Page 11 of Duke of Wickedness
No, it was worse than that—she would have let him kiss her, buthehad been the one to pull away.Hehad been the one to put a stop to things, even though she had had a hundred—no, athousand—reasons to withdraw before she had.
How mortifying.
“Just be glad we aren’t like them,” Helen went on with a tired laugh. “Although, I suppose I had my adventures back when I first met your brother.”
“Please,” Ariadne said. “I am begging you not to tell me any of them.”
A gleam of mischief lit Helen’s eye. “All I will say is this: Edwards—” This was the Lightholder butler, a positive institution in the family. “—is very understanding about women creeping into the house at all hours.”
Ariadne playfully covered her ears. “I saidbegging,Helen. Please. No more. Have mercy.”
Helen laughed. “Fret not, little sister. I am now an old, weary mother, far too exhausted for antics of any kind.”
This was patently false; Ariadne had walked in on her brother kissing his bride passionately, not two days past. It had reinforced her desire to marry and live elsewhere posthaste.
“I’m sure you are,” Ariadne said dryly, which only made Helen laugh again.
For all her protestations about not wanting to hear about romantic exploits where her family was involved, Ariadne found herself regretting Helen’s silence when they lapsed back into a comfortable quiet.
Or, rather, it was comfortable everywhere except inside Ariadne’s head.
Just… why did it have to be the Duke of Wilds? She hated to admit it, but he’d likely been right about her being too naïve, too sheltered, too innocent for whatever debauchery was going on inside his home, the kind of impropriety that demanded that one cover every window on the vast Mayfair townhouse.
If she was going to banter and flirt with a rake, she couldn’t have started with one of the lesser ones? No, she’d had to go for their king himself.
Not that I’m planning on flirting with rakes, she reminded herself. I have a plan. I am going to follow the plan.
“How is your Season going, by the by, love?” Helen asked, peering down at her embroidery as if it had offended her. “I’m sorry that Xander and I haven’t been available much; poor Cordy seems to be getting all her teeth at once, and it has turned her into a proper wee beastie.”
Ariadne smiled at the fondness that undercut the insult in the words, made all the more charming by Helen’s heavy Northern accent.
“Don’t worry about that for one moment,” she told Helen. “I am quite all right as I am. Catherine and Percy have been wonderful chaperones when I need them, and Jason and Patricia are happy enough to come out every now and again.”
Helen smiled at the mention of her younger sister, who had married Ariadne’s brother, Jason. They had both been young, so their union had come as a surprise, but three years into their marriage, the pair still looked at one another with the besotted eyes of newlyweds.
“Still,” Helen said. “We will come join you one of these evenings. I promise. Have any gentlemen caught your eye yet?”
She had a gleam in her eye that suggested a friendly hunger for gossip.
“Don’t look so excited,” Ariadne chided with a laugh. “There are some potential men, but I haven’t set my cap at anyone just yet.”
Helen pouted. “Not anyone? You can’t even tell me aboutoneperson?”
In a flash that suggested that the previous evening’s temporary madness might have some lingering effects, Ariadne thought of the Duke of Wilds, with his bronze hair and his wicked eyes.
“Lord Hershire,” she said instead. “He mentioned something yesterday about possibly coming to call upon me.”
Helen frowned thoughtfully.
“I don’t think I know him,” she said. “Or perhaps my brain just isn’t working because I haven’t slept in a hundred years. I’ll ask Xander.”
“Donotask Xander,” Ariadne said at once. “He will get all big brotherly about it and drive us both mad. Leave that until there’s someone worth actually looking into.”
Helen wobbled her head, weighing the wisdom of this logic.
“Oh, I suppose you’re right,” she said. “Fine. I will not send him off on an investigative mission just yet.”
“You’re my favorite sister; don’t tell Catherine.”
