Page 37 of It's All About the Duke
“Esmeralda said you were so surprised your package was shaking in your hands.”
What little mischiefs their wives were to get back at him in such a fashion.
The ladies had turned the tables on him and told the story so that he was the one uncomfortable and awkward. How clever. He should have known, or at least suspected, they would. Neither Griffin nor Hawk would have married a lady who wasn’t up to the challenge of taking on a man no matter the situation or where they were. Still, he was quite impressed they had thought to make him the one unnerved by the chance meeting.
Rath eyed both men carefully. They were telling the truth as they knew it. So be it. He was all right with however the ladies explained the encounter to their husbands. He would never contradict the two duchesses.
“Esmeralda was amused about the incident,” Griffin said, “though she admitted to being a bit astonished to see you in there at first.”
Horrified at first is more like it.
“She said that after a moment or two you collected yourself and the three of you had a nice conversation.”
I had to collect myself?
“Loretta admitted she didn’t know if she’d ever go into that shop again,” Hawk said. “She had no idea you frequented the place.”
He was pretty sure he’d learned his lesson about entering a lady’s domain, too.
“That would be a shame for Miss Lola. There are some very desirable things in there.”
“Yes, but apparently they both said they didn’t want to be looking at ladies’ undergarments at the same time you or any other man was looking at them.”
Rath held up his drink to his friends and gave them a toast. “On that we all agree.”
“Why were you needing smelling salts?” Griffin asked. “Is your new mistress prone to the vapors?”
“I have no mistresses at the moment and am quite content on my own for now.” Rath had grown tired of their constant desire to please him and the fact there was no challenge in his relationships with them. “The smelling salts are another long story.”
They both gave him the same expression as when he’d said becoming Miss Fast’s guardian was a long story, and Hawk quipped, “Those are the kind that are always best told over a glass of brandy and in front of a warm fire among friends.”
“And maybe it is long but I have a feeling it won’t be boring,” Griffin reminded him.
“Your exploits never are,” Hawk added. He rose from the settee and walked over to Rath’s decanter without seeking permission. He brought it back and poured a splash into each of the three glasses before replacing it and then returning to his seat. “We have nowhere to go, so take all the time you need to tell us about it.”
“But before we get to that story,” Griffin said with allseriousness as he once again leaned forward in his seat, “I have one burning question that I must ask.”
Ah, as Rath suspected. They were interested in knowing what kind of things were in Miss Lola’s shop after all. He’d be very careful what he said, given that Esmeralda and Loretta had already reshaped what had happened to suit their desires. And it wasn’t as if there was anything in the shop that Hawk and Griffin hadn’t ever seen before, if maybe not in such an abundance of embellishments, scents, and styles. But he’d be willing to tell them a few details.
“Ask away,” Rath said and took another sip of his drink. “After all these years with you two, I have nothing to hide.”
Griffin’s eyes narrowed and his brow wrinkled with determination as if he had to get to the bottom of something pressing. “Do you really think Esmeralda should buy a silk chemise in peacock blue?”
Rath sprayed brandy all over the toes of their boots and the floor, too.
All three of the rakes burst into laughter.
My Dear Readers,
Though the wintry days of Christmastide are long past, it’s with good tidings of great joy I bring you the latest scandalbroth scattering throughout the clubs, homes, streets, and parks around London like flakes of falling snow. It’s time to stir your imaginations and make you pant for springtime and the approaching Season. I have it on the most authoritative source available that the Duke of Rathburne, the only bachelor left of the Rakes of St. James, is now guardian to a young lady set to make her debut this spring. Perhaps he thought he didn’t have to worry about revenge against him because he had no sister. Now he has a ward. I am fortunate enough to know her name and will share it: Miss Marlena Fast. So not only will we have the Duke of Griffin’s unmarried sister, Lady Vera, attending her third Season, we now have the ward of the Duke of Rathburne. We will be watching and listening to be the first to know if either young lady settles on a husband this year. We will also be keeping our concentration steady on the rumor that was firstrepeated here two years ago to see if there will be revenge against the rakes heaped upon Lady Vera or Miss Fast—innocent though they are—for the dukes’ past deeds.
MISS HONORA TRUTH’S WEEKLY SCANDAL SHEET
Chapter 10
He could be a rake if he doesn’t understand that it doesn’t take much to make a lady cry.
MISSHONORATRUTH’SWORDS OFWISDOMANDWARNINGABOUTRAKES, SCOUNDRELS, ROGUES, ANDLIBERTINES
