Page 1 of Five Nights with a Rakish Duke
Chapter One
“You know my golden rule,” Asher said as he climbed up the steps of Lady Chamber’s town manor. Viscountess Chambers, Veronica Quentin, was holding a soiree that Asher had been keen not to miss. “Five nights.”
“Five nights? Not a single night more? Good God, man. If I limited myself to just five nights with one lady, I wouldn’t have half the good memories I do have.” Lord Dorian Upperton guffawed with laughter as he ran after Asher up the steps.
“That works well for you, but for me, five nights is the limit,” Asher said with a sigh as they stepped through the open double doors, past the candlelit hallway. and toward the ballroom where they were to be received by their hostess for the night. “Well, thatwasmy limit. It seems now my rule will have to go by the wayside.”
“Wait…” Dorian said and grasped onto Asher’s shoulder, pulling him back to a sudden halt. “What does that mean?”
“Why do you think I persuaded you so hard to come with me to this soiree this evening? Hmm?” Asher said with a small smirk.
“I thought it was because your widowed friend was here,” Dorian said, matching the mischievous look.
“No such luck,” Asher said, shaking his head. “My way of life is done with, my friend. A new life now lays before me.”
“What does that mean?”
Asher chose not to answer his friend for a minute, for he was still struggling to come to terms with the idea himself. He walked down the last section of the corridor, pausing just long enough to glimpse his reflection in the glass panels of the door.
Asher knew well enough why he was a firm favorite of the ladies in the ton; it was obvious in the state of that reflection. Tall with a commanding and well-built presence, he drew eyes whenever he walked into a room, but it was the chocolate-colored hair that curled around his temple, no matter how hard he worked to tame it, that usually made ladies look his way a little longer. The piercing grey eyes were another reason, for one look could ensnare any woman into his trap.
He smiled briefly at the reflection before pushing through the doors into the ballroom. The soiree was already in full swing. Ladies and gentlemen walked past him, each one eagerly moving to the dance floor for a waltz or a cotillion, whilst others huddled by the drinks’ tables, preferring to sip sparkling wine and punch to doing any activity.
At once, heads swiveled in his and Dorian’s direction. Feathers attached to ladies’ heads spun around so fast that they nearly fell over, and there was a halt in the hubbub of chatter as eyes landed on them.
“I do not think I’ll ever get tired of that reception,” Dorian said in a whisper to Asher.
“Ha! You grow more arrogant every day, my friend. What will you do when we are wizened and old, and no one wants to look at us anymore?” Asher asked under his breath, earning a devilish smile from his friend.
“I like to think I am immortal, and it will never happen.”
“You will have a rude awakening one of these days,” Asher said with a laugh. “Come, we need to find our hostess.”
“You still haven’t explained why your way of life suddenly has to change?” Dorian bugged him as the two of them walked through the crowd, past ladies draped in shimmering silk and gentlemen with chins raised so high it was a wonder that they didn’t fall over.
“Because I made a promise to my father.”
“Your father? But he…” Dorian trailed off as Asher abruptly stopped walking and spun back around.
“You can say the words, Dorian. I will not crumble to hear them.” Despite Asher’s harsh tone, he knew the truth. Whenever anyone mentioned his father’s passing, he felt the threat of tears. Since the day he’d lost his father to the dreadful illness, he had felt a shell of the man he used to be. “I have spent the last six months mourning his loss. Yesterday, I took off my mourning clothes, and I now intend to follow through on my promise to him.”
“What was your promise?” Dorian asked. Asher opened his mouth to say the words, yet they died in his throat. His lips and his tongue went dry, for his body was so against the idea.
“First… I need a drink.” He spun away from his friend and crossed to the far side of the room, nodding his head at passing acquaintances, until he reached the drinks table. He poured Dorian some sparkling wine first then poured himself another and downed it much quicker than he would normally, but tonight he needed the courage the alcohol could give him.
“Tongue loosened yet?” Dorian said with a small smile as Asher turned back to look at him.
“As my father laid dying, he extracted a promise from me,” Asher said in a whisper, lowering his head toward his friend’s out of fear of being overheard. “The Dukedom was everything to my father, the heritage line, the estate. Good God, you should hear the way he talked of our bloodline! It was something he was proud of. Distinctly.”
“Ah.” Dorian took a sharp intake of breath. “I feel I know where this is going.”
“He made me promise to take a bride. With a Duchess and an heir on the way, the Dukedom will continue.” Asher looked down into the glass of wine in his hand, watching the sparkling bubbles as they settled around the edge of the glass. There was one lonely bubble by itself that hovered in the middle. That was how Asher had always felt, center stage and alone, but he liked it that way. The prospect of joining the other bubbles in the glass made his stomach clench.
“So, now your mourning period has passed; you intend to honor your promise?” Dorian asked to which Asher nodded gravely. Dorian followed this statement with a whistle of wonder then shook his head. “Rather you than me. I prefer a life of more than one lady.” In emphasis of his point, Dorian turned his devilish smile on a passing lady who smiled sweetly back at him and blushed before hurrying off with her family.
I always did too,Asher thought to himself with regret as his fingers tightened around the glass. One thing was for certain, he would have to marry in order to keep his promise to his father, but he had no intention of ever letting himself form an attachment on his wife to be. It would have to be a marriage of convenience, that was all. For what else could it be?Love is quite out of the question.
“In which case, who will be the next Duchess?” Dorian said with a great smile as he swept his arm around the room.
