Page 104 of The Scandalous Love of a Duke
‘Are they talking about us?’ she breathed.
His fingers settled over hers on his arm again. ‘Ignore it. They’ll be bored of the topic in a week or two.’
The room was packed, but people seemed to move aside for John.
John did not stop but carried on until they reached his mother and father who stood at the edge of the room in the far corner.
‘Mary is already dancing,’ his father stated.
John’s gaze spun to the dancers. ‘With Framlington. He is an out-and-out rake and a fortune hunter. He has made no secret of it in the clubs. I would warn her off.’
His father’s gaze swung to John. ‘You are certain?’
John lifted his eyebrows in response.
‘You are going to have to write that list you promised me, of everyone I need to keep her away from.’
John laughed.
‘Pembroke?’
John turned and still holding his arm, Katherine turned with him. She faced another couple. ‘Katherine,’ John said, ‘let me introduce you to the Duke and Duchess of Leinster.’
The procession of introductions from this moment forward was constant, Dukes, Earls, Marquesses, Barons. Over half the room approached them. Her head was spinning with names and faces when it finally ceased.
‘You are popular.’
Katherine jumped as John’s Uncle Robert leaned between them from behind.
They both turned and John’s arm fell from beneath her fingers. Instead, she held his elbow.
‘But then this is a novelty,’ his uncle continued. ‘A Duke setting up his nursery before he is even thirty. My God, it is a miracle.’
‘Stop teasing them,’ Robert’s wife, Jane, interjected.
‘You were the one who said it was a crime to marry her in secret so we could not make a fuss.’
‘You were not supposed to tell them that.’
John smiled but it looked forced. ‘I apologise for depriving you, Aunt Jane.’
She struck his shoulder with her closed fan. ‘You are not sorry at all?—’
‘Of course he is not,’ Robert said. ‘He is the hottest topic in the room. Everyone has been trying to prise the details of who Katherine is from us. How are you enjoying life as society’s latest curio, Katherine?’
‘I have barely had a chance to breathe.’
‘Or dance, I suppose. Come along then, let me get you started, if you will allow it, John?’
John nodded. But Katherine hated leaving him.
His uncle was kind, though. ‘Congratulations, Katherine. I think you are just what he needs,’ he said as they joined a set. ‘However, I do not doubt it will be difficult.’
She did not know how to respond.
At the first movement in the dance which brought them close, he spoke again. ‘If you need any help ask, Jane can advise you. She has experienced society’s fickleness in the past.’
Katherine smiled. ‘Thank you.’
