The Duke by Catherine Coulter

Author:Catherine Coulter
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Scotland, General, Romance, Great Britain, Historical, Large Type Books, Fiction
ISBN: 9780451406170
Publisher: SIGNET
Published: 1995-11-15T07:00:00+00:00

18

Lady Felicity went rigid with anger. “You don’t mean to tell me that you, a duke and a peer of the realm, have been playing at being a shepherd? You’ve actually bought sheep? Visited tradesmen? Toured mills?”

“Yes, certainly, and none of it was boring in the least,” Ian said coolly. “You see, it’s my intention to make Penderleigh self-sufficient. All the raw materials are here in abundance, all the labor we need, everything. All that was needed was capital.”

“Indeed, I have to agree that there are certainly raw materials in abundance here,” Felicity said sharply. She felt tired, dirty, totally put upon and frankly wished she could tell the duke what she thought of his absurd activities. Then she saw the duke’s eyes narrow briefly in what she recognized as his autocratic, stubborn look, and quickly retrenched. God, she hated that look. Ah, but once they were wed, she’d see all those dreadful traits of his overcome. She’d smash them. She’d grind them beneath her slipper.

But now she had to soften her words, though it galled her to do so. “What I mean to say, my dear, is that I have missed you sorely and begrudge all the time you have spent away from me. Am I not allowed to miss the man I will marry?”

She was rewarded for her pretty speech with a smile. Ian didn’t even hesitate. He said, “It’s been difficult for me also, Felicity.” He said nothing more. He wasn’t stupid. He didn’t want to dig a hole so deep he wouldn’t be able to climb out of it.

Giles cleared his throat, then coughed ever so gently behind his hand. Ian turned to see Lady Adella walk in a most stately manner into the drawing room.

He rose quickly to his feet. “Lady Adella, I would like you to meet my cousin, Mr. Giles Braidston, and my betrothed, Lady Felicity Trammerley. They’ve come to pay us a visit.”

Lady Adella gazed upon the dashing Giles and instantly liked what she saw. Now, this was a true gentleman. No grubbing about an estate for this one. She took in every elegant line of Lady Felicity’s apparel and her well-bred countenance, and decided that Brandy could well learn style from living in the same house as this girl.

She nodded welcome down her long nose and allowed Giles to kiss her veined hand. “Most charmed, my lady,” he said at his smoothest, which was very smooth indeed.

As she sailed past Lady Felicity, the girl gave her a tight-lipped smile. What a ridiculous old relic, Felicity was thinking, lowering her eyes. That black gown was at least thirty years out of style, and the way she was wearing her hair. The abundant sausage curls made her look like she was wearing a wig that was very old and not well styled. Her fingers itched to pull on those sausages and see if it was a wig.

“So when do ye wed Ian?” Lady Adella asked Felicity without preamble.

“In August. At St. George’s in Hanover Square.

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.