A Brazen Lady And The Shunned Duke (Faces of Love Series #3) by Jessie Bennett

Author:Jessie Bennett [Bennett, Jessie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical, Romance, Fiction, Forever Love, Inspirational, Clean & Wholesome, 19th Century, Bachelor, Single Woman, Series, Faces of Love, Society's Rules, Merchant's Daughter, Stepbrother
Publisher: Creative Clean Historical Romance Fiction Publishing House LLC.
Published: 2016-07-16T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

OUT IN THE OPEN

* * *

The dinner at the Duke of Kent’s home went better than expected. My brother and his wife were actually cordial throughout the evening. I couldn't help but smile when I looked at Ettie with her beau. They seemed so genuinely in love and happy.

I also met Kent’s uncle, the man who had basically raised him. He shared Ettie’s same red hair, but with dark brown eyes. He was also the same shape as Ettie, with plump cheeks and a full body. He wasn’t the jolly uncle I had expected. Instead, he was very somber and distant. I wondered what it would have been like for Kent and Ettie to be raised by a man like that.

After dinner was over, Kent invited me to take a tour of the small garden behind his house. It was becoming late in the summer, with a small chill starting to sweep through that evening. I hugged my light cotton shawl close around me as we walked. The rest of the party was just inside the drawing room. Some of the ladies were playing a game of cards while the gentlemen talked and smoked cigars.

“Scarlett, there is something I have wanted to say to you for some time now,” he said, looking down at me.

“Yes,” I encouraged.

“It has been a long time since I could say that I had hope for a happy future. I want you to know that in the time we have spent together, I have felt more hope than I have felt in my whole life. What I am trying to say is that I would like the opportunity to court you officially?”

I gave a little giggle. “I thought we were already doing that.”

He eased the tension out of his massive shoulders at my response. It was funny to see him nervous. “Good,” he said, taking my arm in his again.

“I must know something about you first,” I said, now being the one filled with nerves. “I have heard some rumors. Now, don’t think I put stock in any of them or that I am a gossiper. I need to know the truth though, Kent.”

He nodded solemnly. “You have the right to know.”

We walked a bit farther while he composed the right words to say.

“As a lad, when my uncle took us on, he also prepared for me to wed the daughter of a wealthy earl. As you may well know, my father had abused his estate almost to insolvency before his death.”

“She was a sweet girl,” he continued. “I knew her pretty well growing up. When it came time for our wedding, she informed me that she had fallen in love with another. In honesty, I didn’t feel much beyond friendship for her. I thought it was only fair to release her from the contract. She was only marring me because her parents wished the title, and I was only marrying her because my uncle wished to replenish the estate. It didn’t seem a good enough reason for either of us.

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