Page 91 of Courting Scandal With The Duke
He looked absolutely gorgeous.
If he had heard what she’d said, he showed no sign of it. He smiled pleasantly as he entered the room. ‘I beg your pardon, Miss Lowell,’ he said. ‘Your man did not tell me you had visitors.’
Father looked like a fox who had just been granted access to a hen house. He stepped forward, hand outstretched, lips in a wide smile. ‘A pleasure indeed, Your Grace. Marchat your service.’
Xavier shook his hand. ‘Lord March. I have heard of your work at the Congress.’
Everyone had heard of it. Father had made sure of it.
No doubt Xavier thought her father the best of men.
Bitterness swept through her.
Chapter Fourteen
As usual, Xavier hid his distaste for the man who gripped his hand a little too long and smiled a little too much.
All his life he had been subject to the sort of ingratiating bonhomie displayed by Lord March.
It was why he limited his circle of friends to those who were not impressed by his wealth and his title.
Like Barbara, apparently.
The words he heard her speak before he entered the room had given him pause.
It was with reluctance that he had come here this morning to tell of her of his plans to speak with her father about making her an offer. Reluctant because she was not at all the sort of woman he had intended to wed. A woman who made him feel more alive than he had for years. Alive to the point of recklessness. Though he was sure he could control it better than his father had.
Certainly, if he had to marry someone, why not Barbara? She had more of a brain than most of the otheryoung ladies he had met, and she made him laugh. Not to mention her other attributes.
Xavier, however, unlike his father, would not be led by the nose, or any other part of his anatomy.
After much thought in the dark reaches of the night, though, he had conceded that perhaps, as long as she was prepared to behave as a proper duchess should, they could make it work. After all, he was a man as well as a duke, and there was much he enjoyed in their relationship.
Now, hearing her adamant declaration that she did not want to wed anyone had made him think again. He wasn’t so sure he had come to the right decision.
He hadn’t given any thought to her family connections either. March was a man who would do anything to advance his career. Xavier knew this about him from his conversations with Castlereagh after his return to England. The foreign secretary had disdained the career diplomat. But March wasn’t the only one Castlereagh had complained about, and Xavier hadn’t taken a great deal of notice, glad only that peace was being actively discussed.
At the time, Castlereagh had not mentioned March had a daughter.
‘Oh, Vienna,’ March said with patently false modesty. ‘It was little enough I did. Though I must say a couple of the clauses in the agreement gave a great deal of trouble until I discovered the wording that saved the day.’ He puffed out his chest, no doubt to draw attention to the Order he wore.
‘Your country has shown its gratitude, I see.’
‘Yes indeed. The King. Most gracious. And what of you, Your Grace? I hear your stables have been producing some of the finest racehorses in the country?’
He made the difference between them sound stark. One man serving his country and the other indulging in fast horses and gambling.
‘We do our best,’ Xavier said.
‘I am a good judge of horseflesh. If you wish for advice, I would be happy to give it.’
Xavier almost laughed out loud. He raised an eyebrow instead. Never before had anyone had the nerve to offer him advice on his racehorses.
Barbara gave her father a glare of such loathing, it took Xavier aback.
She turned got up and went to the bell. ‘Shall I ring for tea, Aunt?’
‘Oh, yes. Yes, please do, dear.’
