Page 12 of The Replacement Duchess

“Because if we were to be seen, I would be ruined.”

“Is that not what you want?”

“Not when my sister must marry,” she huffed. “I will not destroy her in the process of whatever terrible things I do.”

“Is this so terrible?” he asked, brushing her arm with the tips of his fingers.

Perhaps it was because she had grown tired, or that she hadn’t felt anything beyond contempt in a long time, or even that she had never been touched before, not by a gentleman at least, but his touch felt like lightning against her skin.

She could feel her breathing grow shallow, and her heart pounding. She was aware that they had been close, far too close, but she never would have expected him to close the gap between them. What caught her even more off guard was how much she liked it.

“Your Grace,” she whispered.

“Lady Diana,” he replied softly.

She shook her head, hoping her thoughts would leave as she did. This was improper and asking for trouble. No matter how much she thought she might like him, or how much she enjoyed the feeling of him, it was wrong of her to be there, and she needed to leave.

“I must go.”

“But—”

“No,” she snapped. “No, this is wrong of me. I am risking my sister’s future by being here with you. Being here right now is a very, very bad idea.”

“And what if a bad idea is precisely what you need?”

And maybe it was because she had never thought of that before, or because she knew in a way that he was right, but she decided to close the gap entirely. She hadn’t even realized what she had done until his lips had been on hers for quite some time, and for whatever reason, he had given in to her and had kissed her back, perhaps even more intently.

This couldn’t be wrong, at least that was what she told herself, because the gentleman’s lips on hers certainly felt anythingbut.Besides, it was perfectly normal for a lady of her age to kiss a gentleman, provided of course that she was married to him, but that was a mere detail.

But then she thought of how she was risking Samantha’s future for a gentleman she was not even sure if she liked at all, and in any case one that she would never see again. But she did not care. He was there and he was nice to her, but he was making her question things that she could not question and so she had to quieten him in some way.

If only she hadn’t thought of that method first.

She pulled away suddenly, her face showing confusion and perhaps even anger, and she noticed that his expression was one of shock, plain and simple.

“Lady—”

“Do not say a word,” she said coldly. “Not now, and not ever, not about any of this. You are to forget that it ever happened, and we will never speak again at all.”

“But, Lady Diana, I?—”

“I do not care what you want. I cannot concern myself with it. What I must concern myself with is my dear sister, who is in the ballroom just over there and will one day be a wife, and I cannot allow my willfulness to jeopardize that. It cannot. It will not.”

“You must know that you have done nothing wrong.”

“I have. I have, and I think you know that. My sincerest apologies, Your Grace. Have a good night.”

She was aware of him trying to call after her, but he was at least doing the respectable thing and doing it quietly so that he did not draw the attention of anyone else.

But she did not turn back.

CHAPTER 3

For the first time in her life, Diana did not wish to listen to her sister.

She did not care to hear a single word about her wonderful evening, nor about how the professor had called her prodigy of science and other wonderful things, not when she was so conflicted.

She also hated that she was conflicted. There was no need to be, after all; it was so clear that she was completely wrong for what had happened, and it was her fault entirely, and she should have just allowed the Duke to be kind to her and smiled and spoken meekly like she was expected to, then he might have left her alone.

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