Page 57 of If the Duke Dares
“Must you?” Persephone asked.
“Just because they are behaving awfully doesn’t mean we should too. Now, when will you be seeing the duke again?”
Pandora strode into the room and joined Persephone on the settee. “What duke?”
“Wellesbourne called this morning,” Aunt Lucinda said brightly. “He seems interested in Persey.”
Mouth open, Pandora pinned Persephone with a horrified stare. “How could you? He’s a close friend of that devil.” Apparently, she wasn’t saying Bane’s name any longer, not that Persephone could find fault with that.
“I didn’t sayIwas interested.” Except she was most definitely interested in kissing him more or watching him be intrigued by her hair. She’d kept catching him staring at it earlier. At first, she’d been upset that her hair wasn’t appropriately styled, but then she’d been glad since it had earned his attention. Which shouldn’t have surprised her since he’d noted before that he liked it. Along with the unattractive bump in her nose.
Aunt Lucinda frowned. “I thought you might be. You’ll be seeing him again. Soon. Or so he said.”
“Er, yes, I thought his presence might help smooth things for Pandora.”
“But he’s a friend of that blackguard,” Pandora said through clenched teeth.
Persephone looked at her sister with hope. “It’s precisely because of their friendship that I thought it might help. Also, he’s a duke. And that can’t hurt.”
Aunt Lucinda gave Persephone a pointed look. “Did you agree to see him again just to help Pandora?”
Glancing toward Pandora and seeing she was still agitated, Persephone hoped to show her that Acton was different. “He’s aware that he’s helping,” Persephone answered quickly, avoiding the crux of her aunt’s question. “He’d heard about what happened to Pandora and offered his assistance. Wellesbourne is most upset with Bane.”
“It sounds as though you discussed far more than the weather and Bath,” Aunt Lucinda noted. “Well, it would be wrong of us to refuse his help. I’m afraid I must ask if he’s actually courting you or just lending his assistance? Or perhaps it’s both.”
Pandora made a sound of disgust in her throat. “Persephone would not enter into a courtship with the devil’s best friend. Wellesbourne can be no better.”
“Pandora, dear, you really mustn’t weigh all men in the same manner,” Aunt Lucinda advised. “Your experience with Banemore isn’t the norm.”
Persephone could attest to that. Acton had been wonderfully unlike Bane. Perhaps she ought to tell her sister of Acton’s kindnesses, that they went beyond the help he was currently offering. Except that would mean revealing everything Persephone had kept secret thus far. Why was she hiding any of it from Pandora? They never withheld things from one another.
Until Pandora had lied about their mother chaperoning her walk with Bane. Persephone hadn’t asked her about that. Did she think Persephone would have told her not to go? Or that Persephone would have tried to stop her?
The truth was that Persephone would have done both those things. While she supported her sister trying to determine her feelings for a gentleman, she would not have endorsed her taking a promenade unchaperoned with the likes of Bane.
Pandora huffed out a breath. “I suppose I must accept whatever help I’m offered. But I do not, under any circumstances, want Wellesbourne to try to facilitate some sort of reconciliation between me and that devil. I wouldn’t marry him if he were the world’s last man.”
“Understood,” Persephone said.
Aunt Lucinda nodded once. “An excellent decision. Persephone, I do hope you will give Wellesbourne a chance. He is not Banemore. Now, you must both excuse me, for I’ve correspondence in need of my attention.” She stood and departed the drawing room.
Pandora turned to look at Persephone. “I can’t believe the duke came here. What happened? And where are Mama and Papa? Since they clearly didn’t come with him.”
Persephone wiped her hand over her face and pivoted toward her sister. “I would have explained everything last night, but you left upset, and I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“I’m upset far too much.” Pandora sniffed. “I need to get over what happened. I’m trying. Now tell me everything.’”
“Where to begin?” Persephone exhaled. “Keep in mind, please, that Aunt Lucinda doesn’t know any of this, and I would prefer it stayed that way.” At Pandora’s nod, she continued. “When I left Mama and Papa in Cirencester, I took the first mail coach I could and ended up in Gloucester. I stayed at an inn, and, this is where the story becomes almost fanciful, I met Wellesbourne.”
Pandora goggled at her. “You met him at an inn?”
“Yes, but we weren’t introduced. We dined together by chance, and through our conversation, I deduced his identity. Once I realized who he was, I feigned romantic interest in him, then tossed a glass of Madeira in his face.”
“You didn’t!” Pandora dissolved into giggles, collapsing back against the settee.
Persephone couldn’t help but laugh with her.
When Pandora caught her breath, she asked what happened next.
