To Pleasure a Duke Read Online Free PDF

in his interest—in Jack’s interest—if he found someone for Miss Belmont. A wealthy gentleman of lesser birth? Or even a businessman, a manufacturer, with money to burn on a rundown hovel like Belmont Hall? It was something to consider. Miss Belmont would be grateful to him, he was sure, and therefore Jack would look upon him favorably. The entire Belmont family would be in his debt and would not mind him borrowing their son for the sake of his horses.
    And yet it was odd how often he had found himself remembering Eugenie Belmont during the past three months. The smile in her green eyes, for instance, and the way they sparkled. And how, despite her lack of stature, she had stood up to him in the lane, so straight, for all that she was barely up to his shoulder. As if she meant to protect her brothers at all costs. That pink flush in her cheeks and on her soft lips, her wild curls, and those endearing freckles scattered across her nose, as she stood in the doorway of her home. The sensation that he knew exactly what had attracted a king to make her commoner ancestress his mistress. Surely in normal circumstances her features should have faded from his memory? Instead they seemed to become clearer, more distinct. . .
    “Your Grace?”
    He almost jumped—as if he’d been caught doing something wrong. When he turned he found one of his servants hesitating behind him, loath to interrupt his cogitations.
    “What is it?” Not Annabelle again, he hoped. He would be relieved when the girl was on her way to London and the welcoming arms of her fiancé.
    “A Miss Eugenie Belmont has arrived, with her brothers, to visit Erik the, eh, goat.”
    The servant looked startled when Sinclair smiled; he had expected the lip curl for which his master was so famous.
    Well, this was providential, thought Sinclair. He didn’t even consider avoiding them; the idea simply didn’t even enter his head. He told himself he was keen to observe Jack with the stallion, and of course there was the question of whether finishing school had made any changes in Miss Eugenie Belmont. He hoped she hadn’t become too conventional.
    Is she still a hoyden?
    He set off across the terrace with long strides which were undeniably eager.

Chapter 3
    I t was only the second time Eugenie had been to Somerton. The first time was when she and her parents had visited while the duke’s family was away and the grounds were thrown open to the public. Although she had not been able to enter the house—that was locked up tight—and could only stand gazing at it from various corners of the garden, she had found it quite dazzling. And she took the time to discover a little of its history.
    Somerton in its present incarnation was built by the first duke, in the seventeenth century, after he’d covered himself in glory during the wars on the Continent, but parts of an older house remained hidden behind the new, grand facade. The Italian Renaissance architecture was meant to impress—after all this was one of England’s premier families—and one was not allowed to forget it.
    “Are you sure you’ve got this right, Jack?” Terry ruffled his brother’s hair. “You’re not having us on? Are you really welcome here?”
    Jack ducked away from his hand. “I’ve been before, you know,” he said irritably. “I’m allowed to visit anytime I like. The duke said so.”
    “I was there when Erik introduced himself to the duke,” Eugenie reminded Terry. “And I think Jack has made quite an impression with the groom. You know how he is with horses.”
    Terry shrugged, playing at being unimpressed. His hair was falling into his eyes, his neck cloth was untied, and he lounged as if there were no bones in his body. It was all an act, she knew that, but she wished he wouldn’t behave that way. She shuddered to think what the duke would think of him. Indeed she shuddered whenever she imagined the duke in the company of any of her family.
    But then, she reminded herself,