The Unexpected Duchess Read Online Free PDF Page B

Claringdon,” the butler intoned, ushering Derek into the drawing room.
    Derek grimaced. How long would it be until he heard that title and actually thought of himself?
    “What is your name, my good man?” Derek asked the butler.
    “Shakespierre,” the man replied with a completely straight face.
    Derek did a double take. “Shakespeare?”
    “No, Shakespierre, Your Grace. It’s French.”
    The butler took his leave, and Derek shook his head. That wasn’t French. Yes, he was in a strange house to be certain. He turned his attention back to the room at large.
    Lady Cassandra sat perched upon a cream-colored settee like a pretty doll. Her blond hair was piled atop her head, and she wore a pink gown that complemented her bright blue eyes. Eyes that watched him carefully, almost fearfully. Good God, the chit was frightened of him. He’d have to overcome that before he asked for her hand.
    A sharp movement across the room caught his eye, and a flash of pale yellow skirts revealed … Lady Lucy Upton.
    “Your Grace,” Lady Lucy said before he’d even had a chance to greet Lady Cassandra. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?”
    Her voice dripped with sarcasm. Derek eyed the beauty up and down. A pity she was such a harridan, because the woman had a lush exotic look to her tilted eyes, dark shiny hair, high cheekbones, and full lips that nearly begged for a man to kiss them. Only he’d no doubt draw away bloody and bitten, he thought with a wry smile. Why Lady Cassandra insisted upon keeping Lady Lucy by her side, he would never understand, but apparently Lady Lucy was the price Derek must pay for Lady Cassandra’s company. So be it. If he couldn’t handle one little spoiled Society miss, he wasn’t worth his salt.
    “I came to pay a visit to Lady Cassandra ,” he replied with a tight smile.
    “Please, have a seat.” Lady Lucy gestured to the chairs across the room and blinked her long, sooty eyelashes at him.
    “Y … yes,” Lady Cassandra echoed softly. The poor young woman looked as if she were about to bolt at any moment, like a soldier caught stealing rations.
    Derek strode over to a chair near the settee where Lady Cassandra perched. He waited for the prim Lady Lucy to flounce over and take a seat before he took one himself. Ah, the aristocracy and their tiny fancy chairs. A man his size was likely to break it to bits. He shifted uncomfortably and pointedly ignored Lady Lucy.
    “I trust you are well today, Lady Cassandra,” he said.
    Lady Cassandra nodded. “Oh, yes. I’m quite well. How are you”—she cleared her throat—“Your Grace?”
    “Excellent. And how are your mother and your father?”
    “Both quite well also, thank you. Mother is out paying afternoon calls and Father is at his club.”
    Derek nodded. Lady Lucy was sitting at an angle behind him where he couldn’t see her face but he got the distinct impression, from the many times Lady Cassandra’s eyes flitted over to look at her friend, that she was somehow feeding her information. She was like a bloody spy from the War Office, that woman.
    “Not too tired from the festivities last evening, I presume?” he asked.
    Lady Cassandra’s eyes flitted over to Lady Lucy. “No. Not at all.”
    Derek gritted his teeth and shifted in his ridiculously small seat. “What are your plans for this afternoon?”
    Another quick glance toward Lady Lucy. “Oh, I … um. That is to say, we…”
    “We’re having a look at the shops,” Lady Lucy announced from behind him. “Quite busy today. Quite.”
    Lady Cassandra looked a bit relieved to have been spared the need to answer the question.
    “And what about tomorrow afternoon?” he asked Lady Cassandra, but his entire attention was attuned to the little minx behind him.
    Again, Lady Cassandra looked to Lady Lucy for her cue. “I … we…”
    “Quite busy tomorrow afternoon as well,” Lady Lucy interjected.
    That did it. Derek stood, lifted his chair with ease, and