Page 13 of Fit for a Duke
‘Nothing more to say?’ Aunt Fletcher pinched Clio’s cheek. ‘This is no time for modesty. However, have it your way. Come along, Captain. I shall not keep you from dearest Clio for long.’
Captain Salford looked furious to have had his clumsy ploy exposed. Clio sensed an air of danger about him that he’d previously managed to keep concealed. He clearly hadn’t expected to encounter any opposition from her, mainly because she had remained docile in all previous exchanges with him, doubtless giving him the impression that she would be easy to manipulate. That, she now accepted, had been a miscalculation, a grave error of judgement that had landed her in this embarrassing situation.
She watched him now as he sucked in a breath at the last moment and wisely refrained from insisting that she remain with him. Instead, he bestowed a charming smile upon Aunt Fletcher and offered her his arm.
‘I shall not be long,’ the captain assured Clio, ‘and then I shall be at leisure to explain myself.’
‘Not if I have any say in the matter,’ Clio muttered beneath her breath. Even so, the captain must have heard her, since he scowled. Lady Fletcher, who was a little hard of hearing, missed the exchange.
Clio watched the captain’s tall, lean figure and her aunt’s far shorter one until they were swallowed up by the crowd. Turning on her heel, she felt a sudden need for fresh air and slipped through the open French doors, cursing her aunt’s interference, however kindly meant. The pleasure had gone out of the party for her now on this, its first night.
The balmy evening air touched her heated skin but failed to cool the tempestuous nature of her thoughts. She leaned on the balustrade and stared up at the velvety sky as the last of the daylight faded and the stars emerged to put on a show that Clio was too preoccupied to appreciate.
She moved away before others who had wandered outside could accost her. She had in truth begun to suspect even before she had closed up Benton House and removed to Lady Fletcher’s abode that the captain’s interest in her transcended the avuncular. She had done nothing to encourage his expectations, and believed that she had seen the last of him after Papa’s death. Clearly, the man had a thicker skin than she had given him credit for. Either that or he was one of the fortune hunters her father had advised her to be on her guard against.
‘How dare he simply assume! Now I will have to spend the entire week keeping out of his way.’ Clio was fit to be tied as she marched up and down so fast and turned so abruptly that she almost trod on a flounce. Mindful of the ruinously expensive fabric, she forced herself to moderate her pace, but not her language. ‘I would not allow the presumptuous oaf to…Oh!’
Clio had slowed down but hadn’t been looking where she was going and collided with a solid wall. A solid wall made of muscle, covered with superfine and giving off a distinct masculine aroma that awoke every nerve ending in Clio’s body. She knew at once whom she had collided with and her heart rate accelerated as she glanced up into the duke’s arresting features.
‘You again,’ she said accusingly.
‘Talking to yourself, Miss Benton?’ Ezra asked, a little taken aback by the extent of the fiery anger that flashed through her eyes.
‘Eavesdropping, your grace?’
‘Certainly. It might interest you to know that I learned just this very day that eavesdropping is an excellent means of getting the wrong idea.’
She shook her head and smiled. ‘You will have to do better than that if you mean to convince me that you are not a potential murderer.’
‘Me?’ He flashed a boyish smile. ‘I am completely harmless.’
She sent him a disbelieving look. ‘You are dangerous and unpredictable, as are most men who find themselves in positions of authority that no one dares to challenge.’
‘Youchallenge me at every opportunity.’
‘That’s because I don’t want anything from you.’
‘Which is a shame.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ She paused. ‘Did you follow me out here? If so, I think it very impolite of you to disappoint all the young ladies inside who hang on your every word and deserve their share of your society.’
‘They are such a delightful gaggle,’ he said without much conviction.
She burst out laughing. ‘You might at least pretend to be sincere.’
‘Are you really engaged to be married to that…person?’
‘That is none of your business.’ She arched a brow. ‘You have something against Captain Salford?’
‘From what I accidentally overheard of your conversation, the same could be said of you. I have seen more enthusiastic brides to be.’
‘Do you ever answer a straightforward question properly?’
‘I am enjoying our conversation so much that I have quite forgotten what the question was.’
‘Liar!’
Ezra laughed. ‘You are not supposed to accuse dukes of lying. It isn’t at all the done thing, you know.’
