Page 55 of Five Nights with a Rakish Duke
Good Lord, how awkward and uncomfortable will this dinner be?
Chapter Eighteen
“Iam sure you are quite wrong, My Lady,” Asher said to Penelope as she challenged him again on the play. “It seems our opinions differ greatly onMuch Ado About Nothing.”
“That they do,” she said with a smile, only too happy to hold his gaze across the table. It was broken when Margaret cleared her voice. Penelope snapped her eyes away, looking down at her plate of food that was nearly empty, realizing just what had happened over the evening.
Though the dinner had started with Margaret and Asher attempting to speak to one another, and Adam himself trying to draw Penelope into conversation, things had quickly shifted. Somehow, Penelope and Asher kept ending up in much more interesting conversations. Penelope could see well enough that Margaret was put out, increasing her tightened hold on her cutlery, so that her knuckles turned white. Adam barely seemed to notice; he was too busy looking down at his own dinner plate with the same sad expression that had been there since the conversation he and Penelope had shared before dinner.
“Well, Your Grace, I hope you will stay for drinks after dinner,” Margaret said, leaning forward and attempting to capture Asher’s attention again.
“I would be delighted to,” he said, bestowing one of those sultry smiles on her. Penelope felt that same twinge of jealousy she had felt whenever he gave Margaret attention, yet when his eyes turned back to her again, that jealousy abated.
What is happening?
“A-hem,” Margaret cleared her throat yet again. “We shall retire to the parlor for coffee,” she declared, gesturing to Penelope. “Brother, you and the Duke can join us in a few minutes.”
“Of course,” Adam said with a smile and a nod as he beckoned to the butler to top up his port glass. It had not escaped Penelope that he seemed to be topping up his glass a lot this evening. She frowned as he encouraged the butler to fill it nearly to the very brim before she followed Margaret out of the drawing room.
Once they entered the parlor, lit by brass and silver gilt stands of candles, each one bearing a bright orange flame, Penelope felt the air in the room shift. Gone was the easy humor she had been enjoying a few minutes before with Asher. The door of the parlor was closed harshly, and she turned around to find Margaret staring at her.
“Is something wrong, Margaret?” Penelope asked, trying her best to sound innocent.
“Do not give me that,” Margaret spat, crossing the room and thrusting a finger at Penelope’s chest. “You have been monopolizing the Duke’s attention, practically all evening!”
“I merely found it easy to converse with him. I apologize if you feel that way. Did you not find it easy to talk to him yourself?” Penelope asked, struggling to keep her smile at bay when she saw Margaret open and close her mouth for a minute, searching for words and failing to find them at all. “Shall I call for some coffee?”
Penelope extricated herself from Margaret and stepped out the door again, going to find a footman to arrange coffee. After she had found one, she was returning to the parlor across the entrance hall when she caught a shadow moving. She fell still, smiling when she realized who was walking forward with a great smile on his cheeks.
“Asher?” she whispered. “What are you doing out of the dining room?”
“I claimed a privy break in the hope of seeing you,” he said with a whisper and glanced around them, checking no one else was about.
“You best go back quickly, before anyone sees you here.”
“One minute more, then I will go,” he said, stepping forward and reaching for her hand. When he lifted it to his lips and kissed the back, all thoughts of protesting and insisting on his return to the dining room left her mind. She indulged in the kiss instead, feeling the press of his lips against her skin. He looked at her over the kiss, the intensity of that gaze suggesting he was as drawn to her now as she was to him.
“You barely spoke to the woman you are apparently courting?” she whispered with a teasing smile.
“I was distracted,” he said, still smiling as he lifted his lips off her hand. A part of her wanted to challenge him, to know why on earth he was courting Margaret when there was such excitement between the two of them. So strong that even as they stood together in the empty room, she could have sworn there was something burning between them, like a fire that could not be abated.
“You did not reply to my note,” he said softly.
“I didn’t know what to answer. When do you wish to see me next?” she whispered, quickly realizing that whatever day he specified, she was likely to move heaven and earth to be there beside him.
“What of tomorrow night?” he asked.
“As you wish.” There was a sound behind them, coming from somewhere in the dining room.
“Go! Quickly, before you are seen here,” Penelope said. He lifted her hand to his lips again and kissed the back, holding it a beat longer than he should have done. Penelope held onto the thrill of that kiss as he walked away, winking at her, before disappearing back through the dining room door. “What am I doing?” the reasoned part of Penelope asked herself aloud. Unable to find an answer to her own question, she walked back to the parlor, unable to take the smile off her face.
It seemed her body didn’t really care if she had put her heart in danger; it responded to Asher whenever he came near her, regardless of the risk.
* * *
“Try it,” Asher urged her again.
“As you wish,” Penny proffered her hand to take the strawberry from him, but he didn’t pass it over. She lifted her eyebrows in a question. “I thought you wanted me to try it?”
