Page 2 of Three Nights with the Beastly Duke

Rebecca shook her head adamantly, her blue eyes wide with panic. “No, I won’t,” she whispered. “I can’t. Don’t you see, Vinnie? I’m already in love with someone else.”

Lavinia looked at her younger sister wildly.In love?With whom? And why hadn’t she mentioned it before now?

“You must tell me who it is,” Lavinia urged as she regained her composure. “I can help you to talk to Papa if it’s a proper match.”

Rebecca bit her lip as she lowered her eyes to the floor and once more shook her head. “I can’t tell you. Not yet, at least,” she replied fretfully. “But you must help me, Sister. Please, don’t pull me away from the man I love to marry a monster. I beg of you. Mama wouldn’t have wanted this for me, and you know it.”

It was the truth, and there was no way Lavinia could deny it. If her mother were with them, she would have already thrown the Duke out on his arse. She had wanted them to marry for love and for happiness and for no other reasons.

“Very well,” Lavinia soothed, taking Rebecca back into her arms. “Leave it to me. I shall sort this out.”

Something between a sob and a sigh of relief left Rebecca’s mouth, and she burrowed her head into Lavinia’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Vinnie,” she sobbed. “You’re the best sister I could ever have.”

I hope to be.

Lavinia wondered how on earth she was going to turn this whole situation around.

CHAPTERTWO

“Lavinia,” Kenneth called, seeing his eldest daughter descend the grand staircase in their home. Beside him stood the Duke, who, after arguing over the acceptance of Rebecca’s dowry, had come to an agreement about the marriage. He thought it odd that a man of his stature would refuse the dowry, but eventually, Kenneth had let it go.

“There you are. Have you seen Rebecca?”

Lavinia froze on the step. She was not a good liar and, in fact, was a little too honest for most people’s liking. But now the need to perfect such a practice was upon her, and she had to saysomething.Beside her father, the Duke—her potential brother-in-law—waited silently and patiently. Much closer now, she did indeed see the scar her sister had spoken of. But to her, it was more intriguing than horrifying.

“I am afraid Rebecca is indisposed today,” Lavinia explained, pulling on a polite smile as she finished making her way down the steps. “Womanly woes are a terrible thing, are they not?”

“For heaven’s sake, Lavinia,” her father murmured, his face turning a dozen shades of red as he began to tug at his collar. “I wish you would speak more delicately when it comes to such things.”

“Apologies, Papa,” Lavinia replied emphatically.

“Well, they are quite horrid, I’m told,” Arthur said, injecting himself into the conversation.

Shock and amusement traveled through Lavinia as the Duke said this, and she turned to face him with a raised brow. “You know of such things, Your Grace?” she asked, barely able to keep the laughter out of her voice.

“Yes, well, I am constantly in the company of my mother and sister, you see, and with no other men around to share my time with, I’m afraid I’ve become the compassionate ear they lean toward when such a time comes,” he replied, the smallest of grins touching his lips.

As their eyes met, Lavinia felt her own lips curling upward, unable to stop herself from returning the small expression.

“Apologies, Your Grace,” Kenneth interjected, giving his daughter an exhausted look. “For the poor topic of discussion and for the lack of introduction. Allow me to present my eldest daughter, Lavinia. Who, I trust, will go right back upstairs and inform her little sister that monthly woes or not, duty must be upheld.”

“Arthur Kendall, the Duke of Whitekin,” Arthur replied, taking Lavinia’s offered hand as he bowed. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Dennis.”

“And you, Your Grace,” Lavinia replied politely, curtseying to him in a perfect manner. “Again, I do apologize for my sister’s absence, but as I said, today just will not do.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Arthur assured her.

His eyes were definitely green, she realized upon closer inspection, but she could see how she’d confused them with brown. There was something deep about his eyes—endless tunnels that navigated toward something hidden inside. And as she studied his scar, which had first been hidden by his wavy dark hair, she didn’t find it unattractive at all. But instead, intriguing, if not strangely handsome.

Most Lords she knew were as pale-complected as she, with their work keeping them inside. But the Duke’s complexion was as dark as a peasant’s in the field, and the texture of his hands matched such labor. Because of his darker tones, the white of the scar stood out bright and lonely against its tanned skin. It was awful, yes, but also…alluring.

“His Grace has agreed to a three-month engagement with your sister, Lavinia,” Kenneth stated, interrupting the silence that had fallen over the three of them. “So that the two of them may get more acquainted before the ceremony takes place.” He looked between his eldest daughter and the Duke, wondering if he’d just secured the right match.

Lavinia’s eyes finally left Arthur’s, and she turned to her father with a smile. “Well, that is most kind, is it not?” she asked sweetly, taking a step back so that she could look at both men. “I am sure Rebecca will be happy to hear of it.”

“Yes, unfortunately, propriety has pulled me from my home in Whitekin, and I must suffer the Londontonif I am to conduct my necessary business,” Arthur explained.

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