Charming the Duke Read Online Free PDF Page A

not meet his eye.
    “Really Freddy, you act as though Andrew were out to seduce me,” Athena said as she stood and came to lay a hand on her brother’s arm. He looked at her. “We were just talking,” she added.
    Athena went through the door to her dressing room. Thornsby turned to Andrew to give him the scolding and warning he deserved. The guilty look on his friend’s face shocked him. “Don’t ever let me find you in . . .” Thornsby growled to a red-faced Andrew, now retreating to the door.
    Athena returned and Thornsby looked at her. He heard the click of Andrew’s escape. Athena was more innocent than she let on. “What were the two of you talking about?”
    Athena looked up. “Well, you, of course.”
    “Me?”
    Athena went to the dresser and opened her reticule. “I do think we may be able to recover from your faux pas when we first arrived. You must be charming to a fault to Matilda. I believe her opinion matters greatly in this house. And if you mean to win one sister you must make amends with the other.” Athena whirled around. “Now is the time to allow all that charisma you have used in past conquests to come forth.”
    Thornsby tilted his head. “Is there something between you and Andrew that I am unaware of?”
    Athena looked up quickly. “Certainly not. We were arguing, as we are wont to do often on the best means for recovery for you in the eyes of the Sheldons.”
    “You do realize, Athena, that Smithly is a man?”
    “You have tried on occasion to convince me of that. But my mind is unchanged. He has no comprehension of duties or honor.”
    “I don’t mean being a man as in being a gentleman. Accepting responsibilities and what not. I mean, well, ah,” he said as he plopped down on a settee.
    “What is it, Freddy?” Athena asked as she approached him. “You look dreadful.”
    Thornsby blew a breath. “I don’t imagine Mother enlightened you all that much as to what went on between,” he looked at his lap as the seconds ticked by, “between men and women?”
    “Whatever does that have to do with Andrew?” Athena asked hands on her hips.
    Thornsby owed his sister this much. He owed her more than this. They ran the estate together and lived together companionably. They cared deeply about one another. “Men, Athena, regard women in a highly different light than I imagine women view men.”
    “I suppose we do, Freddy. But since you are not a woman, I can’t imagine you having any understanding of our viewpoint.”
    “Athena, for once in your life, accept that I may have more experience than you. And women are a subject that I’m more knowledgeable of than you are about men.” Thornsby stared at her.
    After some thought, Athena replied. “I will give you that, Freddy.”
    She had acquiesced that point but Thornsby felt the ice became thinner with each word he spoke. “You see, my dear, men will have, ah, ah, relations with nearly any woman. Whereas women require some delicacy, some thought or feeling to, to, commence relations.” Athena had the strangest look on her face. “Men just aren’t terribly choosy.”
    Athena turned, gathered her bag and went to the door. She stilled when her hand met the knob. She did not turn. “So Andrew being a man would rut with anything standing still, and you are convinced I may be his next victim. I do suppose I fit the bill, though.” She turned and stared. “I am just any woman and Andrew would hardly be choosy.”
    Thornsby lurched forward, determined to erase the hurt on his sister’s face. The door closed before he could reach her. Damnation and damnation. He had no intent of insulting Athena. But clearly, he had. This business of men and women, other than the obvious romp, was proving to be quite confusing.
     
    * * *
     
    “Did the Duke arrive, Mother?” Juliet asked.
    “Yes, he did. I am embarrassed to say no family member was there to greet him,” Frances said as she studied herself in the mirror. “James fetched me from