Page 13 of Wedded to the Forbidden Duke
Instead, the duke walked off the dance floor.
Cecilia watched him go in shock. Clearly some of the other guests noticed, as well; she saw glances in her direction, and whispers that followed the duke’s retreating figure. No matter. She shook her head, releasing herself from the moment, and left the dance floor to find her friend.
But Nancy was still wrapped up in conversation with her brother. At the sight, feelings swirled within Cecilia that were difficult to place, layering atop the strangeness of what she and the duke had just shared.
Everything was going according to plan, yes. But if Nancy were to marry Zachary—indeed, if Nancy were to marry anyone—surely it would bring about some change to their friendship.
Nothing could truly erase their deep-rooted fondness for each other, true, and yet the shift would be there. They would have new wifely duties to attend to. A person who they would entrust every secret with, share a house and children and lives.
If Zachary were to be that person for Nancy, who would be that person for Cecilia?
“My lady?”
She turned in a surprise at the unfamiliar voice, then curtsied. “Lord Havish.”
The lord bowed. “If you are not otherwise taken, would you do me the pleasure of accompanying me for the next dance?”
She looked back in the duke’s direction, only to find him nowhere in sight. Why had he left so soon? Why had he asked her to dance at all? None of it made sense. If nothing else, at least a glance at Nancy and Zachary revealed that the duke was not over there trying inexplicably and incessantly to drive a stake between them.
But how to explain the rest of it?
“My lady?”
Cecilia shook her head and turned to smile at Lord Havish. “Thank you for asking me, Lord Havish. I would be most delighted to.”
Lord Havish was a perfectly respectable gentleman. He was certainly a better dancer than her first partner of the night.
But good Heavens, was he a terrible conversationalist.
It almost was enough to make Cecilia wish hewouldstep on her foot, just to give her a momentary reprieve from the endless droning he tried to pass off as conversation.
“So, my lady,” he said, after a long and awkward pause, what felt like an eternity through their dance, which was, somehow, not yet even halfway over. “Are you one for embroidery?”
It was the fifth such inquiry he’d made. Following questions about weaving, darning, cross-stitching, and crochet. Cecilia fought the urge to roll her eyes, instead forcing a pleasant grin as they swayed back and forth. “At times, my lord.”
“I see, I see.” Another long pause. He opened his mouth again. “Do you do sewing of any other kind?”
After suffered through three more excruciating minutes of dance and dialogue with Lord Havish, Cecilia at last managed to extricate herself, making the excuse that dancing with the same gentleman two songs in a row would not be proper.
Having shaken him off, she made a beeline for the doors to the garden. The ballroom suddenly felt nothing short of suffocating, and she needed to get out. She needed some fresh air, some solitude, some time to think amidst the greenery and peace and quiet. She needed to be able to ponder all of the questions that had been swirling around in her head all evening.
“Escaping the festivities so soon, my lady?”
A scowl rose to Cecilia’s face. What she most certainly didnotneed was to be furthered pestered by the one person she wanted least in the world to see. She whirled around to see the duke, hands in his pockets, walking smugly down the garden path towards her, that omnipresent smirk infuriatingly smeared across his face. With the light of the ballroom behind him, his strong, masculine shoulders cut an even more striking silhouette.
She stopped where she should, letting him approach. “I could ask you the same,” she retorted. “Are none of the young ladies in attendance worthy of your interest? Have your prior misadventures left you so easily bored?”
“I merely noticed your departure, Lady Cecilia, and was concerned. I wished to ensure you were not being accosted by any more tedious dance partners. That Lord Havish seemed to be causing you particular anguish.”
She scoffed. “Do not expect me to believe that for one moment. You are much more concerned with my brother’s affairs than you are with my potential dance partners.”
“Perhaps I have an interest in both,” he said. He had his hands in his pockets in a terribly casual way, which only served to make Cecilia angrier still for no reason.
“Ah, I see.” She crossed her arms and stepped back towards him. “So meddling in one sibling’s life was not enough for you. You demand to meddle in mine, as well.”
The duke laughed. “To the contrary, Lady Cecilia. I have no interest in meddling in your life or your brother’s. In fact, you are the one who seems determined to meddle, and I am the one who wishes to stop you from meddling.”
“You say that, my lord, but you have proved most adept at meddling yourself,” she crowed.
