Page 30 of Stolen By the Duke of Ice
He finally believed it. Even the Pirate Story. And then it all made sense to him now. Dahlia’s talk of finding and marryingthe one. She wanted what she grew up surrounded with. She wanted a love match of her own.
The conversation and activity that Peter found amusing mere moments ago suddenly felt too loud and excessive. There was a wringing in his ears. The evening became overwhelming for him. He felt the air thin. He wanted to loosen his cravat.
When dinner ended, the usual custom of the men and women separating was not followed as well. No longer surprised by this deviance, Peter sat in the same sitting room, surrounded once again by a myriad of Dahlia’s relatives.
Jocelyn and Lillian, as he remembered them, sat nearby, and both listened intently as their mothers asked Dahlia to confirm the details of her rescue by the Duke.
“Was it really three hijackers? Such a frightening experience that must have been!”
“No, there was only one hijacker.”
“The carriage nearly toppled over I heard.”
“At one point it almost did, yes.”
“Did His Grace really carry you out of the carriage? You probably fainted, Dahlia, I know I would have had it been me!” Jocelyn asked, carried away by the excitement of the reliving.
“As a matter of fact, I did not faint, cousin!”
“Then why did His Grace have to carry you? Where you injured?” Lillian added.
“I was not injured. And I was never carried anywhere, thank you!”
Dahliah’s thoughts suddenly went to the morning in Hyde Park, so the blush that lit her face did not help in convincing her cousin otherwise.
“I think you were. How romantic!”
“Are we talking about Dahlia’s rescue?” More family members flocked around them as they heard the conversation.
“I heard people saying that you must have secretly been in love and that His Grace had been following you secretly to make sure you were safe; that’s why he was there when the hijackers attacked.”
“What? Where did you hear that?” Dahlia asked indignantly.
More voices, a mix of male and female this time.
“I also heard that your novels were meant as a secret code to?—”
“How many children do you want?—”
“So romantic! In your next novel?—”
“Wait! Wait!” Dahlia fairly shouted.
“We thought it would never happen for you, Dahlia, dear, so glad that?—”
“Now you will no longer be the only unmarried?—”
Peter’s face became an unreadable mask even as Dahlia looked to him with an unnamable expression. Horror? Pleading? What did she need?
Chapter Seven
“Amoment.”
Peter’s commanding voice had the effect that Dahlia’s did not. They all stopped, surprised by the Duke actually contributing.
“I do believe that you are making Lady Dahlia very uncomfortable.” Peter’s serious look deterred anyone from replying.
“As her betrothed, it is incumbent for me to protect her welfare.”
