Page 18 of Duke of Destruction
Lady Catherine Lightholder might not be a debutante in the first blush of youth, and she might be the granddaughter of his enemy. But that didn’t mean that she wasn’t an unmarried lady. And only the worst kind of scoundrels dallied with unmarried ladies whom they had no intention of marrying.
Percy had spenta decadecultivating respectability. He’d never been a scoundrel.
But in that alcove, in that moment—he’d liked being rakish, being daring.
And that was an impulse that hehad toquash. He had to.
“If I agree to stop staring at the Lightholder sisters, will you agree to leave me alone?” he asked, suddenly so weary of this conversation.
Or perhaps that was because he’d barely slept the night before, plagued with erotic dreams about tall women with soft brown hair.
“I will agree to temporarily stop bothering you about this specific issue if you come down and act normal at the party.”
David’s counteroffer was sharp; he’d always been savvy at business.
Percy sighed. This was likely the best he could ask for. And besides, he had to prove to himself that he was capable of ignoring Lady Catherine. She was nothing to him. Nothing.
“Fine,” he said. “I agree to your terms.”
David’s grin was wicked and sharp as a knife.
“Marvelous. And when you break the bargain, well—don’t say I didn’t predict it, aye?”
And then the confounded bastard stole Percy’s drinkagainand strode out of the room, his laughter echoing behind him as he went.
CHAPTER 5
“You can do it, Kitty. I believe in you.”
Despite her encouraging words, Ariadne’s expression did not suggest that she had as much faith in her sister as she professed.
Catherine didn’t blame her little sister. She didn’t have very much faith in herself, either.
She briefly pressed her gloved fingers to her temples. “Here is what we are going to do,” she said urgently. The other guests were milling around, their lighthearted chatter a sharp contrast to the sisters’ hushed conference. “If things get…strange, I want you to strike me.”
Ariadne blinked. “I’m not going to strike you.”
“No, not with your hand,” Catherine said. “With the mallet.”
Now Ariadne looked more appalled than nonplussed. “I’m not going tostrike youwith amallet, Catherine!”
“Just in the ankle or something,” Catherine said defensively. “Not in any place that would do me grievous injury.”
This did not seem to reassure her sister.
“No. I very much am not going to do that. Just…be normal.”
“I want to,” Catherine said, her tone a touch desperate. “I really, truly want to.”
Wanting, however, was unlikely to be enough.
There were not so very many aspects of house parties that Catherine found to be difficult or distressing. Yes, it could be rather unrelenting to spend a full week or more with the same people, and yes, guests did sometimes act in ways they perhaps oughtn’t, as if the rules of Society didn’t apply merely because they were miles away from London.
But she could handle all that. After all, the Season was more or less the same people over and over, and bad behavior could happen in London, too.
But it was this that she dreaded.
Thegames.
