Fit for a Duke: Dangerous Dukes Read online

  ‘Silas faints at the sight of blood.’

  ‘Or so he would have you believe. You underestimate him, Ezra. There is a sharp mind and a resentful character behind the foppish façade.’

  Ezra permitted his surprise to show. ‘You have deduced that much simply by dancing with him?’

  ‘I have been watching him since he arrived. Most people avoid him. He is accustomed to being overlooked, so when he isn’t fussing over your mother’s comforts, he thinks no one is watching him and lets his guard down. I have mentioned to you before that I have seen the way he sometimes looks at you with a combination of loathing and envy radiating from his eyes.’

  ‘I have never noticed.’

  ‘He would hardly let you see, which is why I contend that he is artful.’

  ‘Then I shall not assume that he’s as harmless as he makes himself out to be.’ But Ezra still doubted whether Silas could have pulled the wool over his eyes for all this time. Perhaps that was because he didn’t want to admit to having been duped. Even so, he was man enough to accept that Clio could well be in the right of it. ‘He did once mention that he harboured a desire to tread the boards and was only held back from so doing because it is not a profession worthy of a gentleman.’

  ‘Well, there you are then. The man considers himself a frustrated Hamlet. I stand vindicated.’

  Ezra smiled at her. ‘My mind has not been entirely idle.’ At least it had not been before Clio had taken almost complete occupation of it and drove all other thoughts from his head. ‘And I do intend to set a trap to lure the assassin in.’

  ‘How do you intend to do that?’

  ‘Well, now that I am aware that Brennan is residing in Midhurst I can—’

  ‘Midhurst?’ She sent him a sharp look. ‘Is that where he is? Why did you not say?’

  ‘I told you he was five miles away. I did not think the precise location significant.’ Ezra was at a loss to know why she had become so agitated. ‘Why has this intelligence excited you?’

  She gave an impatient tut. ‘That is the destination of Lady Fletcher’s al fresco luncheon tomorrow. I thought you would be aware.’

  ‘I don’t take much notice of her programme, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Well, we ladies are supposed to be travelling in carriages, escorted by you gentlemen on horseback.’ Clio tapped the fingers of one hand against her opposite forearm. ‘I wonder who decided upon the location.’

  ‘It wouldn’t surprise me to discover that it was my mother’s suggestion.’

  ‘Well, if an attack is to be launched and Brennan is behind it, that is where it will happen, you just mark my words, and you will be an easy target. Far easier to get to out in the open than you would be on this estate. You had best develop gout between now and then and not go.’

  Ezra laughed. ‘Thank you for your concern, but gout does not ordinarily afflict men of my age, and certainly not overnight.’

  ‘I can see that you are still not taking this affair seriously.’ She tutted. ‘Why do gentlemen take such a cavalier attitude towards life and death?’

  ‘I have a very compelling reason for wishing to remain alive, my love,’ he replied softly, fixing her with an intense look so imbued with passion that he could detect her responding blush even in the flickering light of a single candle that had almost burned down.

  She swallowed. ‘Well, naturally you do, but we need to form a strategy. And don’t tell me that I cannot involve myself,’ she added, wagging a finger at him. ‘It will not be as easy for me as it might once have been, given that you singled me out so blatantly this evening. Everyone will be watching me as well as you and… That’s why you did it, isn’t it?’ Deep betrayal and bitter disappointment filtered through her expression. ‘You deliberately favoured me so that you would have a valid reason to dispense with my help.’ Her eyes widened as she fixed him with a look of disdain. ‘You didn’t have to go that far. You could just have avoided me.’

  She turned away from him, muttering beneath her breath, and Ezra knew that she was hurt. He ought to leave matters there. Better she remained safe than take foolish risks to ensure his safety. But something stronger than his own will refused to leave her thinking ill of him. He had to make her understand that he waltzed with her for one reason and one reason only.

  He had danced with her because he’d wanted to.

  ‘You could not be more wrong,’ he said in a softly persuasive drawl. ‘Look at me, Clio.’

  She turned her head slowly, facing him with apparent reluctance. ‘I don’t require false assurances,’ she told him. ‘I hope I am not that fragile.’

