Page 17 of Fit for a Duke
‘Thank you, your grace. That would be delightful. I can no longer hear the pianoforte so it is probably safe.’
They both laughed as Ezra conducted her past Salford as though he wasn’t there. ‘I’ll chance it if you will,’ he said.
Mark Salford gaped helplessly at Clio as she and the duke turned and walked away, laughing at something one of them had just said. They were more than likely laughing at him, he thought, his anger bubbling to the surface. This was supposed to be easy, damn it! Clio Benton had always been biddable, willing to do whatever her father asked of her. Just hinting that he had approved of their union should have brought her to heel, but the kitten appeared to have developed claws since he had last seen her.
She had grown more attractive too, in an understated manner. Marriage to her wouldn’t be so very bad. But that bastard Wickham appeared to be intent upon queering his pitch out of some misguided sense of revenge. The major general had taken Mark’s side in that ridiculous fiasco over the Spanish senorita, even if their close friendship had waned in its aftermath, as though Benton had taken Wickham’s word over his but didn’t act upon it for reasons of self-interest.
Ah well, Mark was nothing if not ready for a little healthy competition. It wasn’t as though Wickham would seriously contemplate marriage to someone as lowly as Clio. He was simply using her as a means to an end. It just went to show that his morals were as loose as he accused Mark of his being.
Well, if that was Wickham’s intention, Mark would bide his time and return the favour. He would save Clio from Wickham’s amorous clutches and earn her undying gratitude. Thus resolved, he sauntered back into the drawing room, ignored Clio and flirted with one of the chits who gravitated to his side.
Chapter Five
‘Where have you been?’ Adele drifted up to Clio’s side. ‘And what is all this I hear about your being engaged to the rather suave captain? You certainly kept that to yourself. I thought we confided in one another unreservedly, and yet you chose to keep the most important decision of your life from me.’
‘Not at all,’ Clio replied succinctly. ‘I was as surprised as you are. I think I would remember if I had agreed to enter into an engagement with anyone.’
‘Oh, but he implied to Mama…’
‘Or my aunt misunderstood, simply because she wanted it to be so?’
Adele smiled. ‘I did wonder about that. It seemed odd since I have seldom heard you mention the captain’s name, which I am sure I would have done if you liked him in that way.’
‘Well, there you have it.’
‘But still, if he likes you, would it be so very bad?’
Clio smiled at her friend. ‘Given the amount of attention bestowed upon you by Lord Fryer, I am surprised you even noticed the captain’s arrival,’ she remarked, keen to divert their conversation away from her own marital ambitions, or lack thereof.
Adele blushed. ‘I will confess that I find Lord Fryer’s company congenial. He doesn’t take life too seriously and makes me smile.’
‘In which case I give you my permission to like him as much as you please.’
‘I don’t think he feels any particular partiality for me,’ Adele said, biting her lip in a modest display of self-doubt. ‘I have seen him speaking with several other ladies since he returned to the drawing room and making them laugh as well.’
‘I don’t suppose he would deliberately set out to make them cry.’ Clio squeezed Adele’s hand. ‘I have barely exchanged a dozen words with the gentleman but he seems to be the type who is naturally sociable. However, I also happened to notice the way you engaged his complete attention at table. Take heart from the fact that I haven’t seen any of your rivals for his affections managing that feat.’
‘Oh, Clio, I have not fixed my interest on Lord Fryer. You assume too much.’
‘Do I?’ Clio asked with a playful lift of both brows.
‘However, I fully intend to enjoy this party, and if Lord Fryer should happen to crave my company…’
‘Good manners would preclude you from denying him that pleasure, of course. And why should you attempt to, my love?’ Clio sensed a presence and glanced over her shoulder. Captain Salford was bearing down on them, wearing a determined expression. The duke, Clio noticed, was sauntering around the periphery of the gathering, exchanging a word here and there, but never taking his attention from Clio for long. She was unsure whether to feel irritated or comforted by this self-imposed display of ducal protection. ‘I cannot face the captain now,’ she said to Adele abruptly. ‘If he attempts to press his suit, it will only strengthen his claims when others see us together and make erroneous assumptions.’
‘It is very wrong of him, and arrogant in the extreme to simply assume, based on nothing more than his close association with your father.’
‘Indeed it is.’ Clio gave another glance over her shoulder. The captain had been delayed by a question put to him by one of the matrons, but Clio suspected he would not permit himself to be detained for long. ‘I don’t want to argue with him in my aunt’s drawing room. That is a confrontation I will have to postpone until a more suitable juncture. Occupy him while I slip upstairs.’
Without giving Adele the opportunity to respond, Clio moved away and headed for the hallway. Glancing back, she noticed Adele conversing with the captain and Clio made good her escape, conscious of the duke’s gaze boring into her back from the open doorway as she ascended the stairs. She caught his gaze and he inclined his head, as if to reassure her.
Reassure her about what precisely, she wondered.
Clio reached her room without the captain running after her. She would not have put such a bold move past him, since he seemed determined to accost her and appeared somewhat perplexed by his failure to immediately secure her affections. Such arrogance!
‘Bah!’ she cried, ringing the bell for Daisy and then throwing herself onto the window seat. The grounds were in darkness, but for the occasional corridor of light cast over the gardens by the candles lighting up the ground floor rooms. She threw her window open to welcome a slight breeze and heard snatches of various conversations rising up from the terrace beneath her.
‘Goodness, miss!’ Daisy puffed into the room. ‘I did not expect you to retire so early. The word is that Captain Salford is here with the express purpose of paying court to you.’
