“How long have you been the duke?”
He turned thoughtful, a small crease forming across his brow. “Some five years now, I suppose.”
She arched a brow. “You are uncertain?”
“I was three and twenty. Still rather young for a duke and not at all ready to assume the mantel.”
“Then you are eight and twenty now?”
“I am,” he replied. “Would you like to hear the story, or would you prefer to pepper me with questions?” The corners of his mouth tipped up.
She pressed her lips together and averted her gaze. Drat! She’d done it again. Shown an interest in him she had no business having.
“I will take that as permission to continue the story.”
He squeezed her hand where it rested on his arm, and sensations roiled through her. She needed to get away from the dratted man before he ensnared her.
“As I said, it was several years ago. I had just recently ascended to duke, and thetonwas a buzz with speculation. Everyone assumed I would take a wife quickly in order to fulfill my duty. I honestly believed I would as well. I attended picnics, balls, and dinner parties looking for a wife, but soon discovered that I wanted more than a pretty face to spend my life with.”
Annie turned her gaze on him. “What changed your mind?”
“To many conversations with debutantes that bored me stiff and far too many mamas shoving their daughters into my path. It did not take long for me to learn that my title was a hinderance. It made it hard, if not impossible, to really know a woman when most were more interested in my title than they were me.” He drew them to a stop in the center of the garden, where stones formed a large circular area surrounded by trees and flowering hedges.
Annie glanced behind them to find Gran. She was lowering herself onto a bench. “Do not fret. I only need a few minutes to rest,” she called out.
Annie looked at the duke. “Perhaps we should return? My grandmother is tired.”
“I most certainly am not. I just need a few moments off my feet,” Gran said, her voice firm and loud. “Act as if I am not here at all.”
“Are you certain?” The duke asked, leading Annie toward Gran.
“Quite.” Gran waved them away. “Take yourselves over there and let me rest.”
“As you wish.” The duke smiled. “I trust you will let us know when you are ready to return to the house.”
Gran gave a firm nod.
The duke turned and lead Annie across the opening to stand near a gardenia bush. “So you decided not to marry at all and ruined your reputation in order to dissuade ladies from setting their caps for you?”
“Not exactly.” The duke plucked a white gardenia from the bush and twirled it between his fingers. “I was jaded, but I had not given up entirely. Then it happened. One night I was attending the opera and a desperate lady entered my box. An unchaperoned lady. She flung herself into my arms, pushing me off balance and near the front of the box. Then she attempted to press her lips to mine. I released her and stepped back. She shrieked loud enough for the entire assembly to hear. She insisted I had ruined her and we would wed.”
Annie cringed at the woman’s actions. “Goodness me. You cannot be serious.”
“I am quite serious,” the duke said without an ounce of humor in his normally teasing eyes. “She made quite a spectacle.”
“How did you escape the parsons’ noose?”
“My mother had been seated in the back corner of the box along with the Marchioness of Hatfield. The two of them witnessed the whole spectacle while everyone else was busy watching a couple get engaged in the main hall. The silly chit chose her timing badly, though that may not have been enough to save me. It was truly my Mother and the Marchioness that did the saving. They warned the lady that they had witnessed her entire performance and that while it rivaled the play in progress, it would never see her married to me.”
“And that was enough to silence her and send her on her way?” Annie asked.
The duke shook his head. “I am afraid not. The chit’s mother entered the box as my mother was chiding her. It was clear the scheme had been a collective effort as her mother stormed in, acting as if she had caught us in a wild embrace. When she realized nothing was amiss, she pressed her lips tight and shot daggers at Mother and the Marchioness. She demanded to know what the meaning of this was.”
He chuckled. “Mother and the Marchioness were all too happy to explain what the angry woman’s daughter had done and the consequences to their families’ reputation if anyone should learn of their scheming.”
“Good for them.” Annie gave a firm nod. “What a horrible woman, but I do not understand why her actions would make you decide to forgo marriage completely.”
“Dear me, did I say never?” He pressed his palm to his chest in a gesture of affront or innocence. She was not sure which. He continued, “I am not opposed to marriage, should the correct lady come around. I am simply opposed to scheming, title hungry women. I want more in a wife.” He gave her a rakish look. His lips tilted up and his expression turned sensual. “Perhaps a woman like you could persuade me.”