  ‘No more would I offer them.’ He took her hand and laced his fingers through hers. ‘I waltzed with you because I couldn’t help myself. There was absolutely no one else in the room that any amount of coercion would have persuaded me to stand up with.’

  Her eyes clouded over with a combination of passion and uncertainty, and it was suddenly beyond Ezra’s dwindling self-control to leave her in any lingering doubt. He slowly lowered his head and covered her lips with his own. She tasted as sweet as wine and as fresh as summer. Ezra was empowered by her instinctive response and impossibly aroused by it. He slipped his arms around her slender body and deepened the kiss, a man with a point to prove and a passion to slake.

  On the verge of allowing his hands to wander over those enticing curves, Ezra somehow managed to prevent them and reluctantly broke the kiss. He was gratified when a small moan of protest slipped past her guard.

  ‘You always do that,’ she said in a dazed voice. ‘You start things and then break them off when they are on the point of getting interesting.’

  Ezra laughed. ‘You are supposed to slap my face for taking liberties.’

  ‘If I intended to do any slapping, it would have happened the moment you invaded my bedchamber. It’s far too late for that now. If you are found here, everyone will say that I encouraged you. They will be disgusted by my machinations and hold you entirely blameless.’

  ‘And yet I am the one to blame.’

  ‘Obviously I know that.’

  They both laughed and the awkwardness between them fell away.

  ‘Actually,’ she said in a pensive tone after the briefest of pauses, ‘a disagreement between us would perhaps not be such a bad idea. A very public disagreement at the luncheon tomorrow. I will take loud offence at some remark you make to me and storm off. You will mutter to the other gentlemen about my unreasonable behaviour and how you should have known better than to show any interest in a child barely out of the schoolroom.’

  ‘For what purpose am I to lose patience with you?’ he asked.

  ‘Oh, do use your brain, Ezra. It isn’t that complicated.’

  Easy for her to say. She was thinking rationally, whereas he was still revelling in the aftermath of one of the most innocent yet incendiary kisses he had ever instigated. It would, he knew, take a significant amount of time for his tumescence to subside.

  ‘Just tell me how you think that will help and save my poor brain from over-exerting itself.’

  ‘Well obviously, you will pursue me and the assassin will seize the moment.’

  ‘Very reassuring,’ he replied, chuckling.

  ‘Your Mr Godfrey and any other servants you trust will be concealed, ready to disarm the assassin.’

  ‘I don’t think—’

  A tap at the door had them sharing a concerned look. ‘Clio, are you still awake?’

  ‘That’s Adele.’ A hand flew to Clio’s flushed face and she looked more discomposed than he had ever seen her. She really didn’t want him to be caught here with her, and that realisation melted Ezra’s heart. She was the only female beneath this roof who wouldn’t take advantage of the situation. ‘She will likely come in anyway. Quick, in the closet!’ She gave him a hefty push in that direction.

  ‘We will finish this conversation later,’ he assured her as he disappeared behind the adjoining door, winking at her before he closed it.

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nbsp; Chapter Fourteen

  Ezra concealed himself only seconds before Adele put her head round the door.

  ‘Oh, you are still up. Good. I thought it was too early for you to be in bed.’

  Adele sauntered into the room and took the same spot on the window seat that Ezra had just quit. Clio suspected it would still be warm and was astonished that her cousin couldn’t smell the duke’s distinctive masculine aroma lingering in the air. She seemed preoccupied though, and turned to Clio with an engaging smile.

  ‘Yes, I was enjoying the peace and quiet.’ A necessary falsehood on her part, Clio decided. ‘I had no idea that house parties could be so exhausting.’

  ‘You don’t look exhausted.’ Adele subjected Clio’s face to exacting scrutiny. Botheration! Her eyes were probably glowing and her cheeks flushed, giving entirely the opposite impression to fatigue. ‘Needless to say, everyone is talking about you.’

  Clio rolled her eyes. ‘I dare say.’

  ‘Why did the duke dance with you? Not that there is any reason why he should not do so. In fact, he showed good judgement in singling you out. It’s just that…well, no one has noticed him paying you any particular attention before now, and naturally they are all intrigued. I confess I am scarcely less so myself, but you disappeared before I could ask you about it. The duke did as well, as a matter of fact.’

