Don't Mind if I Duke (Wayward Dukes' Alliance, #4) by Sue London

Author:Sue London
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: duke, regency, haberdashers
Publisher: Graythorn Publishing
Published: 2023-08-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Lady Dorothea had been more correct than she’d known, saying he was drunk. Firstly on the spirits he’d imbibed, but secondly on her presence. He craved her smiles. He delighted in the turn of her mind as she argued with him. Seeing her in such a fashionable dress was a special torment. The plain drape of it left much to the imagination, but then each time she moved, the thin fabric pulled and tightened over her such that she might as well not be wearing anything.

Now they were settled in the study again, the invitations spread over his table as she pored over them. She was steadily making two stacks. He wasn’t sure yet which was to be cast aside and which to be debated. They were seated side by side, and periodically she stood to reach across the table for one of the cards. He wasn’t sure if he should offer to reach them for her. It would certainly be more gentlemanly, because he was using the opportunity to watch the silk draw tight over her very well-proportioned arse.

She made a soft humming sound and then asked, “How interested are you in natural philosophy?”

He hadn’t expected that question. “Beg pardon?”

“The natural world, animals, plants, and their role in the order of the world, that sort of thing.”

He was cautious in his answer. “I wouldn’t say that I’m disinterested.”

She moved a card to a stack. He was inordinately curious about whether it was a rejection or future debate. To his relief, when she was finished sorting them into two piles, she pushed the larger stack to the side and pulled the smaller one in front of them. She then sorted through them, rearranging them to her satisfaction before pulling the first one off of the top.

“The Wynders. Something of a perfunctory opportunity to see and be seen in Society, but Lord Wynders is also known to keep an excellent library, so you may find some topics of interest with him. The benefit would be a possible new friend of good social consequence, although their gatherings are far more social in purpose than you may prefer. Also, it is very early in this calendar, and this may not be the event where you want to make your name.”

“Rejected.”

She raised her brow at him, grinning. “I thought we were going to debate these?”

“You did a fine job debating it by yourself.”

She shook her head but set the card aside on the rejection pile. She picked up the next one. “The Bittlesworths. A salon on the mathematical consequence of winter flora, whatever that means.”

“I assume that to be Charles and Charlotte?”

“Yes.” She sounded mystified that he would sound so confident in their identities.

“Accepted.”

She laughed, starting a new stack. “Noted that you will accept any invitation that mentions mathematics.”

“Actually, I already know them and am delighted to find out that they host such salons.”

“You know them? How do you know them?”

He paused for a moment. “I met them at my brother’s dinner party.”

“You have a brother? In London?”

“I see that the gossip has not reached you.

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