Page 1 of The Duke's Sinful Deal
CHAPTER 1
“It is not too late to come with us.”
Arabella Barker turned. Blackmere Park, country seat of Langford, stirred behind them with the quiet bustle of departure. Her older sister, Eleanor, wore an expression that held the same gentle insistence she had worn all morning, as though repetition alone might sway her.
Arabella smiled, though her gaze drifted past her sister’s shoulder. Across the gravel, her brother-in-law, James Montague, Duke of Langford, stood beside the carriage, his dark coat already dusted with rain. He held her daughter, Samantha, with an ease that still felt new, though a year had passed since her birth.
“It trulyistoo late,” Arabella said, her tone soft. She folded her hands together at her waist to keep from fidgeting. “You have packed. You have planned. And you deserve it.”
Her older sister, Eleanor, drew her brows together. “That is not what I meant, and you know it.”
Arabella shifted her weight, stepping closer so that her voice would not carry to the waiting staff. “You have not had a moment to yourselves since little Samantha arrived,” she said gently. “Not a proper one. Not one that belongs only to you and James.” She tipped her head slightly, offering a brightness she did not entirely feel. “You must take it now, before London claims you again.”
Eleanor studied her, searching, as she always did. It was a look Arabella had known since childhood. “And what will you do?”
Arabella laughed lightly, brushing an imaginary crease from her sleeve, then lifted her shoulders in a small, careless shrug. “I will be perfectly content.”
That did not fully ease Eleanor’s concern, but it softened it. Slightly.
“And Roderick will be here,” Eleanor added, as though securing the final piece in place. “He will see that you are not alone.”
Roderick Elkins was James’s cousin, the Duke of Wycliffe. Arabella had grown accustomed to Roderick always being around, as she was. It will be nice having a few hours to herself before Roderick returns to Broadmoor.
“We shall not even notice your absence,” Arabella replied, the words slipping out with practiced ease.
That earned her a sharp and knowing look, but Eleanor said nothing further. Instead, she reached forward, adjusting Arabella’s shawl with the same absent care she had shown her since they were girls. “One month,” she said. “No longer.”
“One month,” Arabella agreed.
“And then London.”
Arabella brightened at that, genuinely this time. “Yes. We shall all go together.”
“Okay, write to me,” Eleanor murmured.
“I will.”
Eleanor turned at last, allowing James to assist her into the carriage. Arabella watched on as Samantha was passed gently between them, the door closed, and the driver called forward. The carriage rolled away with a steady rhythm, wheels cutting through the earth, until the sound of it faded beyond the trees.
Arabella stood there for a moment longer, her hands still folded, her posture still carefully composed. Then she drew in a breath, turned on her heel, and stepped back inside.
“Well,” she said aloud, though no one had asked, “that is settled.”
The entrance hall felt larger without Eleanor’s presence. Or perhaps it had always been this size, and Arabella had simply never noticed.
Poppet appeared not long after, weaving between her steps with determined insistence. The small creature wound around her ankles until Arabella bent to scoop her up, pressing her cheek briefly against the cat’s soft fur.
“Well, you shall be of use,” she murmured, carrying her toward the morning room. “You may keep me company while I pretend to have a great many important things to do.”
Poppet blinked at her, clearly unimpressed.
The hours passed without incident. Arabella tried the pianoforte and abandoned it when the silence between notes felt too wide. She selected a book and found herself reading the same line three times without comprehension. She walked the gardens, spoke with the gardeners until she realized she had asked the same question twice, and then returned inside before the sky could darken too far.
By evening, the rain had begun.
It came steadily at first, then with greater insistence, tapping against the windows in a pattern that should have been soothing.Arabella stood beside the glass, watching as the last of the light dissolved into gray.
He will arrive soon, she told herself.Roderick is rarely late.
