Page 1 of It's All About the Duke
Chapter 1
He could be a rake if he appears at your door unannounced and expects you to receive him.
MISSHONORATRUTH’SWORDS OFWISDOM ANDWARNINGABOUTRAKES, SCOUNDRELS,ROGUES, ANDLIBERTINES
Any man who boasted he had no regrets was a liar as far as Rath was concerned. If anyone should know, it would be him. He’d had plenty before and since he became the Duke of Rathburne more than five years ago. Though, like most of his ilk, he’d long denied having such a weak trait. Yet it was impossible not to when a man had lived as recklessly as Rath had.
Coming to that confounding conclusion hadn’t been easy, but it was why he now found himself standing in the frosty air in front of a modest house in St. James, oddly enough, not far from his own town home, watching a maid digging about in what was probably a recently planted kitchen garden.
A month ago, after no short amount of drink, Rath, who’d never sought redemption for his wicked ways, had experienced a change of heart. Of sorts. He’d penned aletter accepting the role of guardian for the young lady who lived beyond the door not thirty paces away. At the time of his sudden epiphany, his muddled, jug-bitten brain had thought a little penitence might be justified. After all, he’d been carrying around a fair amount of guilt for a man who hadn’t yet made it to his thirtieth birthday.
It was Rath who’d suggested the unforgettable secret admirer wager that years later still haunted him and his two friends, Griffin and Hawk. At the time, he’d considered himself a lucky man not to have a sister to marry off, as was his friends’ misfortune. That situation had changed overnight when his father’s boyhood friend, who’d recently become extremely ill, asked Rath to take over the guardianship of his longtime ward and see her suitably wed. His first reaction had beenno.
But then he thought maybe he owed it to his father to say yes to the old man. Rath had never done much his father approved of during his lifetime—well, except learn how to properly care for the dukedom and keep it prosperous. Perhaps doing this favor for his father’s dearest friend would rectify some of Rath’s misspent youth.
He remembered Miss Marlena Fast, and the memory wasn’t an altogether pleasant one. The only time Rath had seen her, she’d had unruly golden-red hair and scuffed elbows as she’d glanced up at him with big green eyes, mesmerized by him—he’d thought at that moment—only to then have her thrust a frog in his face. That had been when she was twelve.
Ruffian girls rarely, if ever, became decorous young ladies. Unless Miss Fast had changed—for the better—since he’d last seen her, there was little hope any of the eligible peers would offer for her hand. Rath might have to pad her dowry quite handsomely. Which he would do.That was preferable to remaining responsible for her welfare past the upcoming Season.
He’d had no interest in taking on the task of being her guardian and seeing to her future, until the night he’d found himself alone and blurry-minded when he came to the bottom of a brandy bottle. He’d reasoned that Griffin and Hawk had paid a price for what they’d done years ago and it could have been much higher than it was. Now it was time for Rath to do something. But there was no use going over that night again. The deed was done, and he had to carry through. While he couldn’t make amends to the young ladies he’d embarrassed with the secret admirer letters that went wrong, he could help Miss Fast make a suitable marriage. And perhaps in some small way atone for them, and make up to his father for never being the proper gentleman he’d always expected his son to be.
Rath turned his attention to the front door again. He might as well get this over with. He’d always succeeded in everything he set his mind to, and he intended to triumph in this challenge as well.
After expelling an audible sigh, he strode toward the house trying to convince himself that no matter how deep in his cups he’d been at the time, he’d actually done the right thing in agreeing to this outrageous, if noble, obligation. Lifting the knocker, he rapped the door a time or two. That sound set off a yappy bark. Seconds later a small short-haired, golden-brown dog came careening around the corner acting as if he wanted to have Rath for his dinner. The dog stopped a few feet from him and took an attack stance while he continued to alternate among barks, snarls, and growls. His thin, pointy tail quivered.
“Easy there,” Rath said after taking off his gloves and bending down to offer his hand for the mongrel to sniff.But the little fellow wasn’t interested in making friends just yet. He only wanted to continue his alarm and make sure everyone in the neighborhood knew someone was at his master’s door.
A few moments later a stout-looking woman wearing a ruffled mobcap and clean apron opened the door, smiled generously at him, and said, “Good afternoon, sir. How may I be of service to you?”
“I’m here to see Miss Marlena Fast,” he offered while removing his hat and stuffing his gloves inside before tucking it under his arm.
With the words barely out of his mouth, he heard in the distance what sounded like a young lady’s voice saying, “Tut, what has you so upset?”
“Seeing her won’t be a problem for you, sir,” the servant said. “Sounds as if she’ll be walking around that corner any second now to see what has her dog carrying on like a hound after the moon.”
When Rath turned in the direction the housekeeper had nodded, he caught sight of a young lady. She was tall, of slender build, and with an easy glide to her unhurried steps. The strong afternoon breeze spread open the bottom skirt of her woolen pelisse and fluttered and flattened her aproned dress against her silhouette. He couldn’t see much of her face because she was wearing a straw bonnet with a wide brim pulled low over her eyes, though there hadn’t been a hint of sunshine all day.
“Quiet, Tut!” she called softly to the dog. “You’re making a nuisance of yourself.”
The animal looked back at her and made a quarreling sound in his throat, then barked again.
“That’s quite enough,” she told him with no real reprimand in her tone, while removing one of her gardening gloves. “I’m here now and can see for myself we have a guest.” The dog wasn’t giving up. He barked ather again. “No, I can’t pick you up, my hands are full. Now quiet. You’ll have this gentleman thinking you’re a naughty boy and you’re going to bite him if you keep that up.”
Rath smiled that she might actually think he’d be intimidated by a pup who probably couldn’t jump high enough to reach Rath’s knees. But if it made her feel better to reassure him of Tut’s temperament, Rath would stay quiet.
As she walked closer to him, she lifted her chin and he saw her face. An unexpected throb of interest simmered through him. She was downright fetching, with big, round eyes, small nose, and lips beautifully sculpted. Not even the smudge of dirt that swept across one of her delicate-looking cheeks could take away from her natural loveliness.
A narrow lavender ribbon, meant to hold on her hat, had been perfectly tied into a little bow under her chin. A small basket of trimmings from the garden dangled from one of her wrists. Unlike the housekeeper’s pristine apron, hers had grass and mud stains scattered down the front of it.
It didn’t surprise Rath that it was Miss Fast who had been cutting the sprigs in the garden instead of a servant or gardener. Judging from his remembrance of her, he should have known it was too much to hope that she’d gained some refinement since he’d last seen her. However, it might not be as difficult to find her a husband as he’d assumed. There was no doubt she’d grown into her beauty.
Gorgeous, green eyes filled with pleasant curiosity and the right amount of sparkle stared at him when she stopped a few feet away, smiled, and laid both her gloves into her basket. There was a wholesome, innocent flush to her cheeks that drew him immediately.
“Miss Fast,” he said as Tut sniffed around the heels and soles of his recently polished boots, “I am the Duke of Rathburne.”
Her slightly arched brows lifted quickly, and her beautifully shaped mouth opened slightly. She sucked in a short, startled gasp. He watched her swallow hard before making a stiff but hasty curtsy and then whispered softly, “Your Grace, what are you doing here?”
Rath took note of her intense reaction to him. With wary, searching eyes, her gaze darted from him to the front door to each side of the house as if she were looking for somewhere to hide, a way to escape, or maybe someone to come rescue her. And was she trembling, too? He was almost certain it was fear he sensed in her.
