Page 31 of Sincerely, the Duke
Flushed and astounded for a second, Edwina struggled to pull herself together after almost being caught kissing the duke, and then realizing it was her sisters who were flailing him. It was as if every thought in her brain scattered with panic. She couldn’t move or speak. Eileen’s arm was poised, ready to strike again. Her beaded, fringe-tipped purse dangled menacingly from her hand.
Edwina glanced from her sisters to the duke. His expression was intense, but thankfully not angry. Definitely surprised. A red scratch showed on the side of his face near the edge of his jawline where one of the beads must have struck hard. He kept looking from one sister to the other and then to Edwina. She knew why but couldn’t dwell on that right now.
“Eileen! Eleonora!” she demanded, feeling her breath still trapped in her chest when she tried to speak. “Papa would be scandalized by your behavior. What were you thinking?”
“That you were being attacked by a beast. We’re here to save you from this scoundrel!” Eileen exclaimed, her green eyes wide with fortitude.
“And looks as if we arrived just in time,” Eleonora added and raised her reticule too. “Step back, sir. If you make another advance toward our sister, we will be forced to defend her again.”
Gaining some measure of composure, Edwina sputtered, “No, no. You both have it all wrong. He wasn’t attacking me, we were going to… he was… only…”
“I don’t need you taking up for me, Miss Fine.” The duke interrupted her pitiful attempt at an explanation in an impatient tone as he lowered his hands.
Good. She didn’t know how. His brow furrowed deeper and his gaze skimmed with uncertainty over each sister before giving Edwina a look that indicated she should accept whatever he said as truth and not argue with him about specifics. By all means she would do it this time and stay quiet about whatever he said.
Not that he didn’t deserve some of their admonishment. If Edwina didn’t believe there was no such thing, she’d think he’d bewitched her. However, her sisters didn’t need to know that.
“What you witnessed when you arrived was all very innocent,” the duke said tightly. “I was helping your sister remove a pin from her dress that was sticking her and causing pain.” His eyes pointedly looked at the fabrics pinned to her bodice.
Eileen huffed and lowered her arm, zeroing her attention on the pieces of cloth fastened to Edwina’s dress.“Your selections are dreadful. None of those shades go with your coloring.”
Edwina’s hands flew to the swatches, fingers spread wide as she tried to hide the offending things. Her whole body stiffened. Why hadn’t she taken the ridiculous pieces of cloth off the moment her aunt left the room? Or when the duke mentioned them? Why had she even allowed Auntie to put them on? It was too late to do anything now. As the duke had indicated, they were a good cover for what was transpiring when her sisters arrived. She hoped they would let the subject drop.
“Yes,” she whispered, looking down at the horrible colors on her chest. “I’ve decided that too.”
“And what happened in here?” Eleonora asked, scanning the disorderly drawing room with a frown of disbelief. “It looks as if the two of you have been throwing fabrics at each other and they only stuck to you. How else could you make such shambles of a room?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Elle,” Edwina argued. “Aunt Pauline was in here helping me with the samples earlier. You know how she can get carried away, but then the duke stopped by—but never mind all that right now. It’s not important.”
“Duke?” both sisters said at the same time.
“Blessed Galileo, Edwina,” Eileen whispered as the sprinkling of freckles across her face reddened.
A deep wariness flickered in Eleonora’s eyes and she moved closer to Eileen. “Did we strike a duke?”
“I’m afraid so, ladies,” His Grace said dryly.
Despite his arrogance, he sounded amiable enough and her sisters were bound to know he wasn’t too terribly upset by their wild blunder. Though the strain in his features told Edwina he was working to hold his agitation in check.
“May Jupiter save us,” Eileen whispered as the two sisters huddled closer together, clasped hands, and watched the duke.
With a brief squeeze of her eyes and summoning the inner strength her father had sworn long ago was inside her, Edwina turned to the duke. “Your Grace, may I present my sisters, Miss Eileen Fine and Miss Eleonora Fine. Ladies, the Duke of Stonerick.”
Eleonora sucked in a hasty breath. Eileen cleared her throat uncomfortably, and both immediately turned loose of each other and curtsied while contritely mumbling apologies. The duke continued to look from one to the other and then to Edwina. A chill shook her as she wondered if he was assessing their unmistakable likeness.
“We assumed you were the rogue who is after our sister to woo her into his clutches for nefarious purposes and ruin her reputation,” Eileen explained in an appropriately repentant tone. “I’m sorry we mistook you for someone of a lower character.”
Bracing, Edwina’s gaze aimed straight as an arrow at the duke’s. She had no idea how he was going to respond. Forgiving or revengeful? Would he even possibly confess to being the scoundrel they thought he was? The only thing she knew for sure was that he wasn’t amused. There was no sparkle in his eyes.
“I do hope you’ll excuse us for being so aggressive, Your Grace,” Elle offered sweetly before giving him her prettiest smile. “We assumed we had good reason after receiving Edwina’s letter of concern. It just makes one feel wretched when mistakes like this happen. It’s an embarrassment of the highest order, and we always wish to never make another. But somehow the tide of fate turnsviciously against us and we manage to do something dreadful again.”
He looked at Elle as if he wasn’t certain he’d understood what she’d just said. Edwina wasn’t sure she’d comprehended it all either. Eleonora had been effusive with her words as long as Edwina could remember. Her sister would start talking sometimes and simply not know when she’d said enough.
“No apologies are necessary, ladies. I’ve made a few mistakes myself,” he said a little too calmly for a man who had just been attacked and bore the ever-reddening wound near his chin to prove it. “No harm done,” he added with a twisted smile, continuing to glance from one sister to the other with more curiosity than Edwina would have liked until his glance landed on her. “I didn’t expect the three of you to look so much alike.”
Fear shot through Edwina and her spine stiffened again. Would he ask if the sisters were twins or the three of them triplets? Surely not, she dismissed quickly. It was too rare for anyone to suspect. Her father had assured them of that, but admitted, living away from Society as they always had, he missed a lot of research and news.
Eleonora smiled pleasantly at the duke, and calmly answered, “I know. No one ever does.”
