Page 82 of Dukes for Dessert

He left the dining room, knowing his departure would be the talk of the house party. Not that he cared. People often talked about him, and he didn’t care. Mrs. Langton and their hostess had been doing it just that afternoon, in fact.

Dare found himself in the library, where he plucked a book from the shelf and tucked himself into an alcove to read. If it hadn’t been dark, he would have gone outside for a walk. A book about the wilds of Ireland would have to suffice.

He lost himself in descriptions of lush green hills and bold, crashing waves. He’d no idea how much time had passed when he heard a laugh.

“Poor Lady Cosford,” a feminine voice said. Two women came into the library. Dare recognized them, but couldn’t have recalled their names on pain of death. One was married to a member of Parliament. Huxley? Halsey?

“Don’t pity her. This house party will be discussed for some—” The woman’s voice cut off, and two pairs of eyes fixed on him in his alcove.

Hell. He’d hoped to be invisible.

“Oh dear. We beg your pardon, Your Grace,” Mrs. H said, her face pale and her dark eyes wide.

“Were you discussing me?” Dare asked with a suffering sigh as he closed the book on his finger.

“Yes,” the other lady responded, which earned her a stifled gasp and a shocked glare from her friend. The woman shrugged in response to Mrs. H. “Whom else would we be talking about?”

Mrs. H exhaled. She turned her focus to Dare. “You did cause a stir when you left dinner so abruptly.”

“I know.” And he didn’t care.

“Oh, to be a duke, and do precisely as one pleases,” not-Mrs. H said wryly.

Juno’s words from earlier in the day came back to him. Perhaps he took for granted the fact that he could do as he chose and behave as he liked without consequence.

Not-Mrs. H cast him a cautious look, as if she expected him to react negatively to her comment. “I suppose I am allowed certain…foibles. Or at least forgiven for them.”

Dare suspected Juno didn’t forgive him for a thing. Had he done wrong? He hadn’t been entirely…pleasant during his promenade with Lady Marina at the picnic.

“Are you disagreeable on purpose?” not-Mrs. H asked while Mrs. H once again shot her a look of shocked distress.

Dare liked not-Mrs. H in the way he liked Juno. Neither suffered his grouchy demeanor. Well, not precisely in the way he liked the goddess.

“Not entirely. I don’t generally like people.” He shrugged, his shoulders scraping the back of the chair, as if that sentiment were common.

Not-Mrs. H’s light blue eyes gleamed. “How refreshing to hear honesty from someone of our station.”

Our. Was she peerage, then? He probably ought to know her name, but he wasn’t going to ask. It wasn’t that he didn’t have the nerve. He doubted he’d remember, so why bother?

“W-why don’t you like people?” Mrs. H asked tentatively.

Dare wasn’t sure how to answer that question or if he even could. So he chose to ignore it. “Shouldn’t you ladies be in the drawing room?”

“There is no rule requiring it,” not-Mrs. H said with a laugh. “We went for a walk.” She lowered her voice, a twinkle in her eye. “So we could gossip.”

“About me.” They’d already said they were talking about him.

Not-Mrs. H grinned. “Of course!”

Mrs. H pursed her lips as another flicker of worry passed over her features. “Lady Wetherby was most upset.”

“Indeed.” Not-Mrs. H edged closer to his chair, her expression eager. “Does this mean you aren’t going to offer for Lady Marina?”

While he appreciated the woman’s forthrightness, that didn’t mean he would contribute to her gossipmongering. “That’s between us.” He used an even haughtier tone than usual in case the woman decided to grow even bolder.

Thankfully, she did not. Exhaling with an air of disappointment, she pulled back to her position next to Mrs. H. “I had to ask.”

“You really didn’t.” He actually gave her a half smile, shocking her, which made him inordinately pleased. He had the sense that little surprised not-Mrs. H. Perhaps he should go to the trouble of learning her name. Or pay attention to who her husband was in case he recognized the man, if he was even in attendance.

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