  ‘Did he?’ Clio shrugged, convinced that Adele, who knew her so well, would see through her thin deception. ‘Well, he didn’t follow me in here, if that is what you are thinking.’ Clio crossed her fingers in her lap to negate the lie. Not that it was a lie precisely. He hadn’t followed immediately after her.

  ‘Of course I didn’t think that, silly.’

  ‘I don’t know why the duke danced with me,’ Clio said, because she had to say something. ‘We happened to be standing beside one another when the waltz struck up. I suppose he felt that he had to dance and I just happened to be there. I did notice Cora loitering close and we both have observed how blatantly she flaunts herself in front of him at every opportunity. I suppose I was the lesser of two evils.’

  ‘What was that noise?’ Adele asked, sitting upright and glaring at Clio’s dressing room door with suspicion.

  ‘What noise?’ Clio asked, knowing perfectly well. She had heard the duke attempting to stifle a laugh quite distinctly. ‘Probably someone moving about in the room next door. You know how sound travels in this old house.’

  ‘Well, whatever the duke’s reason, Cora looks upon you as the devil incarnate now. I heard her saying some quite spiteful things about you and took her to task for it.’

  ‘Thank you, dearest, but there is no need. Sticks and stones and all that. Besides, when the duke ignores me from this point on, speculation will soon die down.’

  ‘If he does. He seemed to laugh a great deal while you were dancing. Everyone agrees that they have never seen him look half so agreeable. He is fearfully handsome, don’t you think? All dark and brooding.’

  Clio hesitated. Had Ezra not been hidden mere feet away, she would not have hesitated to agree but she was damned if she would stoke his quite disgustedly inflated pride by agreeing with Adele.

  ‘All dukes are regarded as handsome, even if they look like the back end of a horse,’ she replied. ‘But tell me how you got along with Lord Fryer this evening. Now he is a handsome man, and charming and polite and everything that a gentleman should be.’

  Adele launched into a monologue, praising Lord Fryer’s attributes, and obviously didn’t hear the disgruntled sound that came from behind the dressing room door. Clio did and smiled.

  ‘Well, I am glad that his attentions appear constant, although I am not surprised,’ Clio said when Adele ran out of ways to express her admiration for the gentleman she had clearly fallen head over heels in love with. ‘Of course you are beyond compare to any previous attachments on his part.’

  Adele’s pretty face glowed with happiness. ‘I will confess that I like him very much, but am determined to simply enjoy his attentions and let the future take care of itself.’

  ‘Very wise, my love. You will have ample opportunity to sneak away for a little walk with him at tomorrow’s al fresco luncheon.’

  ‘Mama is fretting about the weather. One of the gardeners warned her that there is rain in the air and now she is worried that it will interfere with her plans.’

  ‘It wouldn’t dare!’

  ‘Mr Conway is an oddity, is he not? I wonder why he danced if he cannot remember the steps. He trod on my toes and we only came together fleetingly in the quadrille. You must be near crippled. I told Mama that was likely why you came up—to get away from him, I mean.’

  ‘In actual fact I came up to get away from Captain Salford. The wretched man will not leave me alone or take no for an answer. His attentions are becoming tiresome.’

  ‘That is wrong of him, but I’m afraid Mama does encourage him to pursue you, with the kindest of intentions, naturally. As you know, she sees good in everyone, especially if they are handsome and charming, which the captain can be when he puts his mind to it. Well, he’s handsome all the time, I suppose. One cannot turn one’s appearance on and off in the same way that one can charm to order. Anyway, she is convinced that he has your best interests at heart and that you only require a little persuasion.’

  ‘She is quite wrong about that, but I do not hold my aunt to blame. Captain Salford should be gentlemanly enough to accept my refusal and be done with it. He is spoiling the pleasure that I would otherwise take from this party.’

  ‘Then I am sorry.’

  ‘Which will not prevent you from enjoying Lord Fryer’s smiles, and nor should it.’ When Adele yawned behind her hand, Clio gave her arm a gentle squeeze. ‘Take yourself off to your bed, my love, and make sure you get enough sleep. You must look your very best for Lord Fryer on the morrow.’

