Page 73 of A Duke in the Rough

Amused by her friend’s distaste for the duke, Honoria snickered. “He’s not that bad. Anne thinks he’s handsome.”

“Anne thinks any man is handsome.” Charlotte tilted her head. “I suppose if he kept his mouth shut, he would be tolerable.” She turned her attention toward Honoria. “But the man is as fickle as the wind. Wasn’t he fawning over you recently?”

“Not fawning, merely being sociable.” She thought back on their conversation while they dined by Anne’s bedside.

“You’re not interested in him, are you? If so, I would say it’sfortuitous the leopard is showing his spots now rather than after you marry him.”

Honoria shook her head. “I’m not going to marry Burwood.” She held up her hand. “He hasn’t asked, if you’re wondering. But even if he would, I couldn’t bear it. Not if Drake and Anne?—”

“Say no more. Then let’s hope whatever the duke is playing at changes Anne’s mind.”

CHAPTER 21

With Anne across the drawing room, Drake leaned in toward Simon and whispered, “Do you have a tic? Your eye keeps twitching.”

Withholding a laugh, his mother’s lips pressed together. Juliana had no such restraint.

“Too much?” Simon asked, a grin breaking across his face.

“It’s becoming annoying,” Drake said.

Simon shrugged. “It’s working. Did you see her blush?”

Drake narrowed his eyes. “Any woman would blush with such overt advances. Perhaps try something more subtle.”

“Ho. Like you? Failing to tell the woman you love of your feelings? Besides, my wink has led to many amorous encounters.”

“You are to flirt, not seduce, Simon. That is, unless youwantto find yourself married to Miss Weatherby? Her brother would no doubt demand it if you compromise her.”

Simon’s eyes widened in horror. “God forbid! First, I’m not ready to settle down, and even if I were, my tastes lean more to the mature woman.”

“How old is she? She seems so young,” Drake’s mother whispered.

Before Drake could respond, Anne, the object of his mother’sassessment and Simon’s flirtation, finished her conversation with Honoria and approached.

“Is all well?” Drake asked.

“Hmm?” Anne jerked her gaze away from Simon, who continued to grin at her like a dolt.

“Your conversation with Lady Honoria? You both looked so serious,” Drake said.

“Oh, yes. Um.” Anne shifted her eyes up and to the left. “We were discussingThe Muckraker.”

“That gossip rag?” Aunt Kitty’s voice sounded from behind him, and he turned to face her.

“Not that I’ve been a subject of it, but that spurious venom has injured more than a few good names.” Aunt Kitty gave a sharp jerk of her head as if to drive home the point. “Might you have been one of them, young lady?”

“Well, um.” Pink blossomed on Anne’s cheeks. “Perhaps. But not as much as Honoria.”

Simon’s eyebrows hitched, and Drake’s mother and sister exchanged glances at Anne’s bad form.

Aunt Kitty minced no words. “It is uncharitable to cast another in a bad light in order to remove it from yourself.”

Once pink from embarrassment, Anne’s face drained of color.

“I’m certain Miss Weatherby meant no disrespect to Lady Honoria, Countess,” his mother said, then turned toward Anne. “You two are friends, I understand.”

“Oh, we are, Mrs. Merrick. And I would never disparage Honoria. I love her as if she were the sister I never had. Sometimes my words don’t come out as intended.”

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