Page 28 of A Deal for the Duke’s Virgin

Thalia paled and threw back the sheets. “Oh, heavens.”

“Care to explain what’s going on?” Mabel asked evenly.

“Not at the moment. Perhaps later. What should I wear, Mabel?”

Mabel considered, pursing her lips. “That depends. Do you wish to attract the Duke or bore him?”

“What?”

“If you wish to attract him, then the blue silk dress. If you wish to repulse him or simply bore him, I would choose the dove-gray dress. It’s pretty enough on you, but men like bright colors and new fashions.”

Thalia pulled a face. “Is there a middle option?”

Mabel reached into the wardrobe and pulled out a sprigged white muslin dress. “This one, I daresay.”

“Right.” Thalia tugged her hair out of her braid. “That will do.”

A tense silence hung over the parlor as she approached. Thalia tugged at the cuffed sleeves of her sprigged muslin dress, resisting the urge to pat her hair to ensure that everything was in place.

She paused at the door, feeling a wild urge to whip off her spectacles and put them away. Jonathan always said that she looked better without them. But she could not see without them.

With a sigh, she pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Immediately, four faces turned to look at her. One was Jonathan, who was standing uneasily by the fireplace. There was Christian, of course. He’d settled himself in an armchair, one leg crossed elegantly over the other, arms stretched out over his lap as if this were his house and the rest were graciously welcomed guests.

His face did not change when he saw her, but she could have sworn that there was a glint in his eyes. The look vanished almost as soon as she noticed it, however, and she wondered if it were her imagination after all.

Two strangers stood by the window, a tall, handsome man and a smaller woman in glittering gold silk, chin lifted, stare fearless.

“Thalia,” Jonathan said crisply, his voice like the snap of a whip. “There you are. What possessed you to come down so late? The Duke is here.” A flash of uncertainty lingered in his eyes.

Thalia could guess what her brother was thinking. He did not like the Lord of Scandal, but the man was also too much of a prize to ignore. Far too much of a prize. Offending a duke was never a good idea.

“I did not expect us to receive guests so early,” she responded.

Anger and panic flashed across Jonathan’s face. She saw genuine amusement pass over Christian’s expression.

“Thalia,” Jonathan sputtered, “you simply cannot speak⁠—”

“No, she is quite right,” the woman interrupted, stepping forward. She caught Thalia’s eye and gave a wry smile, extending her hand. “We are extremely rude. However, Christian will not be dissuaded when he has his heart set on something. We should not have come so early, but the necessity of this will become clear. Hello, my dear. It is Lady Thalia, is it not? We have not been introduced. I am Lady Trowbridge, but you may call me Daphne.”

Thalia blinked at the ease of the woman’s manner. She certainly hadn’t expected to be met with such informality.

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” she managed, taking her hand. “I did not mean to be rude.”

“Christian wishes to visit the Castwell Art Gallery,” Daphne explained, glancing between Thalia and Jonathan. “It closes rather early in the afternoon, I’ve been told, so we had to visit early. He was determined to take you, of course. I assume you discussed the visit?”

“They did not,” Jonathan interjected. “My sister would have told me of any planned excursions.”

Daphne’s gaze flickered briefly and thoughtfully back to Thalia, but she said nothing.

“The invitation is coming now,” Christian spoke up in an almost bored drawl. “I would like Lady Thalia to accompany me. And you too, of course.”

The casual inclusion of Jonathan was clearly an afterthought.

He reddened, nostrils flaring. “I have an engagement,” he muttered, as if he could not make up his mind whether he was pleased or disappointed at missing out. “Another time, perhaps.”

“Very well,” Christian answered, picking at invisible specks of dust on his knee. “I shall just take Lady Thalia, then.”