  ‘Yes, I think I shall. I am fatigued. Good night, dearest.’ The cousins embraced. ‘Get some rest yourself. I am glad you have decided against Captain Salford. For all his charm, there is something about him I find disagreeable.’ She tapped the fingers of one hand against her opposite forearm in a contemplative manner and frowned. ‘I could not say if pressed exactly what it is that deters me. Perhaps it is nothing more than my objecting to him spoiling your pleasures with his attentions. Anyway, you would be much better advised to cultivate the duke’s good opinion.’

  ‘Adele!’

  Adele laughed. ‘I don’t care what protests you raise, I saw the way he looked at you when you danced and it was not the look of a man whose feelings are not invested. He most certainly didn’t dance with you just because you happened to be standing nearby, but if you would prefer not to tell me the truth then I shall not press the issue. You are entitled to your secrets. Good night, my love.’

  And with that she was gone.

  ‘You can come out now,’ Clio said wearily, embarrassed by what he had overheard.

  ‘All dukes are regarded as handsome?’ He smirked as he threw her words back at her in the form of a question.

  ‘There are exceptions to every rule,’ she said, sending him an impertinent look that made him chuckle. ‘Now go! The party is breaking up and you will likely be seen leaving this room if you tarry much longer. Then tongues really will wag.’

  ‘It might be worth it,’ he said, ‘just to give the old biddies something to really talk about.’

  ‘The destruction of my reputation would be a source of amusement to you, your grace?’ she asked, tilting her head in a challenging fashion.

  ‘No, darling,’ he replied, chuckling, ‘but proving to them just what good judgement I have almost would be.’

  He caught her around the waist, kissed her lips fleetingly—too fleetingly for Clio’s satisfaction—and left her room on silent feet.

  Clio stared at the door he had closed behind him and returned to the window seat, aware that sleep would evade her and that the duke’s visit required a great deal of contemplation. The more time she sp
ent with him, the more confused she felt. She had never known anything remotely like the exquisite shards of sensation that he could create in her body simply with a look, a gesture, an innocent touch of his hand. She was a fair way to falling in love with him, which was ridiculous. He had made it clear that he looked upon her as a child, not as someone to be taken seriously.

  And yet…and yet he came to her room, kissed her, paid her compliments but hadn’t tried to seduce her. That showed both respect and restraint because Clio had probably made it clear to him in a dozen little ways that she would not be averse to the possibility of seduction. Perhaps it wasn’t seduction he had in mind, she reasoned. Perhaps he was playing upon her inexperience to make her think so, thereby diverting her thoughts from helping him. She knew that Lord Fryer’s attentions had made it impossible for Adele to think about anything other than seeing him again and the duke, having overheard their conversation, would be well aware of it.

  ‘But I am not Adele,’ she said aloud, thinking that she really ought to slip between the sheets and at least try to sleep if she didn’t want to look an absolute fright the next day. She climbed into her bed and the last image to filter through her sub-conscious before sleep finally claimed her was of the duke’s dark, intense gaze resting upon her profile in a profoundly sensual manner, as though noticing her, really noticing her as a woman rather than a child. It was a look that promised wicked pleasure, but he was too well disciplined, too conscious of his obligations to act upon his desires.

  There was such a thing as being too gentlemanly, she thought as she thumped her pillows in frustration. He had no business kissing her, smiling at her in such a provocative manner, agitating her passions and then leaving her feeling frustrated and unfulfilled. What she wanted from him she could not have said. She worried that she had disappointed him by allowing him to…To what? He had come to her, after all. Had he expected her to scream the place down? Had his kisses been a test of some sort?

  Perdition, all this speculation simply wouldn’t do! She might be inexperienced, but her senses told her that Ezra really had come to talk to her, to make sure that Salford hadn’t overset her, and not with ulterior motives in mind. So it followed that he had kissed her because he’d wanted to, or because he’d found the temptation too strong to resist. Clio chuckled at the thought of being a temptress. She wouldn’t know where to begin. Even so, Ezra had stirred something deep inside of her, and now that it was awake the feelings refused to subside.