Page 53 of A Duke for Diana
“And what Rosy means when she says you need ‘fancier’ shoes,” Mother said, “is you need dancing shoes. The shoes you wore last night weren’t really for dancing.”
He stifled a groan. Exactly when did his mother learn the difference between dancing shoes and regular ones? They’d better not expect him to dance. One short lesson given to him on a dark terrace with Diana in his arms had hardly made him an expert.
“I will be very glad once the balls and fêtes and Almack’s vouchers stop dictating how we spend our days,” he groused. “Or my money.”
“So will I,” said a lilting voice from the doorway. “Because it will meanyou, Your Grace, will no longer be dictating how we do either one. Rosy’shusbandwill. And I won’t have anything to do with that, thankfully.”
Diana was here. Good. At least he could settle this once and for all.
He rose to his feet like a proper gentleman and gave a proper bow. But as he straightened, he couldn’t resist saying, “Aren’t you the one who says that discussing money is boorish?”
“Were we discussing money?” Diana pulled off her gloves one finger at a time. “I don’t recall saying the word ‘money.’ You were the one who did that.”
“She’s got you there, Geoffrey,” Rosy said with a bit too much glee.
“Yes, she does.” Geoffrey let his gaze trail down from her regrettably buttoned-up, dark-brown spencer to her gown of spotted muslin. “Would you like to join us for breakfast, my lady?”
“I’ve eaten. Although I could use a strong cup of tea, if you have it. And honey, perhaps?”
He gestured to the footman, who nodded and hurried off to fetch what she required.
She sat down beside Rosy and began detailing where they’d be going after they left the dressmaker’s shop.
“Oh, and Geoffrey is going with us today,” Rosy said innocently. “He needs gloves and . . . What else was it you wanted, Geoffrey?”
He stared at Diana. “Shoes. Particularlydancingshoes.”
She didn’t so much as blush at his mention of dancing. Perhaps she was as “cold” as she said she was.
He doubted that. “I hope to be doing a great deal ofdancingat Almack’s next Wednesday. Did I happen to mention, Lady Diana, that I acquired the requisite vouchers for me, Mother, and Rosy? Apparently, the Patronesses there appreciate the opportunity to engage with a duke socially.”
“A properly dressed duke,” she clipped out. “Shoes rather than boots, breeches rather than trousers, a white cravat, and a chapeau bras.”
He cocked up one brow. “Do you really think they’d turn me away for leaving off any of those?”
“I know they would. They’ve done it before.”
“To a duke?”
“To an earl. Ask your friend Lord Foxstead, who tried to get in with trousers.”
That sounded like Foxstead. He shook his head. “Fine. I will attend as a ‘properly dressed duke.’ Thank God I have all those things.”
“Thankheavensyou do.” The footman brought her tea, and she rose to take it from him, then set it down on the table. “Your Grace, might we speak a moment in private? There are some things regarding your account that I must go over.”
He nodded. “Let’s go to my study, then.”
They had barely reached it before she exploded. “Why on earth, after days of avoiding me, do you all of a sudden mean to ruin me by referring to our ‘dancing’—”
“First of all, I did not refer to ‘our’ dancing. I wouldn’t do that to you. Which is why my sister and mother took my reference to dancing as completely innocuous. Second of all, I could think of no other way to speak to you alone. To tell you that I would like nothing better than to ‘tutor you in the ways of . . . passion.’”
“And as I toldyoulast night—that would be a huge mistake. I see that now. I have no desire to engage in an affair with a man heartless enough to mislead a woman because he lacked the courage to admitwhyhe can’t marry.”
“I have reasons for my secrecy, for my reluctance to marry, that I dare not explain, to you or anyone else. But it’s not because I lack courage or compassion. I have plenty of both.”
“I’ve seen no evidence of it.”
“Fine. Then I’ll give you evidence of it. So much evidence you will grow sick of it.”
