Page 10 of A Duke to Undo her
Briefly, the image of the Duke of Ashbourne flashed across Josephine’s mind as he had been in St. James’s Park earlier that week, flushed with feeling, damp with perspiration anduntidy-looking beside his well-groomed brother. Her stomach contracted sharply in what she took for a negative reaction.
“Again! Again, please, Josephine!” pleaded Melinda and Josephine nodded.
“Very well, but only if I can have a turn too,” she told the girl and began twisting the swing’s rope again as Lucinda sat on the seat.
Madeline shook her head ruefully both at Josephine’s words and her sister’s game.
“I believe you’re in love with the idea of Benedict Emerton rather than the real man himself, Josephine,” she accused. "Only the heroes of novels escape being messy, clumsy and sweaty sometimes. Men are only…well, men. They’re all human and fallible, you know.”
“No, I insist that Benedict Emerton is perfect in every way,” insisted Josephine with a grin. “My favorite novelist could not have written a better husband. He is so good-mannered and jolly and no one can deny that he has wonderful hair. Vera and Norman think he’s lovely too and have said he may call for tea whenever they’re at home.”
“You make him sound like a friendly dog,” commented Madeline but then shrugged as if giving up any attempt to convince Josephine further. “Well, if you are quite determined to wed Benedict Emerton, I think your best hope is to convince his brother that you could be the perfect Duchess of Ashbourne.”
Josephine had now taken Melinda’s place on the wooden seat and the girl was twisting her round and round. Madeline’s comment about Benedict Emerton didn’t offend her, Josephine herself having privately compared him to a handsome pet dog who would look well at her side and keep her company. That last remark about the duke did disturb her equanimity, however.
“Convince Cassius Emerton that I’m perfect duchess material?” Josephine considered with a frown as she turned, certainly not immediately convinced or comfortable with the idea. “How on earth would I do that? I swear, he already regards me as some kind of she-devil.”
Madeline looked askance at her friend as Melinda released the swing and Josephine spun round and round with her feet in the air and her peals of laughter ringing across the garden.
“For a start, show more dignity than this around the Duke of Ashbourne,” Madeline told her with mock severity. “Do not rise to arguments but overcome them by your ladylike behavior. Show him that he is wrong rather than seeking to triumph over his will.”
“Gosh, I don’t think even you would have the patience to behave like such a perfect lady with Cassius Emerton,” Josephine protested as she put her feet back down on the ground again and vacated the swing for young Melinda once more. “It’s not like speaking to any other man, somehow. He has this way of…getting under my skin. I can’t quite explain it.”
“If you wish to win the duke’s blessing for a marriage with Benedict, you will have to overcome your distaste for him,” Madeline stated firmly. “Believe me, there is no other way. Oh, the church bells are ringing four o’clock. I remind Father that we are going to the theatre tonight. He does tend to fall asleep after his tea. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Perfect lady, my foot,” muttered Josephine to herself as Madeline walked back towards the house. “He’s the one who’s at fault, not me. But I bet I could be a perfect lady if I tried.”
“I’m sure you could,” Rose assured her, putting an arm about her waist as they both watched Melinda swinging again. “Just act like Madeline or your sisters. Then he will understand that you are the right woman for Benedict and all will be well.”
“Yes, suppose I could do that,” Josephine replied with a dubious sigh. “I could try anyway.”
Chapter Five
“Look, how wonderful! We are sitting together too,” said Josephine happily to the handsome blond man on whose arm she was walking into dinner at Lord and Lady Kemp’s well-appointed London house.
Josephine and Benedict Emerton paused for a moment beside the largeplacementdisplay, presented for consultation on a liveried footman’s silver tray beside the dining room door. Josephine was pleased to note that her companion seemed just as gratified as she was with their seating.
“I made sure of it,” confessed Mr. Emerton with a grin before dropping his voice to a whisper. “There’s so many old fuddy-duddies here tonight that I couldn’t risk being stuck with one of them. Philip Kemp was an old friend of my father and he was most understanding.”
For a second they both giggled together but then Josephine sensed the eyes of others in the party upon them and fell firmlysilent. She could easily guess who might be looking askance at so innocent a slip in decorum. There was at least one guest here tonight who was likely to have found Josephine’s presence an unpleasant surprise rather than a happy one.
The invitation card from the Viscount and Viscountess of Kemp had been rather unexpected and puzzling when it arrived at Elmridge House earlier that week. Part of an older and more musically-oriented London social set, Philip Kemp was only a slight acquaintance of Norman. An invitation to dinner, and one so pointedly including Josephine, was something out of the ordinary.
Then, Josephine had learned from Madeline that the Kemps were close to the Emerton family. She had squealed with delight and jumped up and down in the Elmridge House drawing room when she realized that Benedict Emerton must have requested her inclusion.
“That is precisely what you must not do at Lord and Lady Kemp’s dinner,” Madeline had instructed her patiently once the squealing stopped. “You should say. ‘How kind,” or ‘What a thoughtful gesture,’ or simply nod and smile. Respectable ladies do not express themselves so unguardedly, or enthusiastically.”
“You expect that the Duke of Ashbourne will be there too, don’t you?” Josephine had asked in alarm, almost dropping the invitation as her heart gave a lurch in her chest and a cloud of butterflies dispersed busily through her torso.
It did annoy Josephine that Cassius Emerton should have such a physical effect on her despite her best efforts to quell it. She was determined not to be afraid of his unsmiling ill-temper. Yet, even when she was sure she had succeeded in thinking of him with equanimity, the mere mention of his name could do this to her.
“The duke rarely allows his younger brother to attend dinners and balls alone,” Madeline had warned. “Given that Lady Kemp is so friendly with the Dowager Duchess of Ashbourne too, I wouldn’t be surprised if you found her in attendance also. You really must be on your best behavior and remember your manners at all times if you want to be thought of as a potential wife for Benedict Emerton…”
Now that the evening of the dinner party had finally arrived, Josephine had been trying her hardest to follow her more conventional friend’s instructions, especially once she saw with her own eyes that the Duke of Ashbourne and the Dowager Duchess of Ashbourne were indeed both in attendance.
Josephine had been to the retiring room twice already to ensure that her hair and cream silk dress were both in order. She had even tried to copy demure Vera’s tone and mannerisms ever since she and her chaperones had walked in through the front door. She only hoped that the elder members of the Emerton family appreciated her efforts.
The unalloyed pleasure of finding herself seated beside Benedict Emerton did not last very long, with the Duke of Ashbourne soon taking his own seat directly opposite the pair on the other side ofthe table. It was a further effort not to groan at the very sight of him. Lord and Lady Elmridge were further down the table, close to the dowager duchess.
