Page 14 of The Duke on Her List
Agnes smiled. It did feel good to be so well known by her friend. Dorothy’s argument might have worked under other circumstances. “The truth is,” she said, lowering her voice slightly so that her friends had to lean in to hear what she was saying, “I’m here for someone specific.”
Violet clapped a hand to her mouth.
Dorothy’s eyes went wide. “What do you mean, you’re here for someone specific?” she demanded. “What are you saying? You’ve finally taken a fancy to someone? I never thought I would see that day!”
“A bit more than that, actually,” Agnes said. Though she had thought this moment would be difficult—that surely she would struggle with the idea of her friends seeing her as enamored of a man—she found that she was rather enjoying it now that it had come.
Dorothy is right. I do love a good story.
“As a matter of fact,” she said, relishing her audience, “I’m engaged in a courtship.”
“What!” Dorothy gasped.
“Withwho?” Violet asked keenly.
“The Duke of Bellmoor.”
“The man you wrote to asking to borrowVenus in the Cloister?” Dorothy asked, leaning in further. “Wait. Did he give it to you? No, never mind, don’t answer that right now. How did this happen? When did you meet him?”
“It’s thanks to you, really,” Agnes told her friend, though now she did feel a pinch of guilt. She knew full well how her alleged courtship with the duke was going to end—would Dorothy feel bad about having set the events in motion that had led to her heartbreak?
I could tell her that it isn’t real. I could always tell her that later.
But that didn’t assuage her guilt at all, because she had made such a fuss when the duke had told his friends that their arrangement was for show. Could she protest his doing that and then turn around and do the very same thing? She wasn’t sure.
She wasn’t going to do it now, at any rate. She continued her story. “I went to his house, as we discussed, to try to find the book,” she said.
“Oh, Agnes.” Violet’s tone was disapproving. “I can’t believe you did that!”
“But it paid off,” Dorothy said impatiently. “That’s how you met him?”
“Yes. He found me in his library. He was angry at first, but then I suppose he decided there was something intriguing about me. He told me I could come back and read from the book. I’m sorry that means I did it without the two of you. I know we agreed that we would share it.”
“Never mind that,” Dorothy said. “So you went back and he asked to court you?”
“Essentially,” Agnes said. “He was reluctant to leave me alone in his library—well, that made sense after the way the two of us met.” It was funny to be talking about his reticence now as a thing that made sense, given that it had irritated her so much in the moment, but if he was determined that she was to put on a show of being in love, she was going to give the best performance she could muster. If she couldn’t convince her friends, she wouldn’t be able to convince anyone. “We spent some time together, and by the end of it he was telling me that he wanted to see me again. And…to my surprise, I felt that I would like to see him again too. But I told him then and there that it would have to be a formal courtship. The last thing I need is to live out what was written in the scandal sheets. People gossip enough without my giving them additional fodder for it.”
“So that part wasn’t true, then?” Dorothy asked.
Violet gasped. “I don’t know how you can even ask that, Dorothy. Of course Agnes was not having an illicit affair with the duke! Even she wouldn’t go that far.”
“Even I wouldn’t?” Agnes laughed. “I’d be angry, Violet, but I suspect I probably am your most adventurous friend.”
“You are,” Violet agreed fervently.
“Never mind that,” Dorothy said. “I want to know whatistrue. Tell us about him! What is he like? Is he a kind man? Does he make you laugh? I always thought, Agnes, that if you were ever to become involved with a gentleman, he would have to be someone who could make you laugh.”
Agnes considered the question. “I would say the discussions we have are lively,” she said. “He certainly challenges me. He encourages me to think. I can never rest or become lazy during conversation with him, and I enjoy that. I like that he keeps me on my toes and that I never know what he’s going to say next. It feels adventurous, spending time with him.”
To her surprise, that was perfectly true. She hadn’t had to lie yet in her pretense. The lies would come, she was sure, but the dukewasan exciting person, and in spite of the fact that most of their conversation was arguing, she enjoyed it.
“Is this about your list?” Violet asked.
Agnes was startled. “What—what about my list?” It seemed impossible that Violet could have so easily guessed the truth of the situation—but had she?
“Everything you do is about that list,” Violet said. “All your decisions are about checking another item off your list. Are you courting the duke because that’s on there—a courtship? Because if that’s what you’re doing, Agnes, I must tell you, I think it’s a dreadful idea. At best, you’ll get hurt. At worst, you’ll destroy your reputation even further by toying with a powerful man.”
“I’m not toying with anybody,” Agnes said.
