Page 31 of The Taming of the Duke
“I’ve no interest in shooting when I’ve already bagged my bird,” Horton said. “No small thanks toyourefforts, I might add. It was fifty guineas, wasn’t it?”
“Horton,” Dax growled. “We’ll continue this conversation later, once I’ve escorted Miss Parville back to the house.
“There’s no need toescorther anywhere, now,” Horton continued. “Unless, of course, you’ve had a change of heart.”
“That’s enough!” Dax cried. “Go and annoy the other gentlemen, and leave me be.”
Horton bowed his head.
“I beg pardon, Miss Parville,” he said. “I was mistaken, and can only apologize if I’ve given offense.”
He tipped his hat and disappeared.
Dax tugged at the reins. “Walk on!”
The horses set off. Miss Parville remained silent, but he could sense the tension in her body. As the curricle drew up beside the main doors, a footman rushed toward them and took the reins.
Dax climbed down, then offered his hand to help her out, but she didn’t take it. Instead, she stared at him out of clear green eyes.
“A change of heart about what?” she asked.
“Just a silly jape between friends,” Dax said. “Nothing to concern yourself with.”
“I disagree,” she replied. “If your friend saw fit to apologize to me, then he, at least, considers the matter of some concern to myself. And, what was that about fifty guineas?”
“It’s nothing,” he said. “I see that now.”
“Now? Then you didn’t see it before?” She stared at his hand, but still, she didn’t take it. “Can’t you at least be honest? I’d rather be subjected to a painful truth than a falsehood any day. The former is a mark of respect—the latter, disdain.”
There was no escaping the truth. And hedidowe her that much.
“Before I tell you anything,” he said, “let me say that had I known then what I know now, I’d never have agreed to it.”
The color drained from her face. “Agreed to what?”
“I…” he shook his head, his gut twisting in shame. “I never meant to toy with you, Miss Parville. I spoke the truth when I said that my friend genuinely admires your sister, but…”
“Stop,” she said, her voice hard, as if a frost had settled in her heart. “Permit me to hazard a guess. You and your friend know of Papa’s stipulation that no man shall approach Blanche until I am being courted. You therefore devised a scheme to masquerade as my admirer in order to persuade Papa to permit your friend to court my sister—in return for fifty guineas.”
Oh, shit.
“Indeed, Your Grace.”
Bugger—he’d cursed aloud.
“Am I inaccurate in any respect?”
He shuffled from one foot to another, as if he were a grubby boy standing in front of his housemaster, waiting for a beating after a capital transgression.
“In one respect, yes,” he said, his voice meek. “The sum was a hundred guineas, not fifty.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I suppose I should be flattered that you considered me worth the effort—or is it perhaps an insult that you demanded for such a substantial compensation for suffering my company?”
“I did it for my friend,” he said, “who I believe is genuinely fond of your sister.”
“You’ve said that on several occasions,” she said. “A man only reiterates his feelings when he’s uncertain of them.”
She gripped the side of the curricle and began to climb out. He offered his hand, but she slapped it aside, almost losing her balance.
