An Unlikely Duchess Read Online Free PDF Page B

questions.
    He could not tear his eyes from her as she made her way towards her mother. She was a vision from her glorious chestnut hair, piled on top of her head with a few wisps framing her delicate face, to the tips of her satin clad toes. His eyes raked her greedily. That dress. Dear God, it could be used as a torture device! The greatest spies in the country would sell their secrets and their souls for a glimpse of what was hinted at with that blasted dress.
    Its low cut displayed her pale and smooth skin to perfection, managing to be perfectly decent while invoking completely indecent thoughts in a man’s mind. It outlined her curves to perfection. It hugged her tiny waist. The skirts, made of delicate palest pink satin swirled around her ankles and clung ever so slightly to her legs as she moved, outlining them for the briefest of seconds, ensuring that any red-blooded male would spend the rest of the evening imagining what having a real view would be like. He almost groaned aloud. How on earth was he to spend weeks here? This was fast turning into his own personal hell.
    Rebecca studiously avoided looking in the duke’s direction, though she could feel the weight of his stare. She desperately wanted to look at him, to see if he would be glowering in disapproval like she imagined a duke would. But having no idea if everyone knew or what had been said about the incident, she was afraid of giving anything away.
    She could not avoid it all night of course. But first, she must gauge the reaction of her parents. Her mama and Lady Catherine were all warmth towards her, and although Caroline did her best to ignore Rebecca’s presence in their circle, it appeared that she hadn’t yet told them of the incident. Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief and found herself relaxing. If Caroline had said nothing then it was perfectly safe to look in the duke’s direction, even speak to him.
    Rebecca made a great pretence of looking around the room, finally letting her gaze rest on him. As if she hadn’t wanted to seek him out the second she walked in the room. With a jolt, she realised that he’d been staring at her. And rather than glance away when she caught his eye, he continued to study her intently.
    Rebecca felt herself blush for the second time that day. As her eyes locked with his, her breathing hitched and her stomach flipped dramatically. She had thought him attractive this afternoon. Tonight he was indescribable! The black of his evening coat made him seem even more smouldering, more sinful than the bottle green of his coat this afternoon. The snowy cravat enhanced his sallow skin and was tied simply but elegantly against his strong throat. She could not take her eyes from his throat and the cravat nestled against it. She found herself rather jealous of that cravat. The way it got to be so close to his skin. Jealous. Of a piece of cloth! She’d be off to Bedlam in the morning if they got wind of her innermost thoughts.
    Her eyes widened in anticipation as he made his way across the room directly towards her.
    Oh heavens! Even the way he moved made her squirm. He walked with a panther-like grace, his long, strong legs perfectly outlined by the tight breeches that encased them.
    “Rebecca,” her mother’s sharp tone interrupted her rather too intimate thoughts.
    Unfortunately, her mind was still on his body and rather than the ‘yes, Mama’ Rebecca intended, she rather embarrassingly blurted out…
    “Legs.”
    Oh dear.
    “Excuse me?” her mother asked in confusion. She looked up, realising that while she was staring southwards of his eyes, the duke was gazing politely at her.
    Rather, his face was a mask of politeness but his eyes glinted with amusement and something else she could not define but made her toes positively curl.
    “I mean, I – uh – I apologise Mama. I was wool gathering, I am afraid.” She smiled sweetly at Mama, Caroline who squinted menacingly, and Lady Catherine who smiled kindly if a little