doesn’t want to marry me any more than the Duke does.’
Father raised his eyebrows. ‘Charles?’
