Page 5 of A Duke to Undo her
“I apologize too. I took you for a gentleman,” she returned, hands on hips and eyes blazing, her right hand itching to strike him deliberately since she had already done so accidentally.
How dare he speak to her like this?! It was truly infuriating.
The dark-haired and disheveled man took a step closer to her and Josephine felt her breath catch strangely in her throat. Then, a cheerful voice brought everything back down to earth.
“There you are, Cassius. We’re about to go into supper, big brother. If you’re not dancing, you should come with us. Otherwise, you’ll get stuck with Aunt Adelaide and her friends again…Oh, Lady Josephine! Do you remember me? I rescued you from a pelican.”
Entirely bamboozled, Josephine looked between the two men repeatedly, one fair and one dark, one angry and one jocular. Brothers?! How could Benedict Emerton be brother to an ill-tempered, ill-mannered boor like this?
“Of course, I remember you, Mr. Emerton,” she said smoothly. “It is not every day that one is rescued from a pelican, is it? I had just made the acquaintance of your brother. Would you be good enough to introduce us properly?”
The blond man laughed and nodded, seeming entirely unaware of the tension between the other two figures.
“Certainly. Cassius, this is my new friend Lady Josephine Thomson, daughter of the late Earl of Norfield. Lady Josephine, this is my older brother, Cassius Emerton, Duke of Ashbourne.”
Josephine and Cassius looked coldly at one another giving a minimal curtsy and bow.
“Your Grace,” she murmured with requisite civility.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, I’m sure,” muttered the duke in a tone that left Josephine in no doubt that he was not pleased in the slightest bit.
“Now that we’ve met up with one another again, would you like to dance, Lady Josephine? I believe the next measure will be a reel and I promise there is no wildlife out there to obstruct our steps today.”
Josephine laughed lightly and deliberately.
“Naturally, I should love to dance with you, Mr. Emerton. We must first inform my sister and her husband, Lord and Lady Elmridge, that I am returning to the dance floor. They will worry otherwise.”
“Benedict, what about our friends? And Aunt Adelaide?” Cassius said darkly, casting a dubious glance in Josephine’s direction. “Anyway, I thought you wanted supper now.”
“Oh, pooh to supper. On second thoughts, let our friends and Aunt Adelaide see to themselves. I want to dance a reel!” declared the younger man with a sunny smile. “You won’t understand, Cassius, but sometimes a man must simply dance. Don’t you agree, Lady Josephine?”
“Oh, I do!” stated Josephine, stepping closer to Benedict and ignoring his brother, regardless of greater rank and age. “You are quite right Mr. Emerton. It is time to dance a reel.”
Remembering belatedly that this was her one true love, she took Mr. Emerton’s proffered arm as they walked away together, and willed her heart to beat faster, even as it slowed.
“What on earth were you doing with that young hoyden?” Cassius groused as Benedict finally slid into the seat next to his brother in the supper room, a full plate of food in his hand. “How do you even know her?”
The Duke of Ashbourne had been distinctly unhappy to find that his younger brother was on such good terms with the capricious and impertinent young woman he had clashed with in the corridor earlier. While he had not immediately recognized Lady Josephine, her name and reputation were vaguely familiar.
Lord Silverton had now apprised Cassius of other notable incidents in the young lady’s London career, seeming to find these incidences of erratic behavior far more amusing than the duke himself could fathom. Had Lady Josephine really once yelled “fire” only to empty an overheated ballroom into the gardens?! Or taken home a small monkey from a zoo? Why had her family not reined her in?
“Our meeting is not a long story but a bizarre one. It involves pelicans,” Benedict said affably, taking up his fork. “We met in St. James’s Park yesterday morning. I do think Lady Josephine is rather fun. Don’t you like her?”
“Like her?” Cassius repeated, looking away and frowning as he gathered his thoughts. “Speaking to the Silvertons and others, it seems she is a spoiled young brat with a very limited sense of propriety. Lady Josephine is certainly not the kind of woman I’d like to see you marry.”
“Steady on,” Benedict laughed, pausing with a large prawn half way to his mouth. “We’ve only danced a reel together, and the pelican incident, I suppose. It’s hardly the basis for a lifelong relationship, although I might see if Lady Josephine wants to dance again later. She really is the liveliest partner.”
“Well, make sure it stays on the dance floor,” grumbled the duke. “That young woman has no manners and her behavior is said to be most unladylike. Do you know, she waltzed straight into me in the corridor tonight and barely apologized? Lady Josephine seems to think that the whole world should dance to her tune.”
“If it’s a pleasant tune, why not?” responded Benedict, not taking kindly to being ordered around by his brother. “I’ll dance to whatever tune I like if the mood takes me, Cassius.”
Cassius scowled at this resistance but tried not to respond in kind. He knew it would do more harm than good but this attitude did test his patience. Seven years Benedict’s senior, Cassius had been more a father figure than a brother since the late duke passed away thirteen years earlier. In the last few years, however, Benedict had grown more rebellious and resentful of Cassius’ authority.
“Benedict, you are the son of a duke, the brother of a duke and one day likely a duke yourself,” Cassius tried to make him understand. “That young woman would be nothing but an embarrassment to you. Being unsafe around wildlife is the least of it.”
“What? Oh, never mind. I don’t care what bee you presently have in your bonnet over Lady Josephine, Cassius. But please remember that just because you’ve foresworn marriage, it doesn’t mean that I have to limit myself,” Benedict retorted, evidently not in the mood for this lecture.
“No, it means that you have all the more responsibility to choose wisely because your wife will one day be Duchess of Ashbourne,” Cassius said with emphasis, only causing the younger man to roll his eyes.
