Page 74 of A Duke Makes a Deal
Clara’s eyes went wide.
“Oh no—”
“Oh yes, please do, Clara,” Holly said, beaming at her friend. “It will be a pleasure to see.”
Clara glared at her friend then at Silas, who was glad to have caught her. She seemed rather uncomfortable with the idea, but then stood up, determination on her face. Silas hadn’t fully appreciated the gown she wore that day and was pleasantly surprised to see the seafoam dress. Though they hadn’t been to London since their wedding, Silas had recognized that Clara’s gowns had changed. He’d learned from his mother that the maids at Greystone had taken it upon themselves to remove the excess beading on her apparel, and the results had been fantastic. The one she wore now, for example, appeared much simpler, allowing Clara’s beauty to be highlighted instead of lost in competition. He also appreciated that its cut was generous to her curves, and he liked the way the color of the material seemed to light up her eyes.
She walked towards him, stopping when she reached him. Holly handed them a book and winked at Clara.
“Good luck,” she said with a grin.
“You’ll read from the same page,” Violet said, pointing to the passage.
“Very well,” Silas said. “Shall I begin where you left off, Mr. Trembley?”
“By all means,” he said, smirking.
Silas took a deep breath and read.
“The poor hearts of men that prove. Tell me more, are women true?”
Clara leaned over the book they shared, held open in Silas’s hand. He inhaled the sweet, familiar scent of her hair.
“Some love change, and so do you,” she said.
“Are they fair, and never kind?” he asked, feeling oddly connected to these words.
“Yes, when men turn with the wind.”
“Are they froward?”
“Ever toward, those that love, to love anew,” Clara said, her cheeks turning a sweet shade of pink.
Silas was very aware how close they were standing to one another. While they were married, it felt slightly illicit. These ridiculous words seemed rather familiar, even if they had never spoken them before, and they seemed to be having some sort of effect on them.
“Dissemble it no more, I see the God of heavy sleep, lay on his heavy mace upon your eyelids.”
“I am very heavy.”
“Sleep, sleep, and quiet rest crown thy sweet thoughts: Keep from her fair blood, distempers, startings, Horrors. and fearful shapes: let all her dreams Be joys, and chaste delights, embraces, wishes, and such new pleasures, as the ravished soul Gives to the senses. So, my charms have taken. Keep her you power divine, whilst I contemplate Upon the wealth and beauty of her mind. She is only fair, and constant: only kind, And only to thee.”
When his gaze lifted, the warmth in Clara’s eyes set his heart on edge. What a bizarre feeling to have. He had been aware of Clara in every way for months, but he felt in that moment as if another layer of her had been revealed. It was quite like witnessing a rose bloom before his eyes. Caught up in it, he hardly registered the sudden shift in the air that happened around them.
But then a cold snap shot down his spine, and he frowned.
“Well, how sweet,” an eerily emotionless, familiar female voice echoed into the room.
Chapter Eighteen
Silas didn’t haveto turn around to know who it was. By the expression on Clara’s face, he knew she was just as surprised as he. Turning around he saw Violet, Holly, and the others in the room holding a collective breath as they faced the entrance way of the library. Eyes following their direction, he saw Cynthia, the former Duchess of Combe, enter the room, on the arm of a tall, finely dressed blonde man who had an air of arrogance about him.
Tension seemed to crackle in the air, but Silas was hardly concerned about it. He had often imagined what it would be like to meet her again, face to face, but the only thing he could think to do was take a step in front of Clara, in an effort to protect her as well as a stab at self-preservation. Strangely enough, his anxiety didn’t rise at all as everyone in the room turned to see him, waiting.
It seemed no one would address her until Silas did so first.
For a moment he considered grabbing Clara and his sister and leaving the room without acknowledging her, but before he could decide, he found Clara’s hand on the back of his arm. The small warmth from her curled fingers gave him pause. All the while, Clara kept her eyes fixed on Cynthia.
Turning back to face her, he cleared his throat.
