Page 10 of Stolen By the Duke of Ice
“Your Grace has obviously had too much excitement tonight; you are spewing nonsense!”
“Dahlia Hill! You have been caught; there is no use denying it.”
“Give it to me!”
With a cry, she reached once again for the manuscript. His hand caught hers and held it firmly in his. She tried with her other hand; he moved the manuscript beyond her reach. Dahlia strained to reach it, her body flush against his in the effort.
“Ahem.”
A small cough froze them. Turning to see, the color drained from Dahlia’s face as she saw her friends, Celine and Rhys, the Duke and Duchess of Wylds, and Helena, the eldest daughter of the Earl of Huntington, together with all of Celine’s dinner guests, stare at them.
“Lady Dahlia,” Rhys spoke, obviously trying to contain his laughter. “I had not thought you would be bringing a guest, but I must remind you that the parlour games are still set for later!”
Celine threw him a murderous look. Helena slapped him in the stomach with her fan.
Dahlia jumped away from Peter, who stood motionless, looking back at all the faces that watched them. For the first time since all the excitement of the night, Dahlia became aware of her appearance.
Her hair had, by now, almost completely unraveled from its coiffure, her cloak and gown were rumpled beyond acceptability, and she realized that there was a tear in her sleeve.
Quickly looking at Peter, she saw that his cravat was twisted, his greatcoat was missing a button, his hair tousled from their wrestling match, and in his hand, he held the manuscript toThe Duke and the Mysterious Debutanteby Penelope Lovelace.
Had they heard? Had all of them heard their fight?She scanned the faces of the members of the ton who stood immobile, watching them. Finally, she met Celine’s gaze then Helena’s.
“This is not good.” Dahlia closed her eyes. “This is not good at all!”
Chapter Three
“My Lady, please you must dress for the day.” Biddy, Dahlia’s lady’s maid, raised the gown she had prepared for her to wear.
“What for?” Dahlia groaned against her pillow. “It’s not as if anyone will be calling for me. I am disgraced; do you not remember?”
“Dahlia, for heaven’s sake!” Her mother, Teresa Hill, Marchioness of Bolton, marched into her only daughter’s bedchamber. She stopped directly by her bed and pulled her daughter up. “We must not aggravate the situation any further! Put on that gown. Your father awaits you in his study.”
“Mama, what am I to do? I am ruined!” She gestured towards the pile of morning papers that she had, in a fit of near hysteria, gathered earlier that day. “Every gossip column has my name in it. Even the Duke of Ice, with his frightful ways, could not deter the gossips. I shall spend my life in this very room! Biddy, youmust be my constant companion; to be sure, from now on, you will be my only companion!”
“Dahlia, how you carry on, my dear. It’s not the time for your dramatics.”
“I beg to differ, mother; it’s the perfect time for my dramatics!”
A half hour saw Dahlia sitting in front of her father’s desk. Her mother, who paced the floor of the study, was wringing her hands.
“I cannot fathom what was on your mind, Dahlia.” Her father, Andrew Hill, Marquess of Bolton, was normally a very congenial man. At present, he wore the most serious expression that she had ever seen him wear. “And bringing Benson in on this scheme! I have a mind to dismiss him right now!”
“No! Papa, you must not! I gave him no choice on the matter. I am entirely to blame.”
“He could have refused you!”
“Then I would have done it on my own; I would have hired a hackney. Benson knew this, and so he did as I asked for my own safety.”
“Oh, Dahlia,” her mother went to her. “What on earth possessed you to do this? It is so unlike you; you have always been so agreeable, so-so?—”
“Unproblematic? Simple?”
“What you have done, Dahlia, is damaged your future with this authoress business!”
“Surely that is less of a scandal than being found in a most compromising position with the Duke of Icedale!”
“Oh, heaven help us, we must close Bolton House; let us retire to Cosgrove. The country will do us all good until this dies down,” her mother said.
