Page 21 of A Duke's Unwanted Bride
At least she is just as flustered as me.He tugged at his collar as she shifted and moved her legs apart, imitating his own stance. “That’s better.”
“So what next?” she asked, taking a sip of her drink. “You still have not shown me how to drink without actually drinking.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards. “It is all about distraction.”
Warner felt her eyes on him as he tossed the cards artfully between his hands, cutting the deck and shuffling with apracticed ease. Her eyes widened, and he canted his head towards her as he dealt.
“Where did you learn that? You are better than the dealer at the gambling hall!” Her smile lit up her entire face with a kind of girlish excitement that forced the corners of his own lips upwards.
He dealt out the cards with a flourish. “Let us call it a legacy of my younger, wilder days.”
“I find that hard to imagine.” She laughed softly.
“What, that I was a young man? I assure you, I did not spring from the womb like this.” He gestured to himself, and felt her eyes follow the motion of his hands, tracing his body with her gaze.
“Was that a joke, Your Grace?” She arched an eyebrow at him, her eyes full of mischief.
“I am capable of such things you know.”
“So I am learning.” She took a swig of her drink and fanned out her cards. “I take it this showmanship is a part of your distraction.”
She reached across and tilted his now half-empty tankard towards her. “I know you have not drunk that much.”
He nodded. “But you did not see when I disposed of it, did you?”
“No.” Lady Adelaide shook her head, and strands of hair fell from her hat.
Warner swallowed the urge to reach across and move them from her face. “Then you must pay closer attention.”
“I will.” She took another sip of her drink, her lips pressed against the tankard. “It is a shame that you are not like this more often; perhaps you should let the legacy of your youthful days come out to play more.”
Warner froze, his tankard pressed to his lips. “No.”
“Why not?” She leaned forwards, canting her head towards him.
Warner shook his head, and his cousin’s eyes sparkled in his mind.You are a duke; it is high time you acted like it.What was he doing? He was sitting across from his cousin’s widow, teaching her how to be a man? Sharing tricks from a time he had sworn to never revisit?
“I think we should end the lesson there.” Warner stood up and shrugged on his coat.
“But —” Lady Adelaide began but he held up a hand to silence her.
“It is late. I will escort you safely home.”
“What about the King’s Arms?” Lady Adelaide grabbed his arm as they walked out of the room.
“It will still be there tomorrow and the day after when you have had time to learn the skills you will need to be safe.” He glanced down at her hand clasped around his forearm. “But you are not ready for that, Mr. George. Not yet.”
He expected her to argue, but she did not. Instead, she nodded, and he could not tell if he was more unsettled by her acquiescence or the fact that he seemed to want her to fight him.
She is far too dangerous to be around.
Seven
“Oh, Martha, good. I was hoping to run into you.” Adele smiled at the servant. “Though not so literally of course.”
It was the day after her encounter with the Duke, and she had woken with a restlessness in her that she could not quite understand. Just the thought of it made her heart quicken, and she swallowed, remembering the way he had grown flustered over his drink.
He was like an entirely different person.Was that the truth of him? Or was the cold, controlling block of marble the real duke? The questions had tumbled around in her head until she had run into Martha.I might as well try and talk to her; I have put it off long enough.
