The Lord of Heartbreak by Claudia Stone

Author:Claudia Stone [Stone, Claudia]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2017-12-16T05:00:00+00:00

"Oh, there you are." Jane blinked at James in shock as he elbowed his way through the crowds to her side.

"Jane," he took her hand and bestowed a kiss on it, before turning to the Duchess to acknowledge her, "Your Grace, how nice to see you in town."

"I wish you could say that it's nice to see my husband too, but I seem to have lost him to a decanter of brandy," Olive replied with a grimace, she turned to Jane and wagged her finger, "I know that everyone will tell you there's no man better to marry than a Duke, but appreciate the time you have with Lord Payne before he inherits and turns into an irritable old crank. It seems that to hold a Ducal seat one must hold the ability to be both obstinate and ornery all at the same time."

Although her words were irritated there was affection in them and the Duchess soon departed in search of her husband, though not after promising Jane that she would call on her the next day.

"It seems I will be making a lucky escape, my Lord," Jane offered with a smile, "For Dukes sound like a rather obstreperous breed of men."

"Oh, I don't know," James shrugged, feeling a little befuddled to find himself alone with Jane now that he knew himself to be in love with her. "My mother seems to manage my father alright."

"I think the Napoleonic wars would have ended in a week if your mother had been in charge," Jane retorted lightly, with a smile that rendered James dumbstruck with desire. How had he not noticed before the way that her eyes twiinkled so charmingly when she bestowed a smile upon him?

"A dance," he stuttered after an awkward pause in which Jane gaze distractedly over his shoulder, "You have promised me as many dances as my heart desires."

"I did not, my Lord," Jane grinned modestly, a note of humour in her voice. "I promised you as many dances as was necessary to uphold my end of the bargain."

"And you haven't even given me one," James mockingly chided, holding his hand against his chest as though his heart was broken. "A man of lesser confidence might think that you were avoiding it altogether."

"Luckily you're a man whose confidence could only be described as overflowing," she retorted quickly, her words softened by her gentle smile. James felt his chest swell slightly; it was nice to think that he was giving the impression of being confident and assured, when in actual fact he now felt like a stuttering schoolboy in her presence.

The small orchestra in the far corner of the room had finished the final strains of a boisterous country-set and were now preparing to begin to play a waltz. Lord Payne instinctively held out his hand and was rewarded when Jane held out her own, interlinked her fingers with his and allowed him to lead her out onto the dance floor. The room hushed slightly at the sight

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.