Page 10 of Taken By the Duke of Stone

Noah snorted, "there is nothing to tell. She was about to pass out from lack of oxygen, hence, our timely return."

Her aunt's eyes shifted from her to her son. "Did you meet anyone at all? Who did you dance with?" Then her gaze dropped down to her dress, "What happened to your dress?"

"I introduced her to a bunch of my friends," her cousin said.

Lavinia and her aunt made a face at that and he grumbled at their expression. "They are not so bad," and then he walked away.

Lady Hartfield waited for him to walk away before she grinned at Lavinia, "I would not wish any of Noah's friends on you. I hope they are not the only gentlemen you were fortunate enough to meet."

Lavinia laughed, "I would not wish them on anybody."

"Well?" Lady Hartfield urged, "you haven't answered a single one of my questions. Do sit down, dear."

She knew that if she sat down, she might end revealing everything about the entire matter with the Duke of Wyld. "As Noah said, nothing happened. I spilled some lemonade on my dress, but it's not ruined, the stain can be cleaned out. Jenny taught me a trick that-”

"Lavinia, I don't want to hear about how to get stains out of dresses right now. I want to know if anyone caught your eye today at all," her aunt looked so hopeful that she felt ashamed to shatter that hope.

Her stomach roiled and images of the Duke crossed through her mind. Tall, dark, imposing, dashing. Like the protagonist from every book she had ever read.

"There was no one," she said quietly, eyes downcast.

"Oh," the older woman's shoulders dropped, and she shifted his gaze away. "Well, it's just one ball. There will be others with countless gentlemen."

"Yes, of course. There will be others."

But what Lavinia didn't add was that she had no intention of making a match this season, because what she wanted, she wasn't sure it existed outside the pages of her books.

She trudged to her room and found her lady's maid waiting to undress her. She turned her back to the girl, gratefully.

As she slipped into bed that night, she tried to empty her mind of all thought but she knew it was futile. Memories of that aggravating man assaulted her till she forced herself into a fitful sleep to escape him.

But even in her sleep, she couldn't escape him.

CHAPTER 4

"Miss, you have a guest," the butler announced the next morning.

"You don't have to announce me," Lavinia heard a familiar voice grumble before her best friend's red hair appeared at the door.

Ruben the butler sniffed at her with extreme disapproval before glancing at Lavinia, "Shall I fetch tea?"

"Oh you don't have to do that," she replied, "I'll just call for one of the maids."

An odd expression crossed his eyes, "I'm afraid that will be impossible, Miss. The maids are off to the market."

She blinked at him, "All of them?"

The corners of his mouth tightened, deep grooves appearing at the sides. "Not all of them. A few of them quit."

Her brows hooked up in surprise. Just last week two of the footmen and the cook had quit.

"Is there a problem?" she inquired, "we seem to be losing a lot of servants."

"Hmm. I can't say that I've noticed," his answer was evasive, "shall I get you that tea now?"

"Please," she smiled and he went off to do her bidding.

"You disappeared last night," Jenny began distractedly as she rifled through her reticule until she located the glasses she had had made behind her mother’s back. She plopped them on her nose and a brilliant smile took over her face.

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