The Duke's Christmas Greetings (Regency Christmas Summons Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

honorable man if he wore a sign around his neck? Or are you more like Lady Grace who would send both scoundrels and gentlemen running for the hills after just a taste of her biting wit?”
    Patience had no idea how to answer that. “I’m me , Your Grace. My sisters and I may look alike, but we are each our own person. None of us are like or unlike the others. We are each ourselves.”
    He didn’t seem to care for that answer as his brow furrowed slightly. But she wasn’t trying to be difficult. It was simply the truth.  She might wish she had Grace’s bravery or Hope’s charm, but they were each their own person.
    He sucked in a breath as though he was just about to give her an earful when a scratch came at the door. “Damn it all,” he grumbled. “What now?”
    The door creaked open and the middle-aged butler stepped inside the study. “I am sorry to disturb you, Your Grace, but there is quite a fracas happening in the breakfast room. I do think you should come right away.”
    The old duke pushed out his chair with reflexes of a much younger man. “What the devil now, Dawson?”
    “I’m not even certain how it started, Your Grace.”
    The duke started from his desk, towards the threshold, looking most irritated, and Patience was relieved to be done with the man, especially if he was about to lose his temper.
    “Oh,” the butler said, just now noticing Patience. “Doctor Campion has arrived, Lady Patience. He wanted to inspect your hand this morning. I left him in the yellow parlor.”
    And then the duke stopped briefly in his tracks to cast Patience the most curious expression. “We will continue this conversation later. Do not for one moment think it is over.”
    Patience waited until the duke had left before returning to her feet and crossing the floor. What could she do to keep from continuing that conversation? Perhaps whatever fracas was occurring in the breakfast room would take up so much of His Grace’s attention that he’d forget all about Patience.
    But for right now, she didn’t want to think about the Duke of Danby, not when the most handsome doctor in all of Yorkshire, probably the most handsome doctor anywhere, was waiting for her in the duke’s yellow parlor. All right, he was waiting to inspect her hand . But perhaps he had news of Ashes too.
    She darted towards the yellow parlor, stopping only once she reached her destination. The sight of Doctor Campion, standing by a window, his hands clasped behind his back, stopped her where she stood. Even his profile was striking, and he quite took Patience’s breath away. Oh, she wished she possessed Hope’s charm, that she knew what to say and not sound like a blithering idiot.

    The air suddenly felt different and Matt turned away from the window to find her, even lovelier than she had been the night before. “Lady Patience,” he breathed out.
    “Doctor Campion,” she answered softly as she stepped into the parlor. “How nice to see you again.”
    It was very nice to see her. But she was a patient. It would do him good to remember that. “How is your hand this morning?” He gestured to the nearby settee.
    “I think it’s much better,” she said as she sat on the very edge of the seat. Then she blushed slightly. “Do you want to see it?” She reached her hand out to him in invitation.
    Her wound. That was why he’d come. Matt nodded as he took the spot beside her and took her hand in his. Lady Patience’s emerald gaze met his and Matt was mesmerized. How was it possible that she was even prettier today? “I’ll just remove the wrap,” he said, forcing himself to shift his gaze from her face to her hand.
    Her fingers curled over his hand and Matt sucked in a breath. Never in his life had the line between him and a patient ever blurred with lust, not until now. What in the world was wrong with him?
    He unwound the gauze and was struck again by the softness of her skin. He nearly groaned from the softness of her. He was playing