Page 19 of The Duke of Seduction
“I have tried to argue that the squinting will give me early wrinkles,” she said wryly, provoking him to laugh. He really did enjoy her wit. “My mother, however, thinks that’s just an excuse.”
“What would she do if you wore them anyway?”
The corner of her mouth crept up in a half smile. “Are you encouraging me to rebel, Lord Northam?”
“Perhaps,” he murmured, thinking a rebellious Lady Lavinia would be a formidable and rather arousing thing.
Arousing?
“Last fall, I participated in an archery contest. I was quite pleased when I was able to hit the bottom of the target, if only for a moment. The arrow fell out,” she explained. “Perhaps I should have sent the arrow somewhere dangerous. Maybe that would have persuaded my parents that I should wear my spectacles.”
“Dangerous? Do you mean you should have hit someone?”
She shrugged. “Or maybe just come close.”
“Except you possibly can’t see well enough to make that distinction.”
She narrowed her eyes slightly. “If only my parents were as astute as you.”
He laughed again, enjoying her company. “It’s rather unfair, isn’t it? Young ladies are held to ridiculously rigid rules in Society. I must say, sometimes I’m glad I’m not one.”
She blinked at him, her eyes intense, and he had the sense that at this distance, she missed nothing. “I wonder if I ought to be insulted.”
He was really botching things. First he’d made her uncomfortable, and now he was insulting her. “Not at all. I was trying to commiserate and failing miserably.”
“It’s all right. I believe I understand what you meant. I was teasing a bit—that’s what happens when you have an older brother and you’ve been teased, as I was. Do you have siblings, Lord Northam?”
A pang of sorrow pierced his chest, but he firmly closed the door on the past and clung to this moment instead. “A younger half brother.”
“I’m sure you tease him.”
“No, he’s quite a bit younger, just eleven,” Beck said. “I really am sorry for your plight—with regard to the spectacles.”
“It’s all right. I’ve had to learn to accept annoyances. Such as all this attention directed toward me thanks to that Duke of Seduction.”
Her scornful tone set him on edge. “What has he done?”
Her rich, spice-laden brown eyes widened. “Don’t you know about him? He writes poems about ladies he seems to think require assistance on the Marriage Mart. It’s incredibly presumptuous. And pompous. And many other words that end in ‘ous,’ I’m sure.”
“Ah, yes.” His cravat felt suddenly tight. “Presumptuous how?”
“In multiple ways. First, how can he possibly know a young lady’s situation? Perhaps she has a perfectly good reason not to be married yet.”
His discomfort took root and started to grow. “Is that the case with you?”
“I have reasons,” she said vaguely. “Anyway, it’s certainly not his affair. He doesn’t even know me.”
“You know who he is, then?” She didn’t, of course.
“No, but I’d like to so I could tell him precisely what I think of his scheme.”
Little did she know… “How do you know he doesn’t know you? He must at least knowofyou.”
“Yes, he seems to, but I haven’t a clue who he is. I do plan to find out. As does Miss Pemberton, another of the poor young women he set his witless sights on.”
Beck felt a bit ill. “So your complaint is that he’s helping where no help is needed.”
“Yes, and he’s encouraging all manner of men to slither from the periphery and try to strike a match.”
