Second Duke's the Charm by Kate Bateman

Author:Kate Bateman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

Chapter Twenty

The following day Tess, Daisy, and Ellie took a trip to Covent Garden and found the print shop owned by Stockdale.

It was impossible to see inside from the street: each pane of the lopsided bow window was filled with a scurrilous print, although none so scandalously erotic as the one Tess had stolen from Case.

The three of them were chuckling over unflattering portraits of the prince regent and the Duke of York, when Daisy let out a snort.

“Lord, Tess, it’s you!”

“What?”

“Look.” Daisy pointed, and Tess’s mouth dropped open as she recognized a figure that was unquestionably herself, depicted in a scandalously low-cut red dress. She was dancing with a man who bore an obvious resemblance to Thornton; he was gazing down at her with a hungry, besotted look on his saturnine face. Even in caricature he was handsome.

In hideously bad taste, a closed coffin with a plaque reading “No. 8” on the lid was propped up on the ballroom wall behind her, presumably a reference to the old duke, and behind Thornton stood a long list of other dukes, including Wellington and the Duke of Clarence, all apparently waiting their turn.

The title beneath read, “Her Grace, the Duchess of W—hopes that the Second Duke’s the Charm. Or: If at first you don’t succeed…”

“How rude!” Tess fumed, torn between outrage and amusement.

“It’s an excellent likeness,” Ellie said reasonably. “He’s even got that freckle by your mouth.”

“Your bust is bigger, though,” Daisy noted. “He’s given you melons, instead of oranges.”

“I expect melons sell better,” Tess scowled. “At least he hasn’t put me in a see-through dress.”

She peered at the illustrator’s signature in the bottom corner of the print, and sure enough, it said Stockdale. “I suppose I got off lightly. It could have been worse.”

Daisy straightened her bonnet. “I’ll go inside and make sure he’s the same man who approached us at Lady Greenwood’s.”

Tess and Ellie lingered on the street, and a few minutes later Daisy reemerged with a rolled paper in her hand.

“Definitely our man,” she said. “A clerk served me, but I caught a glimpse of him in the back room.” She thrust the rolled paper at Tess. “Here. I bought you a copy of your print. You should give it to Thornton, as a wedding present. I’m sure he’d appreciate it.”

“Daisy! I can’t believe you gave that scoundrel a single penny! This is encouragement.”

“Aiding and abetting.” Ellie nodded solemnly.

Daisy laughed. “How many other women can boast they’ve been immortalized in print? It’s like having a sonnet written about you. It’s an honor.”

“A dubious honor. This basically says I’m a shallow strumpet, desperate for money and a title. That’s exactly what Thornton thinks of me.”

“Only because he doesn’t know you,” Daisy said stoutly.

Ellie gave her a quick hug. “We know it’s not true, and that’s what matters. Besides, why do you care for his opinion?”

“I don’t,” Tess protested, but she knew she lied.

She wanted Thornton’s respect, his admiration. Which she shouldn’t. She’d agreed to a union based on logic and physical pleasure.

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