Page 29 of The Taming of the Duke
A successful venture, if I say so myself.
He glanced toward her, and they exchanged a smile. Whatever that arse Andrew Leander had done to her, he was a fool. He’d missed out on the opportunity to claim one of the most exciting women in England as a companion for life.
An opportunity that Dax had no intention of passing on.
“I feel I must apologize, Your Grace,” she said.
“Daxton, please.”
Her cheeks flushed. “Daxton.”
He nodded. “Good. And, there’s no need to apologize. If anything, I’m the one who should explain myself to you. You must have thought me incredibly rude when we first met.”
She let out a laugh. “I found it rather refreshing. Most men either pretend they’ve not been insulted, or scuttle away to massage their egos among flatterers and sycophants. No…” she hesitated, her smile slipping, “…I meant that I must explain my refusal to visit Hurstpoint Place.”
“You have nothing to explain,” he said. “I suspect the present incumbent has more reason to apologize than you. I take it you knew him?”
“We met shortly after my come-out,” she said. “I wasn’t so foolish as to let myself be compromised, but I believed myself in love—until he made it clear that a self-respecting gentleman could never consider courtingone such as I.”
“One such as you?”
She turned away, but not before Dax caught sight of moisture in her eyes. “A woman with little fortune,” she said quietly, “and even less beauty.”
“He saidthat?”
“He may have perhaps worded his opinion a little more…” she let out a sigh, “…explicitly.”
The cad!
It wasn’t too late to turn round and resume the journey to Hurstpoint Place—where he’d take great pleasure placing a shiner on Leander’s face to teach him a lesson.
“Did you love him?”
Dax regretted the question as soon as the words escaped his lips. Nevertheless, he held his breath in anticipation of the answer.
She shook her head. “No. I was infatuated—and Papa had stressed the importance of securing a match when my Season was costing him so much.”
So—the impoverished Lord Parville had dressed up his daughter like a prize sow and paraded her round the marriage mart in the hope that somebody would purchase her. Most likely, she would have jumped at the chance of a match—any match, to be free of a man who’d resented her from the moment she was born.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“It’s not your fault.”
“Inthat, you’re wrong, Miss Parville. I apologize on behalf of my sex—we have much to answer for. But I’d like to hope thatmysoul, at least, has a chance of redemption.”
She resumed her gaze on him, amusement in her expression. “Redemption, eh? Is a soul not supposed to suffer purgatory before redemption can be granted?”
“This weak soul will gladly endure what purgatory you see fit to deliver upon him,” he said.
She laughed. “You’re not what I believed you to be at first. In fact, I find myself in the uncomfortable position of beginning to find youagreeable.”
He shifted closer to her, relishing the fact that rather than flinch, she leaned toward him.
“Oh, no—that simplywon’tdo, Miss Parville,” he said. “I have no desire to be merelyagreeable. Such a bland word used too often to describe someone that we can barely tolerate.”
“How would you prefer to be described, Your Grace?” she asked.
“It’s Daxton, sweetheart, or did you forget?”
