The Duke and the Lady in Red Read Online Free PDF Page B

know I’ve returned so she can assist me in preparing for bed.” She carried on up the stairs, refusing to feel guilty over the life she led or consider the consequences it might heap upon her. Life was filled with choices. She’d made hers. It was too late for regrets, and they served no purpose except to distract.
    In her bedchamber, she peeled off her gloves and tossed them onto the dressing table before walking to the window and gazing out on the fog-­shrouded gardens. She’d not accomplished all she’d meant to tonight. She had hoped to make associations with women who would invite her to their balls and dinners. The more she was seen within high Society, the more she would be trusted, the more ­people would wish to assist her. But the duke had distracted her from her purpose.
    After the blistering kisses he’d leveled on her, she could hardly stay at the affair. It had not been until she was halfway home that she’d been able to think properly again. How could she scheme when her mind had turned to rubbish? Oh, she’d been given kisses before, but none that spoke of possession, none that consumed. She was quite surprised they’d not erupted into a conflagration on that balcony.
    As she heard the door opening, she swung around and smiled. “Sally.”
    â€œDid you enjoy your evening?” Merrick’s wife asked.
    â€œTonight’s purpose was work, not enjoyment.” She walked to the center of the room where a short stool rested and turned around. Sally stepped up and began loosening buttons and ribbons.
    â€œSeems like you could mix the two.”
    â€œI might end up concentrating too much on one and losing sight of the other.”
    â€œWouldn’t be so bad if it was the work you lost sight of. When was the last time you had a bit of fun?”
    With the gown loosened, Rose worked her way out of it. “I read an entire book just last night before I went to bed.”
    Scowling, coming around to take the gown, Sally said, “I’m talking about fun with others.”
    Rose smiled. “I have a jolly good time with you.”
    â€œYou’re being difficult now.”
    â€œYes, I am, because I don’t wish to discuss it.”
    After removing the remainder of her underclothes and slipping into her nightdress, she sat on the bench in front of her dressing table. If she could, she would have a home absent of mirrors, but she needed to know how she appeared before she went out. Appearance was crucial to the game.
    But here, within her bedchamber, not so much. When she looked at her reflection, she saw a woman nearing thirty, one who would never have a husband who loved her or children to adore. One who was so remarkably lonely that it was all she could do not to weep. She despised these moments of weakness when her lost dreams nudged her to be refound.
    She had no right to complain, not when others suffered far more than she.
    â€œYou look sad,” Sally said, as she moved near and began brushing Rose’s hair.
    â€œSimply tired. It was a long night.”
    â€œMerrick mentioned that you’re inquiring about some duke.”
    â€œWe danced.” The reflection caught her smile. It appeared almost dreamy, as though she were a young girl filled with hope after her first waltz. “He was quite charming.”
    Deliciously so. And tempting.
    â€œWas he handsome?” Sally asked.
    â€œDo you know of a duke who isn’t?” Rose asked.
    â€œDon’t know any dukes.”
    Rose laughed lightly. “Yes, he was handsome. Dark hair and darker eyes. Haunted eyes. He is not a joyful man.”
    â€œYou was always so skilled at reading ­people.”
    She needed to be in order to do what she did. She’d learned the talent at her father’s knee, not that learning anything from him was worthy of boast.
    â€œDid you like him?” Sally asked.
    Did she? “I don’t know him well enough to know