Duke Ever After (Dukes' Club Book 5) Read Online Free PDF

thought on that for a moment. She couldn’t believe it. People weren’t inherently bad.
    “Well, Duncan used to be a world of fun,” she pointed out. “And now he’s completely the opposite because of specific events. Don’t you think it might be the same?”
    “It might, but just you be careful, my lady,” Maeve said gesturing with the silver-backed brush. “Knowing why a man is bad doesn’t change the fact that he is .”
    “That is exceptionally wise and very serious.”
    “Well, I must be sometimes, mustn’t I?”
    As she stared out at the towering bens that were a beautiful boundary she’d only escaped through books, she couldn’t help wishing she could step foot over them once. Just once. “Don’t you long for a bit of adventure?”
    “I had a great deal of it as you know.”
    “How could you give it up?”
    Maeve grew serious. “Because sometimes the danger outweighs the enjoyment.”
    Rosamund nibbled her lip. “I don’t understand. Oh, I understand that there are consequences for women who don’t do as they should but. . . Danger?”
    Maeve smiled softly and twisted Rosamund’s hair into soft curls upon her head. “I pray you never need understand.”
    “You wouldn’t condemn me to a life unlived though, would you?”
    “Of course not,” Maeve tsked. “I will be by your side whatever path you choose, dear girl.”
    Rosamund leaned forward and braced her elbows on her dressing table. “And If I choose to dance wildly by the light of the moon?”
    “I’ll be waiting with a blanket when you come in from the cold.”
    Rosamund drew in a fortifying breath, wondering if she was about to leap into some unknown chasm with her desire for adventure. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
    “Good thing that you’ll never need be without me then.”
    Rosamund nodded, her throat tightening. Losing her mother had been brutal. And without the closeness of her family, Maeve was the only person she felt she could be herself with.
    “Now, when are you seeing the Duke of Aston again?” Maeve asked.
    Ah. There it was. She frowned. “He doesn’t wish to see me again, I don’t think.”
    Maeve chortled. “You know why don’t you?”
    “No.”
    “You’re a bonnie thing. A lass no man can resist.”
    “I thank you for the compliment, but how can that be the problem?”
    “You’re a duke’s sister.”
    “And?”
    “One doesn’t dally with a duke’s unmarried sister and expect to come out unshackled.”
    “Oh! I see. It’s because I’m an innocent. He’s worried about being trapped into marriage.”
    “Yes, dear girl.”
    “If I was married, he’d have no concerns?”
    “Likely no.”
    Rosamund eyed herself in the mirror. How the devil had he known she was a virgin? It wasn’t as if it were marked on her forehead. She’d always thought of herself as rather mature and not even particularly shielded by the world given her close interactions with the villagers and crofters.
    She pursed her lips. “Being an innocent is highly overrated.”
    Maeve groaned. “It’s not so very terrible.”
    “It gets in the way of a good many happy pursuits. Perhaps I should rid myself of mine.”
    “With who? The miller’s son?”
    “George?” she asked, never having once given the idea any thought at all. “I’ve known George since we were both in nappies.”
    “You didn’t know George when he wore nappies. By rights, you shouldn’t even know him now.”
    “I don’t wish to pursue George,” she replied simply. “He’s a nice young man but there’s nothing there that inspires one and I would like to be just a trifle inspired when I lose my innocence.”
    “The Duke of Aston inspires you, I take it? You’d like to pursue him? Despite the fact that he likely will run miles from you lest he be forced to the altar?”
    It was an incredible thing to realize given she’d met him just hours ago, but yes. My goodness, yes. The man spoke to her in a way she’d never imagined.