Page 81 of Duke with a Deception
Riverdale’s brows shot upward. “Her?”
“Would someone please tell him to stubble it before I throw him out a bloody window?” King grumbled.
“Stubble it, Riverdale,” Brandon, Camden, Whitby, and Richford said in unison.
King grinned, feeling victorious, at least for the moment.
“Who is this paragon you have in mind?” Brandon pressed.
“Ophelia, Lady Corbett,” he answered.
He and Ophelia had been friends for several years. Their relationship was that of brother and sister. They had simply never been attracted to one another, but she was clever and possessed an amusing wit, and they had been steady friends. They held each other in mutual respect and regard, although they had never been lovers. Her marriage had been a miserable one, but she was now a widow.
“Do you think she would be amenable to the task?” Brandon asked.
“There is only one way to find out.” He was going to have to seek out Ophelia and see whether playing hostess appealed to her. “I shall ask her.”
“I rather like the notion of a woman carrying on the Wicked Dukes Society for us,” Whitby said. “Shall we change the name to the Wicked Ladies Society, do you think?”
They all chuckled at that, and some of the tension seeped from the air. The port began to flow, and King drowned his conscience accordingly. Hewouldtell Verity the truth.
All he needed was time to prepare himself and devise a means of ensuring that he wouldn’t lose her when he did.
If indeed that was even possible.
CHAPTER 15
“You are looking exceedingly well, dearest,” Sybil greeted Verity with a bright smile as she arrived for afternoon tea to discuss the details of the upcoming Children’s Foundling Hospital ball they were planning together.
“As are you,” she complimented her sister-in-law, pleased to see how very happy Sybil appeared.
She wore a silk afternoon gown in a lovely shade of blue, and there was an undeniable bloom of happiness in her cheeks that was most becoming. Verity was thrilled for both Sybil and Everett. Their marriage had begun in misunderstanding and hurt, but one would never know it to see them together now.
And Verity was beyond pleased at the prospect of soon having a niece or nephew she could spoil and dote upon.
Sybil chuckled. “You are too kind as always, Verity. I am looking tired and as if I cast up my accounts after each breakfast.”
“Oh dear.” Verity wrinkled her nose. “That sounds wretched.”
“It shan’t last, at least,” Sybil said. “Besides, my mother reassures me that all shall be worth it just to hold a babe in my arms.”
“Where are Lady Eastlake andMaman?” she asked as they settled in around the waiting tea tray, noting the absence of their mothers.
“They are paying a call upon a new friend of theirs.” Sybil began to pour. “I was so pleased that Mother wanted to get out of the house again. Thankfully, her invalid chair folds up neatly so that it can accompany her anywhere.”
“I am astounded thatMamanisn’t here to browbeat us into using her favorite flowers or telling us which champagne we must serve, but I am pleased to know they are both visiting a friend. How lovely for them. Besides,Mamancan be overbearing when planning balls.”
Sybil held aloft a neatly folded sheet of paper that Verity hadn’t taken note of until that moment. “Fear not, your mother has made us a list.”
Verity groaned. “I ought to have known better than to think she could resist.”
“She means well,” Sybil said.
And that was true.
Mamandid mean well, but she also possessed a tendency to be both overzealous and overwhelming.
“The list doesn’t look long enough to contain guests,” she observed. “At least she trusts us in issuing invitations.”
