Page 68 of Trapped with the Forbidden Duke
Lucien stilled, and Jasper eyed him meaningfully.
Next to him, Edwina frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing,” Lucien said quickly.
“His uncle and cousins, of course,” Jasper answered, completely ignoring Lucien’s glower.
“Jas.”
“Oops. Was I not supposed to mention the relatives you’ve emotionally exiled? My sincerest regrets.”
“Are these the cousins you mentioned to me? Did you not say I could meet one of them? Rose, if I am not misremembering?”
Lucien tried to mask his surprise at her recalling such a detail. Distantly, he recalled telling her a story about Allan to comfort her and ease her worries about her brother and then mentioning Rose.
Now, he rather regretted it.
“You know that Rose will have quite the argument with you upon realizing that she was not invited, Luc. She is not your aun?—”
“That is quite enough,” Lucien interrupted.
He knew Rose was not his aunt, but this was not the time or place to discuss such things. He was not entirely ready to open up to Edwina about his relationship with his family and what he had been through.
“You are right,” Jasper said, nodding. “I apologize. Your Grace?—”
“You may call me Edwina,” Edwina offered. “A friend of my husband’s can be a friend of mine.”
“He maynotcall you Edwina,” Lucien protested, recalling how long it had taken them to drop the formalities. Jealousy rose inside him, but he tamped it down.
“Steady on, old boy. I have no intention of stealing your wife—unless, of course, she finds me devastatingly charming. In which case, who am I to deny her?” Jasper laughed.
“Tulley,” Lucien growled this time.
“All right, all right. I was merely jesting—you are the chap who has married the beautiful woman. Either way, I have my eye on a beautiful lady whom I hope to dance with at Lord and Lady Fairfax’s ball next week. She is rather flighty with her attendance at such things, as she suffers from frequent migraines, but rumors suggest that she is embarrassed to be her in her third Season.”
“And you are going to change that?” Edwina asked, excited, as she sat straighter. “Oh, how wonderful!”
“I do not know for sure,” Jasper said.
Lucien snorted. That was his friend all over—he often fixated on his crushes on women, only to move on just as quickly. Jasper was not a rake, but rather a man who fell in love easily and thought that every new woman was destined to be his future bride.
“Apparently, her father is a formidable man, and that is why she has not received any proposals,” Jasper continued. “Nobody is brave enough to face him. I suppose that’s what it’ll be like when a suitor comes to ask for the hand of your future daughter, Your Graces.”
Lucien tensed up. Next to him, Edwina shifted.
An awkward silence fell over the drawing room, and Lucien glared at Jasper. “I think it is time you and I retreated to the study,” he muttered, standing up and walking out of the room.
“Right.” Jasper stood up and flashed Edwina a bright smile. “Your Grace, it was a pleasure. I do hope we will meet again soon enough.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Do you ever not put your foot in it, Jas?” Lucien snapped as soon as they entered the study. “You did not have to present the notion of children to Edwina.”
“Oh.” Jasper sniggered. “Trouble in paradise already?”
“I have not married her out of love. I told her she shall not bear my children out of duty, unless she wishes to.”
“Ah, it is a sensitive subject, then.”
