A Duke Deceived by Cheryl Bolen

Author:Cheryl Bolen
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises Pty Ltd, Australia
Published: 2011-06-10T14:00:00+00:00

Bonny sat staring at the leather backgammon board.

“Your turn to roll,” Twigs said.

She picked up the dice, then met Twigs’s gaze. “You knew the duchess, Richard’s mother, did you not?”

He looked puzzled. “Never played backgammon with her, if that’s what you mean.”

“No, no. I don’t mean that. I would just like to know how a duchess acts.” Bonny threw the dice and moved her men along the points accordingly.

“Same as anyone else, I expect.” He grabbed the dice and shook them vigorously, watching with delight and then triumphantly moving one man past Bonny’s and knocking off another. “By Jove, this is capital fun.”

“What I mean is, can you remember anything about her that may have set her apart?”

He pondered her question. “Sat at one end of the dining table. That set her apart.”

“You mean while the duke sat at the other end?”

“Right you are.”

“I believe that’s the customary procedure for the host and hostess, but I mean, did she act any particular way that made one think she was...like royalty?”

He sniffed his perpetually runny nose, then stroked his chin. “Never took breakfast. Leastwise, not downstairs. Took a tray in her room and never came down till afternoon.”

The fourth duchess sounded to Bonny like any woman of quality. Bonny threw the dice and moved her men.

“Old duchess was very nice—like the new duchess.”

Bonny looked into Twigs’s watery eyes. “That’s so kind of you. I want to act like a proper duchess. I should die if I embarrassed Richard.”

“What the deuce kind of talk is this? ’Pon my word, you could never embarrass him. If you ask me, he’s deuced glad to have you.”

At this, Bonny got up from her chair and came to hug a red-faced Twigs. “You are so very dear, Twigs.”

As she spoke, Bonny heard her husband’s voice.

“I’ll thank you to keep your hands off my wife.”

Bonny turned smiling eyes to her husband. “Oh, but it was me hugging Twigs. He is the dearest man.”

Radcliff scowled and moved toward them. “What diversion is it for you, today?” He looked at the backgammon board and frowned. “A game of sheer luck.”

“Perhaps that explains why I’m losing so dreadfully,” Bonny said, trying to sound flippant to soothe her husband’s anger. Surely he couldn’t be jealous of poor Twigs. “I would hate to think it was because I have no skill.”

Still embarrassed over being kissed by the duchess, Twigs said, “Now that you are here, shall we play something else? Loo?” He knocked his men down and went to fold up the board.

Bonny squeezed her husband’s hand and gave him an imploring look. “Do play with us, Richard.”

Radcliff threw himself into a nearby chair. “I don’t wish to play anything.”

Startled by his harsh tone, Bonny sat down beside him, folded her hands in her lap, forced a smile and said, “Very well, Richard. We’ll just chat. Have you been boxing today?”

He nodded solemnly.

Twigs’s gaze shifted from Radcliff to Bonny. “Capital boxer, Richard. He’s the only one I’ve ever seen who could plant a facer on Jackson.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.