Page 32 of Sincerely, the Duke
“I really find it quite dumbfounding when people mention it,” Eileen added. “To think one would be surprised sisters coming from the same two parents would favor, and a strange phenomenon when they don’t.”
The duke rolled his shoulders and shifted his stance as if he was trying to figure out if Eileen was indicating he wasn’t a rational thinker. But all he did was turn to Edwina and say, “Now that they are here, I’ll excuse myself and take my leave so you can have a properreunion.” He turned to her sisters. “Good day, ladies,” he said tersely as he looked at each sister, nodded once to Edwina, and turned to leave.
“Wait for me please, Your Grace,” Edwina called. There was no way she was going to let him walk away without knowing what he was thinking right now or what he was going to do. He could decide the idea of marriage to her was too much trouble and he was dismissing the idea. “I’ll see the duke out while you two take off your bonnets and capes,” she told them as she hurried past.
Edwina and Stonerick walked in silence to the vestibule, where the duke opened the front door for her and closed it after they stepped out onto the stoop. A comfortable chill to the spring air felt good and Edwina embraced it heartily. It was calming to inhale a deep, refreshing breath. Overhead, a light-blue sky was streaked with white, windswept clouds. A couple of houses down and on the other side of the street, two women spoke to each other over a waist-high hedge. The light breeze carried the lilting sound of their voices across the way.
“Why didn’t you tell me your sisters are dangerous?” the duke accused the moment he shut the door behind them.
Edwina’s shoulders tightened and her spine stiffened. He needed to do a better job of watching what he said about her family. “What?” She drew herself up taller. “How dare you speak so ill of my sisters. They are not dangerous.”
“Really?” he asked, looking at her as if she’d said something in a foreign language.
“Well, you do have a red mark on your jaw,” she added with a fair amount of dismay and concern.
He touched the scratch and grimaced.
“They were worried about me and only trying to help,” she offered, feeling terrible they had left a mark on him. She reached out her hand, wanting to touch the scratch, but quickly drew it back. “I hope it doesn’t hurt.”
“I am fine, Miss Fine,” he retorted. “Which is more than I can say for your sisters. I am wondering how in the world I am going to get the two of them wed. They have serious aggression problems.”
Edwina huffed indignantly. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
He leaned his face close to hers so quickly it startled her. “I am a lot of things, Miss Fine, but that is not one of them. I have a tendency not to trust people who hit me before they speak to me.”
Yes, she could understand that but wasn’t about to admit it when he was being so sensitive about their behavior. They had sound reasons that he seemed to be forgetting.
Not giving him the satisfaction of seeing her lean away from him, she simply said, “They explained their actions quite well. And remember,youare the one who wanted them to think I was being pursued and seduced by a scoundrel.”
“We weren’t even kissing.” He glared, then added, “Yet.”
Her breath fluttered at the thought of his kiss. They’d been so close she’d felt his heat and strength. She couldn’t help but feel slightly bereft the touching of their lips hadn’t happened. If only her sisters could have waited another moment or— Mercy! What was she thinking?
Clearing her throat and her thoughts, she grimaced and insisted strongly, “They couldn’t see that. It wasn’t their intention to harm you. Only to stop you. Don’t deny your arms were around me and you were being extremely forward.”
“That’s what men do when they are in pursuit.” He let out an exasperated sigh. “At least now I know why they aren’t married. They obviously jump to conclusions and act before asking.”
Flustered, Edwina declared, “That, sir, describes you, not them.”
The blue of his eyes darkened. “There are better ways to announce yourself when you interrupt people no matter what they are doing.”
“You, sir, are trying to besmirch my sisters when you are the one who needs some discipline in your life,” she answered hotly.
The duke mumbled an oath under his breath. “And who’s going to teach it to me? You?”
Suddenly aware of the two ladies down the street who could see and hear them without hindrance if they were of a mind to pry, Edwina calmly drew herself up proudly once again and kept her voice level. “If I must. How dare you rush to judge them on a first meeting.”
He casually folded his arms over his chest and snared her with a penetrating stare that seemed to be daring her to stop him.
“I admit it was quite astonishing what happened just as you were about to… to be a rake again.”
Apparently, her fierce denial of her sisters’ dispositions hadn’t appeased him. Edwina didn’t know what madness had come over them, but the blame belonged on the duke’s strong, wide shoulders.
She lifted her chin and squinted against the glare of the afternoon sun that hung above the roofline of her neighbor’s house. By crossing her arms at her waist, she mirrored his defiant stance. “The incident wasyourfault, Your Grace.”
He scowled, obviously not ready to forgive and forget.“Mine?” His eyes narrowed perceptibly. “You are unbelievable.”
“And you are being grumpy for no good reason,” she answered, feeling her tension ebbing. She then harrumphed cheekily.
