Tempting the Ruined Duke by Olivia Bennet

Author:Olivia Bennet
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2019-10-19T16:00:00+00:00

Louisa decided that she was in need of a chat with her good friend Betty. So she changed into her walking shoes, checked that her father was settled in a rocking chair in front of the fireplace, a book in his hand, a glass of port by his side as well as a bowl of strawberries before leaving.

Her heart was beating triple time in uneven sequence and she felt as if she might faint. She did not know what had gotten into her earlier as she spoke with the Duke.

Or maybe she did.

Perhaps it was his mother’s reaction to the drawing of her with a butterfly on her shoulder.

“It’s such a pity you’re a woman,” she had said, “you really are very talented. If you were a man, I should ask my son to sponsor you at once.”

Her heart had leapt at such a show of confidence. And then her father had laughed.

“Oh no, Louisa does not want that. She will be married soon, I hope.”

Her father’s laughter had cracked something in her that she had not even been aware was present. How dare he dismiss her ambitions so easily? He, of all people, should know better than that.

The Dowager Duchess had immediately joined him in laughter, going so far as to apologize for her ‘silliness’. They had then launched into a discussion of the marriage prospects for their children and what their hopes were for a daughter and son in-law. Louisa had slowed her steps, not wanting to be privy to any more of that conversation, something in her chest burning.

And then Jeremy had come, and he was apologizing for not treating her like a delicate little flower who would one day decorate someone’s mantle…and it was just too much.

Maybe Betty will take me in and allow me to hang my pictures for sale in her shop. She thought bleakly even as she knew it was futile to think that way.

She could not leave her father alone, no matter how she realized that their world view differed. Indeed, she had not known that she felt so strongly about her independence until her father had said that she would marry soon. She assumed that he was talking about Mr. Jones and really, she wanted to slap herself on the head for not realizing what that meeting had been about.

Apparently she hadn’t made too much of a muddle of it, since he was allegedly still interested in her.

I mean, he knows I paint and yet did not utter a single word to dissuade it. Perhaps he would let me…Louisa recoiled at the thought of a virtual stranger giving her permission to continue to do something that had been a part of her since her earliest memories.

She quickened her pace, as if she might outrun her thoughts if she just went fast enough. Soon she was back in the village and walking along the cobbled streets in search of Betty. It was heading toward evening which meant she would be out on the street, calling out her wares.

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