Page 8 of Duke of Bronze
Sebastian, already gathering his papers in preparation for the House of Lords, greeted Copperton with a polite bow before making his exit. Petunia, meanwhile, was far less subtle in her matchmaking attempts.
"Oh, do excuse me, Your Grace," she said with a falsely innocent smile. "I should very much like to peruse the library."
Anna stared after her, incredulous. Her aunt had never cared for books. Not once in all her years had she expressed any desire to peruse so much as a pamphlet; and yet here she was, abandoning her to the mercy of the insufferable duke.
"You must remind me to commend your aunt on her blatant deception," Copperton drawled as he followed Anna to the drawing room.
Anna turned to him with a narrowed gaze. "Do you make it a habit of intruding on people's lives so early in the morning?"
Copperton leaned casually against the doorway, the faintest smirk playing on his lips. "Only when the intrusion promises to be particularly entertaining."
Anna huffed, resisting the urge to glance at him too closely. It was unfair, truly, how effortlessly handsome he looked—especially when he was being infuriating. The morning light castquite the flattering glow upon his chiseled features, the sharp cut of his jaw, his deep blue morning coat. It was positively maddening. Worse still, he knew it.
"Hardly the welcome I anticipated," Copperton remarked, his voice rich with amusement as he stepped further into the room.
"If it is warmth you seek, Your Grace, then I fear you have arrived at the wrong address," Anna returned smoothly, lowering herself onto a sofa with practiced ease. She gestured toward a nearby chair with the air of a queen bestowing a great favor. "Do be seated, if you must."
"I hardly think it an unseemly hour for a call," he countered, entirely ignoring her retort as he sank into the chair opposite her.
"We were just finishing breakfast!" Anna shot back, as though this alone should admonish him for his appalling lack of decorum.
"Finishing, you say."
Drat. He was right.
Anna resisted the urge to scowl. Theyhadlingered over breakfast, conversation drifting from idle gossip to the unavoidable topic of the auction. And in truth, his arrival was not the least bit improper.
She hated that he was right. More than that, she hated that he seemed to know it.
"To what, then, do I owe this early intrusion?" she persisted, though she suspected he already knew she was simply being contrary.
Indeed, the slight curl of his lips suggested precisely that. "I thought it only proper that we negotiate the terms of our outings," Copperton responded, settling back into his chair with the ease of a man who was entirely too comfortable in any setting. "I should like to know how you might wish to spend your time as well."
Anna parted her lips to answer, but after a moment of consideration, she instead tilted her head in mock contemplation. "Why, sharing my wants and desires would rather ruin the very essence of surprise and adventure, would it not, Your Grace?"
His brows lifted, but his gaze gleamed with unmistakable amusement. "Is that so?"
"Indeed," she said, feigning innocence. "Surely, as this wasyourarrangement, it is only fitting that you should bear the responsibility of ensuring it is not an unmitigated disaster."
Copperton let out a short laugh, the sound more genuine than she anticipated. "You mean to make me work for my own diversion?”
Anna's lips twitched. "I could hardly make thistooeasy for you. Surprise me, Your Grace?"
Their gazes locked, lingering for a beat longer than necessary. Anna was the first to look away, smoothing an invisible crease in her skirt. Her perturbation growing, Anna rose and walked toward the window that overlooked the garden, seeking anything to distract her from Colin.
"Well, in that case, prepare yourself to be romanced, Anna," Copperton murmured, sounding closer.
Anna stiffened, and when she turned, he was standing behind her. "I do not recall granting you leave to address me so informally, Your Grace." She despised the way her pulse fluttered at his nearness. Then, to her utter dismay, he stepped closer, bridging the distance between them.
"I took that liberty the moment I purchased your time." His fingers found a loose curl near her temple, twisting it lazily between his thumb and forefinger. "Surely, after a thousand guineas, a bit of familiarity is owed."
The sheer audacity of him! She ought to slap his hand away. But instead, she remained still, forcing herself to appear unaffected. She wouldnotbetray her fluster. Not to him.
Where was Titan when she needed him? Had her beloved hound been present, he would have made a most excellent distraction. But alas, the dogs were still on their morning walk with the footman, leaving her utterly abandoned to her fate.
"And one more thing, Anna," Copperton continued, deliberately stressing her name once again, his voice a silk-smooth drawl that only added to her vexation.
"What? Do you wish to renegotiate the terms of your impending display of romance?"
