Disciplining the Duchess Read Online Free PDF Page B

see it?”
    Her face fell. “No, not yet. My brother will not take me.”
    Court would have escorted her there if she’d asked him, taken an entire day to arrange the outing only to assuage her disappointment. Fortunately, she did not ask him. She was engrossed in the painting, her thoughts someplace far away. How novel, a young woman with such concentration, such intelligence to animate her.
    He moved away from her because he had to. He prowled the shadowed perimeter of the ballroom, pretending to study the decorative wainscoting, the plentiful sconces affixed to the walls. When he was the length of the room away from her, he turned to discover the full force of her open gaze. It was enough to give a man thoughts, the way she stared at him across the darkness. In his peripheral vision he saw a footman enter and then back out again.
    “Leave it,” he said when the bewigged man moved to close the doors. With a bow, the servant fled.
    Miss Barrett stared at the door, at the retreating servant. “We should probably return to the company.”
    Something guarded in her expression helped him regain his wits, or at least his sense of propriety. He carried the lamp back to its table near the wall.
    “In truth, we’ve been gone too long.” He straightened his waistcoat and coat before he turned back to her. “I shall escort you back to the drawing room.”
    “Thank you. And thank you for showing me the paintings.”
    “It was my pleasure.”
    He walked back with her down the hall, aware of her warmth, her closeness. Her fingertips tightened on his arm almost imperceptibly as they passed the harem painting, or perhaps he imagined it. She helped herself to another long glance. He enjoyed her freshness and curiosity. In fact, he had deeply enjoyed her company, but for appearance’s sake, they needed to part ways—quickly. Publicly. When she told him at the door she would rather retire for the evening, he urged her back into the drawing room so everyone could see them, and delivered her back to her brother’s side.
    Court hoped it would be enough to hold the gossips at bay. They had been away from the group far longer than was appropriate. It was rare he behaved so clumsily, so foolishly, especially at a large party such as this. He decided from then on he would avoid her as much as possible. He really had to.
    For her sake and his.

Chapter Three: Wish
     
    Harmony thought the Darlingtons’ garden would be pleasant indeed if she could explore its charms in solitude, but instead she sat with the ladies, taking the sun and awaiting the gentlemen’s return from the hunt. Nearby a lake glistened, surrounded by woods to the edge of the property. Flowers bloomed in a landscaped border and paper lanterns twisted in the breeze. It was very picturesque, all of it, but Harmony’s peace was shattered by the constant badgering of her friends.
    “You cannot tell us anything else?” Juliette pouted. “He did not act the rake in the slightest? No rude comments? No lurid glances?”
    “No,” Harmony said. “He was not lurid at all.”
    “Are you sure you’re not leaving anything out?” Viola leaned closer. “We won’t tell.”
    “I have told you all I can remember, many times over.”
    The Duke of Courtland this, the Duke of Courtland that. For a group of ladies so repulsed by the Duke of Courtland, they were obsessed with every aspect of the man.
    “Are his eyes really green and blue?” Mirabel asked. “I wish I could see them close up.”
    “He has beautiful eyes,” Harmony said quietly. “Very kind eyes.”
    “Kind?” Sybil huffed. “If he was kind he would be civil to the other guests.”
    “You mean civil to you ,” said Juliette. “He is civil to his gentleman friends, and the Darlingtons.”
    “He was civil to Harmony,” Mirabel laughed.
    “He should be civil to everyone.” Sybil flushed a hot pink and fanned herself. “I don’t believe he is kind or polite. In fact, I know he is not,” she added,