Page 22 of His Enemy Duchess

The two men sat down on the low wall that bordered the terrace, the muted music of the ball providing the orchestralaccompaniment as they spent the next few minutes sharing the flask between them and talking.

Thomas regaled his friend with the story of how his idiot brother fell for the oldest trick in the book and got taunted into a duel by the younger Kendall brother, and how Sophia had come to try and salvage the truce he had offered. He added a refresher on their families’ hatred for one another for good measure, though it was a timeworn tale at that juncture.

Robert remained mostly silent, drinking and nodding here and there, only interrupting at the mention of Sophia.

“Well, what does she look like?”

Thomas took the flask and sipped from it. “See for yourself.”

“What? She’s here?”

Thomas nodded back towards the ballroom, where he last saw Sophia. He had left her at a table halfway down the far side of the room, just visible from where the two men sat. She was still there, all alone. The other guests did not know her as they knew him, so it appeared they were not inclined to approach her and ask about her welfare.

“Which one is she?” Robert asked, stealing the flask back.

“The one devouring the tart with the tact of a capuchin monkey.”

Sophia was indeed chomping on a scrumptious-looking apple tart, crumbs and sticky fruit clinging to her lips. Thomas rolled his tongue over his lips as if he could taste it.

She will need lessons in dining etiquette too,he told himself quickly, averting his gaze.

Meanwhile, Robert gasped and elbowed him so hard in the ribs that he nearly fell off the wall. “What on… Thomas, she is exquisite!”

“I’m sure she is in some circles,” Thomas rasped, holding his bruised side.

“In some circles? Are you blind, man? She is as beauteous a rare bird as any I have seen, in any circle.” Robert turned back to observe his friend. “What’s wrong? Is there something I am missing here, Thomas?”

“She’s a Kendall. That’s what’s wrong with her.”

And she is uncouth and uncivilized, and I cannot stop thinking about the way she felt in my arms. How I wanted to hold her there and?—

Thomas swiped the flask back and took a long,longsip.

Robert squinted. “Forgive me for being as dense as an ingot, but I thought that was the entire point of the wedding?”

“It is, but… it is only now dawning on me that I am going to be shackled to that crumb-mouthed, wrong-footed, spiteful creature for the rest of my life.” Thomas huffed out a breath. “I am lamenting my circumstances, and, as my friend, it is your obligation to let me wallow.”

“If you are so averse, then why are you going forward with it?”

“Because duty is above all. It is above my wants and needs, and it is above hers too. That is the one thing we have in common, and that is where our commonalities end.”

Robert swung his legs, shaking his head. “I’m sure you are exaggerating, Thomas. She can’t be that bad. From over here, she looks like a ray of sunshine.”

“A ray of sunshine concentrated through a magnifying glass, ready to scorch me like an ant, that doesn’t care where it’s pointing and what it’s harming. She is a Kendall—did you miss that part?” Thomas paused and took another long sip of the brandy, feeling the burn of it in his stomach.

“My entire life, my father did his best, educating me every single day, preparing me to be a worthy heir to ensure the Dukedom of Heathcote flourished,” he continued haltingly. “He taught me the importance of rules and propriety, all while the Kendalls raised their children to not give the slightest care about the exact same things. We couldn’tbemore different… Do you understand now?”

“You are water, she is oil. Is that it?”

Thomas nodded quietly in response.

“That is an interesting idiom.” Robert grinned. “You know what else is a common phrase? Opposites attract.”

Thomas sighed in response, staring into the darkness, wondering if it might swallow him up until the day after tomorrow.

“You may not like it, but it’s true,” Robert urged. “I have seen it with my very own eyes. Take Lord Alencourt. When he married that woman… Uh, what’s her name?”

“Katherine.”

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