Page 44 of Courting Scandal With The Duke
Clearly not today.
And the thought of joining the giggling group of adolescents set his teeth on edge.
Perhaps he was mistaken in thinking Miss Simon the perfect bride.
She was very young.
She must have felt his gaze, because she glanced up. And blushed wildly.
‘Dowager Countess of Lipsweiger and Upsal, and Miss Lowell,’ the butler announced.
Without thinking, Xavier turned from his potential bride to be to take in the Countess as she breezed into the drawing room in a vibrant blue gown with her aunt in tow.
There was a flash of amusementin her dark eyes, beneath the dramatic cast of her dark eyebrows, and the jaunty small hat on her dark curls.
It was like staring at the sun after looking at the moon.
He stopped himself from crossing the room to greet her. Instead, he forced himself to approach Miss Simon.
As he drew near, the group around her seemed to melt away. Even the brash Mr Stallton took himself off.
It was all a little too obvious to Xavier’s taste. Mrs Simon must have had something to do with it. Damn it, he hadn’t made any sort of declaration, and he didn’t like the idea that he was being jockeyed into position.
Miss Simon gave him a scared glance and he realised he was frowning. Or scowling, as Julian would have it.
‘Good afternoon, Miss Simon.’
‘Your Grace.’ She dipped a low curtsey.
‘I hope you find yourself well?’ he asked.
‘Yes. Oh, yes. Very well. And you?’
‘I am well also.’
She sent him a hesitant smile.
Whereas she had seemed at ease with the young people before he arrived, now she looked like a nervous cat, ready to run up the nearest set of curtains if he so much as breathed wrong.
She waved her fan vigorously. ‘It is very warm in here, isn’t it?’
‘I suppose it is.’ He had not noticed it as being particularly warm.
‘Would you like to take a turn about the garden?’ shesaid breathlessly. ‘The spring bulbs are at their most beautiful at the moment.’
She sounded as if she were repeating a lesson.
A warning prickled across his skin. He glanced casually around the room and saw that her mother was watching them intently.
And Miss Simon was looking anxious.
‘Why don’t I open a window instead?’
‘Oh,’ Miss Simon said faintly. ‘I do not think Mama would like that.’
‘Nonsense. If you are hot, a little bit of air will help enormously.’
‘But surely a walk in the garden—’
