Page 2 of Wedded to the Forbidden Duke
If, of course, that woman had not already previously overheard him prattling on and on about his disdain for marriage.
Cecilia gave him an icy grimace and her most perfunctory curtsy. “Your Grace.”
“Lady Cecilia.” He bowed in response to her abbreviated curtsy. “Wonderful to see you, after so many months away.”
“Yes. Yes, it has been many months, I suppose, since we last saw each other,” Cecilia said.
“Caught any good gossip in the meantime? I know you have quite a talent for listening at doorways,” he said.
Cecilia’s cheeks went red as she recalled that night. “And I know you have a talent for proclaiming your disdain for marriage for anyone to hear who might happen to be passing by,” she said.
She remembered how the duke had gone on at length, boasting about a widow with whom he had been having an affair—a lady who, according to him, was unusually sensible for her kind, as she knew well enough not to expect anything so silly as love from her dalliance with the duke.
“I imagine you have not mended your ways, while you and my brother took your adventures across the continent?” she added.
“I am not aware of any ways I have that might have needed mending, I am afraid,” he replied.
“Of course you do not,” she said. “Allow me to give you a piece of advice, then. If you do not wish for people to overhear you, you would perhaps behoove yourself to avoid speaking so loudly as to wake up an entire household.”
“Cecilia!” her mother said, stepping in closer and interrupting their argument. “I am glad to see you taking in the sunlight on such a beautiful day. And you have a friend over?” She shielded her eyes from the sunlight as she looked down the lawn.
“Yes,” Cecilia said, trying to cool her temper. She glanced once more at the duke, then smiled, turning her attention more fully to her mother. “Nancy has come to visit. You have caught us in the middle of a game—Nancy!” She waved. Nancy walked over, mallet swinging at her side.
“Lady Lindbury, it is so very good to see you,” she began, sweet as ever. “And…” She trailed off as she locked eyes with Zachary, her delicate cheeks reddening in a light flush.
“Nancy, this is my brother,” Cecilia said. “And Zachary, this is?—”
Zachary stepped forward, taking Nancy’s hand in his. “It is a pleasure to meet you. Miss…”
“Banfield,” Nancy said softly. “Miss Nancy Banfield.”
“Miss Banfield.” He kissed her hand, then smiled up at her. He had the same coloring as his sister, all golden hair and fair skin. Nancy blushed even deeper.
Both Cecilia and Ian’s eyes widened. But before Cecilia could say anything, the duke swept forward, repeating Zachary’s hand-kiss with an even more dazzling smile. “A lovely name for a lovely lady,” he murmured. “It is true what they say—even thegreatest wonders of the world cannot hold a candle to a true English rose.”
Though Nancy continued to blush at this new flattery from the duke, there was no mistaking the way her eyes continued to flicker in Zachary’s direction.
Zachary’s eyes lit when they fell on the mallet in Nancy’s other hand. “You were playing a game, you said? What were you playing? Pall-mall?”
“Yes!” Cecilia proffered her mallet. “We have room for one more if you would like to join.”
“Only one?” Her mother cleared her throat, nodding at the duke before walking away to sit down once more.
Cecilia sighed as her mother walked away, but turned to the duke with a strained smile. “Your Grace,” she said through gritted teeth, “of course you would be welcome to join.” As Nancy and Zachary walked away to fetch the other mallets and balls, she continued, “Though I wonder why you haven’t tired of swinging your mallet about, after your European escapades.”
Ian’s mouth twitched up at the corner. “You remain thoughtful as ever, Lady Cecilia,” he said, a twinkle in his eye. “I appreciate your concern for my… mallet, in particular.”
Rather than back down, she tilted her head. “My concern is not for your mallet, Your Grace, but rather for the women you bother with it.”
“Well. In that case, you may rest assured, Lady Cecilia, there is no bother. When I offer a woman my mallet, she comes willingly.” He smiled. “I assumed you knew that, given your penchant for eavesdropping.”
“I was not?—”
“Well then,” Zachary interrupted, stepping forward and handing the duke a mallet. “Here you go, Harwick.” The tension still hung thick in the air. He looked between the two of them, seemingly oblivious to it, before smiling back down at Nancy. “Shall we play?”
As they set up, Lady Lindbury retired to drink tea in the shade. The sun blazed high overhead, and bees buzzed pleasantly through the gardens.
“So, Miss Banfield,” Zachary said, knocking a ball neatly past hers and through the hoop. “You say you were also traveling this past year?”
