Page 18 of The Duke's Second Bride
Could it be possible that his reaction to Lady Dunfair was something more than simple annoyance?
His mind went to the way her hair shone in the sun when she haughtily tossed her head and walked away.
The way her curves pressed against the fabric of her dress, her bosom heaving faster and faster, the more agitated she got in arguing against him. The way the debate brought a flush to those delicate cheeks, not dissimilar to the type of flush he would coax out of her, were they ever to be in bed together.
At this last thought, he shook his head.
“Enough,” he muttered to himself.
Lady Dunfair was a meddlesome nuisance. No more.
Though he couldn’t deny the way Luke had responded to her.
He had to admit to himself that it was slightly disheartening. Though it of course brought him joy to see his son have a moment of confidence, he couldn’t help but wonder why he was unable to bring Luke such comfort.
How was it that a stranger, in five minutes, was able to do for his son what Christian himself had not been able to do in eleven years?
More so, Luke seemed quite attached to her; he had been willing to brave public speech to defend the lady.
Why was that?
And more so, why did Christian find himself unable to keep Ava—no, Lady Dunfair from his mind?
CHAPTER 8
Despite her experience at the garden party, Ava found herself at a ball just a few days later. Edith could never be persuaded not to drag her friend out of the house, claiming it was bad for a young widow’s complexion to stay shut in all day.
As Ava and Edith entered the ballroom, Ava could not help but feel as though all the eyes in the room turned to them.
“I feel as though we are being watched,” she murmured to Edith.
Edith laughed, tossing back her head as though Ava had made some impossibly witty comment.
“Well, of course,” she said, wrapping her arm through Ava’s and pulling her in conspiratorially. “We are two fetching young widows, surrounded by the most delicious controversy. Why shouldn’t people want to watch? It’s the best entertainment their small minds can imagine.”
Ava didn’t point out that, while they were both widows, Edith certainly was not surrounded by the sorts of rumors that had followed the Dunfairs around. If people were watching Edith, it may have been due to her fetching looks. She was wearing a lovely new gold gown, and it shimmered with each step she took.
Ava did not feel nearly as glamorous, though she did like the gown she was wearing more than her usual.
True to his word, Brandon had sent over more funds with her allowance. There had not been enough time to commission a new gown from scratch, but she used some of the money to have one of her older dresses amended to a newer mode of fashion.
She pushed out of her mind Brandon’s suggestive comments that she lower the neckline or otherwise flaunt her figure. But she did like what the modiste had done with the gown, taking away some of the frills and adding a small train to the back, as well as dying the entire garment, previously gray, a most beautiful deep shade of green.
“If you say so,” she acquiesced, not wanting to bicker so soon after they arrived at the event.
“I do,” Edith said, giving her arm a reassuring pat. “Don’t be so nervous! People always watch the new arrivals to the ballroom. In a few moments, there will be a horde of eighteen-year-old debutantes for them to gawk at, and then you and I shall find ourselves entirely and promptly upstaged.”
Ava couldn’t help but smile. “I only pray that moment comes sooner, rather than later,” she teased, and Edith gave a little fake gasp and playful smack to the elbow.
The jest did make her feel better; however, her anxiety returned twofold in just a few moments when, as they did another loop around the ballroom, she began to hear more whispers.
“Goodness, she really has been making the rounds as of late, hasn’t she?” came one voice. “And so brazenly, too.”
Perhaps they weren’t talking about her, Ava thought. She straightened her spine, poised to keep walking. But then:
“Do you know, I heard that she stepped out on the late Lord Dunfair before they were even married?” It was Lady Southington. “Really! From the time they were engaged. By the time he found out she no longer had her virtue, it was too late, and they were already married.”
Edith didn’t seem to have heard any of this. Ava cleared her throat, squeezing her friend’s hand.
