Page 5 of The Duke's Indecent Match
Not so here.
Especially because there was a large contingent of dukes present.Not just himself, the married Duke of Clarence, and the betrothed Duke of Ormonde, but three of his friends were also in need of wives—the Duke of Montagu, the Duke of Bolton, and the Duke of St.Albans.Only Zachary, the Duke of Grafton, would be absent this weekend.
He had not been invited, likely because his former mistress had been.The Baroness Ashfield was currently across the room, standing beside the Duchess of Clarence, and appeared to be flirting with the man they were speaking to.Perhaps it was best Zachary was absent.He might have given the baroness her congé, feeling it necessary to divest himself of his mistress before searching among the debutantes for a bride, but his feelings for her had not yet waned.Watching her take up with anotheramourwould be painful.
Though perhaps it would spur him on his hunt for a bride.
Something Nathanial needed to attend to as well.
Perhaps it would be easier in these surrounds, where there were fewer young ladies, and the ratio of duke to debutante less stark.
Making his bow to Lord and Lady Blackstone, who greeted him just past the door, Nathanial made his way into the room, taking the time to drink in the gathering as he moved.He had the opportunity to do so because there was no rush of debutantes his way, which was both a relief and a worry.
Would any of the debutantes here want a husband who desperately needed their dowry?
A flash of pink caught his attention from the left corner of the room, and Nathanial studiously looked away.
The right side of the room was filled mostly with the contemporaries of Lord and Lady Blackstone.Nathanial nodded a greeting to Lord and Lady Emeryn, who he’d met before.Lord Emeryn towered over his more diminutive wife, keeping close by her side as though he could not bear to be parted from her.They’d been a love match whose courtship scandalized theton.Beside them was Lady Collette, who insisted on going by her first name to everyone, her substantial curves on display with a shockingly low decolletage for an afternoon gathering.The greys streaking her brown hair did not detract from her beauty nor did her age from her spirit.
She winked at Nathanial over her fan, fluttering it with invitation, and he grinned and winked back.One could never tell whether Lady Collette was serious with her flirtations or not, but not playing the game was to risk her wrath.
Several other couples milled about, not his set, and Nathanial turned away to seek his fellow dukes.
Montagu and St.Albans had perched beside the fireplace, and Nathanial made his way to them.They were warily watching the small clumps of young ladies who were in attendance, though the debutantes currently seemed happy to chatter among themselves.Off to the side, he recognized Lady Astrid’s brother Rupert speaking with another young man.Nathanial had never formally met Ashwin Little, but he knew who he was.
A reminder of the woman Nathanial could absolutely not marry, despite her great fortune.
“How goes it?”he asked, coming to a halt beside Christian, Duke of Montagu, and deliberately turning himself so he could not see Ashwin Little or the corner where his sister was presently.
“They are talking among themselves rather than to us, and it’s making me more nervous than if they were crowding us,” St.Albans replied, rubbing at the pocket where he kept his lucky coin.Matthew was known to thetonas the Lord of Luck due to his unlikely number of wins at anything to do with gambling.He had a coin that he flipped to help him make his decisions, and somehow it always worked out.
Nathanial had often wished a little of Matthew’s luck would rub off on him… but even if it did, he doubted he would visit the gambling tables.His father’s bad luck and the family’s subsequent misfortune had soured the taste of gaming for Nathanial for good.
“Do you think they are talking about us?”he asked, risking a glance over his shoulder at the gathered beauties.
“What else?”Christian snorted.“Probably deciding which of us they’ll approach before dinner.”Unlike Matthew, he did not seem nervous at all.Then again, there were not many with as rakish a reputation as Christian.Debutantes were not his usual fare, but he was accustomed to the attention of women.He was Society’s most beautiful man, theton’sAdonis.
Beside him and the luckiest man in the country, Nathanial was beginning to feel more nervous about his own prospects.He needed a bride by the end of this Season, but he did not want just any bride.
With his estate buried in debts, his sisters needing to make their own debuts into Society soon, and his family’s reputation in shambles, thanks to his father, he needed a bride of good fortune, good reputation, and hopefully good nature.Someone to help him find good matches for his sisters, run his estate, and improve the family’s standing.
His choices on how to save his family had narrowed further and further until now, the only choice left to be made was who he would marry to safeguard their future.
Lifting his head, he looked about, and his gaze was immediately arrested by a pair of eyes so dark, they were like pools of night.The breath in his lungs felt like it rushed out all at once.His skin tingled, his body tightening, the immediate attraction stirring the way it always did when he laid eyes on Miss Kalina Little.
He wanted her.He could not deny that.
But he could not marry her.
2
Kalina
The Duke of Hereford was looking at her.
Again.
Kalina tore her gaze away from his, pretending that her heart was not pounding so fast, it felt like it might break her stays.Something about him always made her feel… strange.Off.Her mother had explained what happened between a man and a woman, ensuring Kalina knew enough not to be tricked into being alone with a man she did not intend to engage in such activities with.
