Taming the Duke Read Online Free PDF Page B

in love. By next week, she’ll outgrow her infatuation and fall hopelessly in love with someone else.” He winked at her. “You’ll see.”
    Olivia shook her head. “Elizabeth is a headstrong woman who knows what she wants. She wants you, Dalton. I wish you’d take her seriously.”
    He shrugged in futile helplessness. “You’re a delightful romantic, my sister. I hope your belief in true love will never desert you. But I’m afraid that every coupling can’t be as divine as yours and that husband you so cherish.”
    Olivia frowned worriedly. “Sometimes you can be the most stubborn man.”
    Dalton chuckled. “The evening is too lovely to spend arguing, Sister.” He took her arm and led her back toward the ballroom. “Forgive me for changing the subject, but have you spoken to Great-Aunt Mary about Lady Alicia?”
    She stopped and looked up at him. Her fingers worked nervously with the ribbons on her fan. “Yes, I did.”
    He glanced around for a quiet place to talk. “Come,” he said, urging his sister through the French doors and onto the terrace, away from the threat of meeting Elizabeth again. He took a deepbreath of the invigorating night air. “Let’s take a walk through the gardens.”
    Lilting music floated from the ballroom’s open windows as they strolled across the broad terrace. When they came to an empty bench beneath towering rhododendrons, they took a seat.
    Olivia collected herself. “Alicia’s father is a notorious drunk, a gambler who has almost lost their family estate many times. Three years ago, when Alicia arrived for her first Season, she was thrown into the most shocking scandal.”
    Dalton knew that Olivia, unlike their mother, disliked gossip, and he wished he could have found out what he needed to know about Lady Alicia Spencer some other way. But he needed to be discreet, and Olivia was one of the few people he trusted.
    “The incident happened during Lady Alicia’s first ball, which was given by Mother at our London town house. It was also Elizabeth’s first Season. In fact, mother was Elizabeth’s patroness that year. Do you remember, Dalton?”
    He shook his head. “No. That spring I was in Portugal, fighting with Wellesley’s campaign. Just before Drake enlisted—”
    His words faded when he saw the pained expression cross Olivia’s face at the mention of their brother. “I’m sorry, Olivia. I didn’t mean…”
    She laid her white-gloved hand on his sleeve. “It’s quite all right, Dalton.” She paused, glancing up at the stars twinkling overhead. “You’d think after three years that I would accept that he’s nevercoming home.” She shook her head. “I know I sound foolish, Dalton. Forgive me.”
    “You’re not foolish, my dear. I miss him, too.”
    “The worst part for me was not having Drake’s body returned to England. I so hate to think—”
    He patted her hand. “Drake will remain alive in our hearts as long as we remember him, Olivia. He’d be so proud that you named your first son after him.”
    The tight smile on Olivia’s lips faded. “Thank God that you returned safely from the war. I don’t know what I would have done without you, too.”
    Olivia, so sensitive, so caring. He squeezed her hand in an attempt to comfort. She was almost nine years younger than he; maybe that was why he would always feel so protective of her.
    “I haven’t told you the worst about Lady Alicia’s past,” Olivia said, recovering. She met his gaze. “On the evening of Alicia’s first ball, she was found with your friend, Justin Sykes, alone in his bedroom.”
    “Sykes?” Dalton released her hand. “I don’t believe it.”
    She nodded. “There’s no mistake. In fact, Great-Aunt Mary said that Mother and several of her friends found them together.”
    Dalton furrowed his brows in disbelief. Justin Sykes’s reputation as a rake and a scoundrel was well-known. Rumor had it that he’d made his wealth from selling contraband to Napoleon’s troops,