Page 54 of The Duke's Rules Of Engagement
Why, oh why, did he keep melting her? She was made of butter. Next time she encountered the duke, she’d need to fortify herself with steel.
“Shall I bring Bess?” she asked.
“That won’t be necessary. No one will see us.”
A cold sweat broke out on the back of her neck. No one would see them doing what? She swallowed hard. “Your Grace, I already told you that I cannot…”
He cocked his head at her, one brow raised. “You cannot what?”
“I cannot beintimatewith you. We discussed the reasons why.”
His lips curved in a slow smile, so seductive she nearly reached back and undid her buttons for him so he wouldn’t have to bother.
“You misunderstand, Miss Porter. This meeting is business, nothing more. I merely wish to conduct it elsewhere.”
“Oh,” she said, disappointment flushing through her. She battled it back. “Of course, Your Grace. Forgive me.”
He lifted her pelisse off its peg and held it open so she could push her arms through the sleeves. When she was working on fastening the buttons, he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Trust me, Jo.”
Slowly, she turned around.
He gazed at her solemnly. “Do you trust me?”
She considered this for a long moment, trying to pose an internal argument to the answer that had instantly come to mind. But she couldn’t pose any argument whatsoever. She trusted him down to her marrow. He was, above all, an honorable man.
“Yes,” she said, “I do trust you.”
“Good. I shall have you back by your tea time.”
Outside, he helped her into his elegant black-lacquered carriage with the gilded ducal crest on its door, then tapped his walking stick on the roof, and they were off. A few minutes later, she peeked out the window from the edge of the curtain and frowned at him. “We are heading north? Out of London?”
“We are taking a short trip to Tottenham Green, where I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine. In the meantime, I shall update you on my visit to the Cherrington house.”
“Very well.”
“I visited Harriet Cherrington. Her sisters, Miss Mary Cherrington and Miss Frances Cherrington, were in attendance. The setting and the tea were adequate.”
“And Miss Cherrington?”
“Also adequate.”
“Really, Your Grace. Adequate? That is a terrible word to use to describe a lady.”
He frowned at her. “What other word should I use?”
“There are many to choose from. Lovely and talented, for example. Amiable.”A-m-i-a-b-l-e, she thought. “Perfect.”
“Very well. She was lovely and talented. She plays the pianoforte well. She was also quite amiable.”
She noted that he didn’t go so far as to say she was perfect.
“I will meet with her again,” he continued. “If our next few meetings go well, I shall propose.”
Jo shouldn’t have been surprised by this, given the duke’s timeline, but it still felt like a punch straight to her heart.
Pushing the curtain aside a little more, she gazed out the window and watched the fields rumble by.
“We spoke at length about my houses,” the duke said after a long silence. “She thinks she would prefer Crestmont Manor, as Hanford Castle sounds drafty.”
