Page 22 of Married to the Icy Duke
Then why did she feel such a strange heat in her chest when her eyes met his? How could she explain the … theheavinesswhich seemed to land in her lower abdomen when he smiled at her? Even that wolfish, mirthless smile he’d flashed now and then made her shiver in a strange way.
It wasn’t a feeling Charlotte had wrestled with before, and it had come on rather suddenly. She wasn’t sure what to do with it. There was a sense of wrongness that she ought not to be feeling that way, but really, she could not help it. The feelings had just descended upon her, not unlike a rock landing on her head from a height. She hadn’t even seen it coming.
The manwashandsome, or at least she thought so; perhaps it was a natural reaction. It was simply an unavoidable matter, and it did notmeananything. Handsome men made womenfeel strange, and that was that. Men were allowed to speak of how beautiful women madethemfeel, so it made sense that the feelings would go the other way round.
In short, it was not her fault. With a little effort, she was sure that such troublesome feelings could be dismissed altogether. No doubt the duke’s own abrasive personality would free her of such unpleasant feelings.
Abruptly, the ground beneath the carriage wheels changed from rough, uneven pavement to smooth, well-raked gravel.
“We are almost here,” Thalia said curtly. “Now, I have been meaning to talk to you, and I had better do it now. Charlotte, you must know that I cannot stay here for days on end. I must return to Gabriel. Joan will stay to chaperone you, but there should be someone else. You must be careful, of course. You must be mindful of your reputation.”
“There isn’t much left of it,” Charlotte muttered.
Thalia leaned forward. “Don’t be so hasty. There is always more for a woman to lose in this world. I know you think that Society has been harsh on you until now, but just wait and see how you are treated if you were totrulydisgrace yourself. A man like the duke cannot be expected to think of such things. He might think nothing of being alone with you in a room, or of putting you in the most improper situations.”
Charlotte considered this. “What sort of situations?”
Thalia flushed. “Never you mind. Best that you don’t know. I am only saying that, while he probably does not intend to compromise you, the duke is not going to be much of a protection. You must rely on your own wits and instincts. And once I am gone, you’ll only have Joan. A servant really is not enough.” Thalia leaned back in her seat, nibbling her lower lip, thinking. “You ought to have somebody else. Why do you not ask your friend, Madeline, to stay with you?”
Charlotte shook her head. “I thought of that. But Madeline is so very shy and timid, and her confidence is so easily knocked. I don’t wish to introduce her to a man like the duke.”
Thalia sighed. “I suppose you are right. Madeline is a little feeble.”
“She is notfeeble, Thalia; she isreserved. It’s very different altogether.”
Thalia snorted, shaking her head. “Well, I shan’t press you. I cannot think of anybody else I’d trust to go with you, but I suppose we are at an impasse. The duke wouldn’t dare enrage Gabriel too much, as all the anger of the Orions would come down on his head. That’s something.”
“Ah, yes,” Charlotte muttered. “I forgot that in my life, I must always be connected to a man in some way.”
She tutted. “Promise me you will be sensible, Charlotte. I must hear it from you.”
“Of course I’ll be sensible. I am always sensible, aren’t I?”
Thalia shot her a wide-eyed, incredulous stare at such a phenomenal lie.
“Gracious,” she gasped. “I am amazed that lightning does not fly down from heaven to strike you for such a shocking speech.”
Charlotte gave a gurgle of laughter, kicking at her sister-in-law with one slippered foot.
“Oh, hush, Thalia, I don’t wish to be laughing when I see the duke again.”
Thalia lifted an eyebrow. “And why not?”
“Well, I want to be regal and composed. An ice queen.”
“An ice queen, you say?” Thalia chuckled. “An odd thing to want to be, when one is about to come face to face with a devil.”
Before Charlotte could respond to this, the carriage rolled to a halt entirely.
They were here.
A footman in black livery, accented only by the tiniest strips of red, hurried down the steps to open the carriage door. Thalia climbed up first, and then Charlotte.
The place looks much different in the daylight,she thought, delicately stepping down onto the gravel.
The next thing she realized, with a jolt, was that the duke was nowhere to be seen.
A small, middle-aged woman in a neat black gown waited for them at the top of the steps.
