Page 74 of Duke of Wickedness
“Well, it suits you,” he said, and God help her, this was painful.
She’d had a million conversations like this. A million atleast. They had all been fine… or at least she had managed to suffer them all easily until recently. But this—this was worse than any of those, not only because she had recently found her patience for pleasant nonsense to be staggeringly diminished but because this wasDavid.
She’d never spoken like this with David, not even at the beginning.
What had changed?
Ariadne was prepared to attribute this to some curse in the stars because, as she was standing there, suffering, Lord Hershire appeared.
The polite, faintly fawning expression he had worn when courting her was gone, replaced by a distinct sneer. Ariadne hoped he would just pass her by—and it was a hard day when she washopingfor the cut direct—but he stopped.
Of course he did.
“Lady Ariadne,” he said snidely. It would have been impressive, really, how much disdain he managed to put in her name alone,if she weren’t focused on what an awful, awful time she was having.
In the distance, Phoebe had given up pretending to look at trees. Once this nightmare was over, Ariadne decided that she and her friend would be discussing this at length over ices. And possibly cakes.
“Good day, Lord Hershire,” she said mildly.
He did not leave. It really had been too much to hope for.
“I suppose it all makes sense now,” he sniffed, daring a none-too-subtle glance over at David. “Your respectability is not as certain as it seems, if this is the kind of company you keep.”
David’s eyebrows rose, and it actually made Ariadne relax to see it. It was the first genuine reaction she’d seen from him yet today.
The viscount was not finished, it seemed.
“This is the problem with young ladies today,” he said with the air of someone unburdening himself of a long-held grievance. “You all present one face to the public, but inside you are…” He let out a derisive snort. “Well, I am too much of a gentleman to say such a thing in front of a young lady, even a young lady such as yourself.”
Ariadne’s instinct had been to let this whole mess go. There was little to be gained from perpetuating this idiotic confrontation, and she had enough experience with foolish, prideful men to know that humoring them was usually the quickest route to escape.
But the viscount did not at all seem like he was going to stop this anytime soon. And Ariadne…
Well, Ariadne was simply tired of letting men like the viscount trample all over her. And she was tired of needing rescuing. So, when she saw David get an intense look in his eye, as if he was about to object, she decided to rescue herself, instead.
“If you really believe that everyone shows their true selves in public, my lord,” she said, her voice like lemon sugar—sickeningly sweet with the tiniest bite beneath, “then you really must not have any close friends or family of your own. Otherwise, you would know that most of us save our true selves for those who earn it.”
The viscount blinked at her. She gave him her sweetest smile.
“Of course, itwouldbe hard to gather intimates when you insist on pretending that you are something you aren’t,” she went on pityingly. “But perhaps if you have… What did you call them?” She tapped her chin. “Proclivitiesthat you would prefer not to show to decent folk… That really must be very hard. My sympathies, sir. Might I suggest speaking to a priest? They are compelled to keep your counsel, and this may bring you peace.”
The viscount blinked. And blinked. And blinked.
Ariadne kept smiling.
And then the viscount just walked away. Without a word. He just turned on his heel and walked away.
Ariadne had recently taken a less stringent view of what constituted propriety in public, but even she felt that jumping up and down and cheering would be a bridge too far. Still, it was a near thing. She managed to contain herself with an excited little shake of her shoulders.
She grinned at David, forgetting the awkwardness of a few moments before, and found him giving her an approving look.
No, not just approving. Proud.
“Very nicely done, little bird,” he murmured.
She couldn’t have held back her beaming smile if she tried. His approval feltamazing.
The butterflies in her stomach dropped dead at the frisson of fear that came after that realization. She couldn’t let herself feel this way about this approval. This thing between them… She had to remember that it was coming to its natural end. In a month, possibly less, she and David would pass one another in the park and remember when. Their time together would be nothing more than a memory.
