When Marrying a Duke... by Helen Dickson

Author:Helen Dickson [Dickson, Helen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

As the carriage neared the house, its owner had decided to take things in hand he had neglected for too long, things that were unpleasant and evoked memories he preferred not to remember. There were several items in the house he wished to dispose of—feminine things, things which were of no use to him. Followed by footmen, he went from room to room, instructing this and that to be removed—and, no, he told a questioning footman, not to be stored in the attics but to be taken to the nearest auction rooms.

The task had put him in an unsatisfactory mood and as the morning wore on he was at his most forbidding when one of the servants announced that a carriage had drawn up in front of the house. ‘Who the devil...?’ he muttered. Glancing through the open door, Max couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Marietta in the carriage, but then she did have a tendency to surprise and amaze him. He strode outside to receive her. ‘Marietta,’ he said, making the words more a question than a greeting. ‘You always were one for surprises. What are you doing here—and without Lady Wingrove?’

Forcing herself to ignore the fluttering in her stomach, Marietta glanced at him, meeting his arrogant stare. The very air was charged with his presence. Unexpectedly, she found herself the victim of an absurd attack of shyness. A rush of familiar excitement causing her to become tongue-tied, affected strongly as she was by the force of his presence. He stood in front of her, his shadow stretching across the drive. There was a brief silence, then he was holding out his hand to assist her out of the carriage.

Studying him, she was all too aware of the strong arms where the shirt had been rolled up to the elbows, of the small area of chest exposed by the open neck of the white shirt. He looked tousled, his wavy dark hair curling into his neck and outlining his tanned cheeks and emphasising the magnetism in his silver-grey eyes. Up close, his handsomeness seemed more pronounced and the broad expanse of his chest beneath his shirt reminded her rather forcefully of how powerful his body was. Reminding herself of the purpose of her visit, the smile she gave him was entrancing while her nerves were jangling like wind chimes in a hurricane.

‘You might at least seem pleased to see me,’ she said, taking his hand and climbing out of the carriage.

‘You have taken a scandalous chance, risked compromising your reputation, by coming here,’ Max said coolly, regarding her without anger, but with a terrifying firmness and a hard gleam in his eyes.

‘I know it isn’t the done thing for a young lady to visit a gentleman at his home and at this hour, but I wish to speak to you and would prefer to do it in the privacy of your home, rather than in the busy confines of Grafton with Grandmother flapping her ears.’

‘I see. It sounds ominous.

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