Page 14 of A Chance to Dance with the Duke
They were gaping wide-eyed at someone.
His stomach lurched and sank with foreboding.
“Oh, er, uh…I beg your pardon, miss…” the first twin started.
Time slowed to a sickening crawl as Carver turned, just as the second twin chimed in, “How d’you do…Miss Taylor?”
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Meg went still as a statue as the Duke turned to face her.
This could not be happening.
“I’ll just…we were only…” one of the Fergusons sputtered. His twin didn’t even bother. He kept his lips pinched tightly together as she turned her gaze from one fool to the other.
She almost felt pity for the Ferguson twins.
Almost.
Their slack-jawed gaping could almost be considered comical. And the horror in the Duke of Carver’s eyes…
Oh yes, she should be falling over with laughter right now.
And she would laugh. Soon.
One day.
But right now, it required all of her will not to cry.
“Miss Taylor.” Carver seemed to break free of his shock first, but the sound of her name had Meg blinking herself back to the present as well.
Ann, who’d been frozen at her side, no doubt just as horrified as Meg herself, also seemed to recall where she was. “H-how…how d-dare you?—”
“It’s all right, Ann.” Meg turned to the sweet redhead with a smile that made her cheeks ache. With her smile she tried to convey a silent message, and Ann’s eyes widened further at what she saw there.
Don’t, Meg tried to say.
Reacting in anger would only cause more of a spectacle. And in addition to Carver and the Ferguson twins, Meg noticed the crowd around them on the veranda beginning to take notice.
How much they’d seen, she did not know, but there was no mistaking the eagerness in their gazes as everyone seemed to catch on at once that the Duke and Pegleg Meg were having a confrontation.
Blast! This was exactly what she’d hoped to avoid. She and Ann had come outside to avoid the whispers and hopefully find a place to remain out of sight, and instead she’d come acrossthisscene.
Her lungs felt too small as she met the Duke’s horrified gaze.
Oh yes, she could well imagine he was horrified. He’d just been caught mocking the great Viscount’s daughter once again.
She ought to tell him he’d have to do far worse than this to earn her father’s censure.
He was a Duke, after all. And no one would let her forget it.
Her jaw was clenched too tight, and her hands were clasped together painfully as she fought with all she had to keep tears at bay.
She swallowed hard in order to speak. “If you’ll excuse us…”
She could see the steps of the veranda straight ahead. The sun had set, but the moon was bright, and lanterns lit the way to a garden. A sanctuary. She bolted toward the stairs, but his hand caught her upper arm, making her stumble to a stop.
She heard a giggle nearby.
