A Duke in Disguise by Rachel Osborne

Author:Rachel Osborne [Osborne, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Regency Historical Romance
Publisher: Rachel Osborne
Published: 2019-08-30T04:00:00+00:00

SAMUEL REARRANGED HIS scowl into a smile just in time for the young ladies to see it. Edward had addressed himself to them in a cheap and easy ploy to avoid his friend’s words and now there was no hope for them continuing their conversation, for the game was underway and the party of two separate pairs reunited into a foursome once more.

“An excellent beginning, Miss Barnes!” Edward crowed, adopting that same grating, over-loud voice he had put on with the costume of “duke”. Samuel stifled a groan, trying his best to ignore his friend and seeking out Miss Devereaux, instead, whose own expression was cloudy and unreadable. The reason for his wish to speak to Edward to begin with rushed back over him: it was for Joanna he sought to end their bargain, their game. It was her hear that was liable to be broken when she discovered the truth and Samuel would do anything, he realised, even court scandal and shame if it would save her from that particular fate.

“Will you throw next, Miss Devereaux?” he asked, his voice strangled and strange to his own ears. He cleared his throat and began again. “Perhaps you, like your friend, possess a skill at lawn bowls that will put the duke -” His voice cracked on the word. “And myself to shame.”

Joanna glanced up at him, her expression falling into a confused frown. He repeated the question, and something approaching a smile rested fleetingly upon her countenance.

“I believe it should be your turn next, Mr Nicholls, if we are playing winners first. You came second in our previous game, did not you?”

Samuel nodded slowly and watched as Joanna’s eyes went straight from him to Edward, her expression lifting with them. Second in lawn bowls and second in love, apparently. Again, he stifled a groan, this one directed at his own ridiculous sentimentality. He had never been so in London. What was it about Bath, or about being forced to resign his true identity and live under the mantle of another, that made him so nonsensical? Half-heartedly, he threw his first ball, not coming even within striking distance of the marker.

“Come on, Nicholls!” Edward crowed, applauding sarcastically at his friend’s first failed attempt. “You can do better than that, surely?”

“I do not wish to outshine my friends from the very beginning,” Samuel retorted, through clenched teeth. How he wished he could aim his next ball at Edward’s head! Instead, he turned the ball over in his hand, thoughtfully surveying the ground of their game before taking his shot. This, too, fell short but was at least a clear intention towards victory.

“Well done!” Joanna called, her own compliment sounding genuine and true compared to Edward’s brash teasing. Emboldened and feeling as if he were challenging for more than the hollow victory at a simple game between friends, Samuel threw again, this one striking the marker where it lay, and declaring him immediately the winner.

“Foul!” Edward thundered, striding forwards. “I do not know

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