Page 58 of His Tempting Duchess

Emily choked a little. “I… What? What do you mean, Mama?Of courseI slept well. Why would I not have slept well?”

Octavia eyed her daughter over her Society paper, yet another nonsensical rag written by an anonymous author. “You are exceptionally snappish this morning, Emily.Issomething wrong?”

Emily bit her lip and said nothing.

It was precisely nine o’clock in the morning, and she had not slept a wink.

By the time Cassian’s carriage had dropped her off in the same place he had picked her up, it was close to ten minutes past five. She was forced to creep inside the house, stealing through the kitchen, heart hammering. Fortunately, only the scullery maid was up at that hour, getting the fires ready and waking the rest of the servants. Another ten or twenty minutes and the kitchen would have been busy, and Emily would have been caught red-handed.

Her mother would have been alerted at once, of course. Emily was not sure what her punishment would be for stealing out of the house in the dead of night and then creeping back in before dawn, but it would doubtlessly be a severe one. She’d brought a good deal of shame to the family lately.

But then so have my sisters.We Belmont girls are famously scandalous.

Octavia eyed her for a moment but said nothing, before returning to her breakfast and her gossip rags.

Upon returning to her room, Emily had dressed for bed and lay down, but sleep refused to come. Not just because of the light creeping through the window, but because ofeverything.

Because ofhim.

She had fallen asleep briefly in the carriage on the way home, and she woke up to find her head resting on his shoulder. He’d nudged her carefully awake when they arrived, and she’d clambered sleepily out.

Now, she wished she’d said a proper goodbye. She ought to have asked him if he was going to call on her. But no, he would surely send a message this very morning. He would have to, afterthat.

What does it mean? The way he kissed me, the way he touched me…

She swallowed hard, remembering that dizzying rush of pleasure. She hadn’t even known that a person could feel like that. How had he known?

Who taught him to do that? He must have learned it somewhere.

That was a less pleasant train of thought. It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her spirits.

“Mama,” Emily began carefully. “Has the Duke of Clapton ever been involved with a woman?”

Octavia laid down the papers. “Are you asking me if he has ever had a mistress?”

Emily flushed. “I suppose so.”

Her mother pursed her lips, thinking. “I cannot think of anybody. But wise men are discreet, you know. My dear, it is almost certain that hehadmistresses. I know it’s not a pleasant thing to think of, but I always made a habit of telling you and your sisters the truth, and there it is. You know already that there is a distinctive double standard between men and women.”

Emily swallowed, nodding. “Oh. I see.”

Octavia tilted her head. “Are you disappointed? Are you thinking of marrying the duke, after all?”

Emily thought this over, chewing on her lower lip. “I don’t know.”

“He isn’t continuing to blackmail you, is he?” Octavia’s voice hardened. “I can’t say that I like the man.”

Emily sighed. “Not exactly, Mama. He’s been pleasant to me.”

An image flashed through her mind, that of Cassian leaning over her as she lay on the chaise, supporting his weight on his elbows, bare-chested, sporting that wolfish smile. She swallowed thickly.

Now is hardly the time for thoughts of that nature.

“I was only wondering,” she continued, suddenly keen to steer the conversation away from Cassian.

Last night felt ratherfresh, like a newly painted picture. One couldn’t risk touching it, or else the paint might be smudged and ruined.

“You have to marry, you know,” Octavia said with a sigh, setting aside the gossip rags and picking up a more sedate newspaper. “I know you’d like to have your freedom, butmarriageis freedom. Your sisters have all been lucky in their marriages, and so might you be. The only trouble is that after what you did to the duke—not that he didn’t richly deserve it, but of course, Society does not see it that way—no man will trust you again. Men never trust women who treat other men badly.”

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