Page 13 of Denying a Rakish Duke
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“She is not here.” Vanessa rose from her seat the moment that Joseph stepped through the parlor door. The pair stood in a stunned silence as the servants brought in bouquet after bouquet of beautifully arranged flowers resplendent with all of their vibrant colors. They were obviously not for Vanessa, and she knew that.
Vanessa chose not to comment on the expensive gifts, just as Joseph could see that they were hardly the first thing to have been brought in today. The tables and chairs were all covered in various gifts and tokens of affection. At the back of the room was a small white dog chewing on a bone contentedly, but it was the only living thing in the room besides themselves. Silently, the servants exited the room and left the door open behind them, and Joseph found himself alone in a room with the wrong Lady all over again.
“I apologize; I came to call on Lady Amanda as I said that I would … but perhaps your household takes their tea at another time? Should I come back?” Joseph adjusted his hat in his hands, unsure if he should simply leave. Would that make things better or worse? Was she sitting here waiting for her own suitors to arrive? He did not wish to interrupt that process. Then again, perhaps he did.
“My mother has taken Amanda shopping this afternoon while the weather holds. She was informed that there is a possibility of rain coming tomorrow, and so, she decided that now was the best time for them to conduct their errands,” Vanessa explained simply. There was a book laid face down on the table beside the chair she stood in front of and a tray of biscuits that she seemed to be enjoying.
“So, you did not have any errands to attend to yourself, then?” Joseph found that despite all of the other items in the room, it was hard to find anything that could hold his focus the way Vanessa could. He liked this dress a good deal better than the one that she wore last night; the pale-violet color complimented her fair skin and dark hair. Not that it did him any good whatsoever to stand here thinking about her dress color choices. Vanessa pulled at her index finger and shifted her weight from one foot to the other anxiously.
“Should you like, I can inform them that you came to call. I am quite certain that my sister will send you a thank-you letter for your generous gift.”
“That would be lovely. Thank you.” Joseph forced himself to stop looking at her. He forced himself not to wonder which book she was reading, or why she had actually stayed home on her own. He could leave, he supposed, but his feet did not seem willing to carry him out of this room.
“Is there something else that you require, Your Grace?” Vanessa asked in a voice that was smaller than it had been before.
Joseph shook his head. “No.” He had never had this much difficulty in making conversation before. “Perhaps I should stay because I am not certain that you can be trusted to actually pass on a message regarding me. I am not so foolish as to think that you have slept on the subject and suddenly found me a suitable match for your sister.” Joseph moved to a chair beside where she had been sitting, dropped heavily onto the cushion, and helped himself to one of her biscuits.
Vanessa inhaled slowly through her nose to keep herself calm. “I will pass on the message. I did not say that I would notaddhow obnoxious you were. If you leave now, I might choose to keep my comments to myself. If you linger, I will be forced to elaborate on how deplorable I find you.”
“Deplorable? That is a very good word. I think I rather like that— thedeplorableDuke of Willow.” Joseph smiled and fell easily into the banter.
“They will be quite late; I cannot even estimate what hour they might return. I am sure that a man of your standing must have better things to do with his day than to sit here, pilfering my biscuits.” Vanessa bent over and snatched the unbitten half of biscuit from his hand as it was halfway to his mouth. She dropped it onto the platter where it exploded into a pile of crumbs that nobody would be able to enjoy.
“Perhaps you could tell me where they have gone? I could lend my assistance in carrying their things; I do have a lovely carriage that should suit them well.”
“That is not necessary. Far too generous. They have plans to go to Hyde Park for a stroll after they have concluded their business, and your being there will be nothing but an unwanted distraction.”
“Perfect. Then we should also go down to Hyde Park. I fancy a good stroll. I heard that there is going to be a spot of rain tomorrow.”
“I am not going anywhere with you,” Vanessa said simply, but firmly.
“Yes, you are,” Joseph replied firmly as if there could be no other possible answer to his rhetorical question. He stood quickly and started to adjust the front of his waistcoat and jacket to hang where it would be most aesthetically pleasing on himself.
“You are mistaken, Your Grace; I will not be leaving the Manor this day, I am quite busy,” Vanessa insisted and sat down. She felt that should have ended the entire conversation and was quite vexed when he did not excuse himself from the room when she had clearly dismissed him.
Joseph made a show of glancing around the room, looking for people or activities that were not present. “Doing … what, exactly?”
Heat blossomed across Vanessa’s cheeks. “Sitting here and staring at the wall would be a far better use of my time than walking around the park with you,Your Grace.”
Joseph scoffed and shook his head. “Nonsense, I am wonderful company. I insist that you accompany me … or else I shall have to locate your sister without her dutiful watcher, and then, where will we be? How will you ever forgive yourself for allowing your precious baby sister to be so near adeplorablerake such as myself?” There was a twinkle in Joseph’s eye as he spoke. He could not deny that he enjoyed getting under her skin a great deal. He liked riling Vanessa up.
Vanessa visibly struggled to come up with a proper argument against his words, but he knew that he had won this one. If she declined to go with him now, then he would use the situation to his advantage and attempt to pretend that she was all right with his courting her sister when she was not. Her lips pursed together, and her slender arms crossed over her modest chest as she glowered at him. Her foot tapped the floor angrily as she pulled at the furthest corners of her mind to come up with a proper argument and found none.
“Very well!” she blurted and pushed herself back up. She crossed to him and jabbed one angry finger into his chest. “But you, Your Grace, will keep your distance from my sister. That is my condition.”
Joseph smiled slowly, and something inside of Vanessa heated. “And I am just supposed to concede to your wishes, am I?”
“If you wish for my company, then yes, that is exactly what you are going to do,” Vanessa said firmly.
Joseph stepped forward, forcing her finger to poke harder into his chest as he lifted a hand between them, his fingers curling around her hand slowly, one at a time as he closed the distance between them with a confident step. His fingers were warm and calloused as they held her hand trapped between their bodies. She almost could not look at him. That same curious but flustered feeling from the night before snapped into her chest, dragging with it an internal sense of panic. She should slap him or move away or dosomething. Yet, she was wholly rooted to the spot.
“Perhaps it is my distance from you that should concern you more?” He let himself admire the curve of her full lips and the way that her lips were slightly parted as her chin was lifted to him. It was almost an invitation, he thought, almost as if she wished to continue what they had started the other night— but before he could wonder too seriously if he could kiss her again, Vanessa shoved him away roughly.
“That was a mistake,” Vanessa breathed with some difficulty. “I do not know what came over me, but it was a mistake, and as you are here for mysister, it is a mistake that I will have to bear the guilt of for the rest of my days. How dare you presume to take advantage of me a second time!”
Joseph said nothing, and that knowing smile that irritated her so did not leave his lips.
