DUCHESS OF CHOCOLATE, THE by BAILY SYDNEY JANE

Author:BAILY, SYDNEY JANE [BAILY, SYDNEY JANE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cat Whisker Press
Published: 2020-02-14T05:00:00+00:00

AS SOON AS LADY MADELEINE and her chaperone climbed into his carriage, Henry smelled her lavender fragrance, and he thought of Amity and her chocolates.

That wasn’t how it was supposed to work. He had it all cocked up and backward. Yet it was the truth. Chocolate, vanilla, orange, and coffee, they all made him think of Amity. Now, even Madeleine and her lavender scent brought Amity to mind, eating chocolates together, laughing in his drawing room.

He had better get the worst of the evening over.

Before he could broach the topic, however, Madeleine said, “Remember the chocolates we had at Lady Peabody’s dinner party?”

It was as if she’d read his thoughts. “Why, yes. In fact, I was hoping to speak with you about Rare Confectionery.”

She frowned. “How strange. I hope you are going to tell me that you think it is a most disagreeable shop run by the most irritating females. If you ever met them, you would agree.”

“Met them? You do recall the eldest Miss Rare-Foure and one of her sisters were at the Peabodys’ party, do you not?”

Madeleine looked perplexed. “Why on earth would a shopgirl be at a dinner party?”

He sighed. “Not a shopgirl. She is the chocolatier. She and her sister brought the chocolates and stayed as guests.” He could not imagine how could she have forgotten the unforgettable Rare-Foure sisters.

She blushed slightly. “I suppose I had eyes only for you, Your Grace.”

Henry chuckled slightly at her adept answer. “How kind of you to say.” It was the first time she’d made an effort to single him out as if he meant anything to her. Apparently, his suit was making progress. That should fill him with gladness. Why didn’t it?

“Beyond that,” Madeleine added, “the mind plays tricks when things are where they are not supposed to be. If I saw a warthog dressed up and astride a horse on Rotten Row, I probably wouldn’t think anything of it.”

Was she comparing Amity to a warthog?

As he tried to form a response, she shook her head in dismay. “That seems terribly untoward, even shady, for our hosts to inflict such low-class women upon us as invited guests. I hesitate to go to another event at Lord and Lady Peabody’s home. What next, sitting down at the table with the butcher or the lamp-lighter?”

He knew what the term to bristle meant but wasn’t sure he’d ever truly experienced the sensation until then. Now, he felt himself bristling at her mean-spirited remarks.

“That’s an unnecessary thing to say,” he told her quietly. “And it is unbecoming of a gracious lady.”

Her nostrils flared and her eyes widened at his rebuke, but then she lowered her gaze. After a long pause, she said, “I believe you are correct. It was wrong of me.”

Henry didn’t know her well enough to discern if she spoke from her heart or was telling him what she thought he wanted to hear. One thing was certain, if she were to be his duchess, he would instruct her to be kinder with those beneath her since nearly everyone in society would be.

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