Five Days With a Duke by Christi Caldwell

Author:Christi Caldwell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Regency
Publisher: Christi Caldwell
Published: 2019-11-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

“His Grace, the Duke of Renaud, has arrived and requested a meeting with Lady Constance.”

It was hard to imagine that a sentence could usher in a greater screeching silence.

Curled up on a sofa, with her knees drawn close and a blanket tossed about her shoulders in a search for warmth, Constance sat, absolutely frozen.

Certain she’d misheard the butler in the doorway.

After all, it was altogether possible he was mistaken. It wouldn’t be the first time Scott had shown senility.

Bypassing his employer snoring away in the corner, the old servant looked between Constance and her mother.

“Who?” the countess yelped, her voice creeping up a decibel.

Constance’s father snorted himself awake. “Wha—who—?”

She sighed. Alas, if Constance had misheard, that could only mean that her mother had misheard, as well.

Scott swallowed loudly. “His Grace, the Duke of Renaud,” he whispered in his ancient, drawn-out tones as the earl had fallen asleep once more.

The countess sailed to her feet. “Whhhhhhaaaaaatever is he doing here?”

Constance’s father jolted awake again. “What is—?”

“Shh.” It was a sign of the desperation of the moment that both Constance and her maid, Dorinda, both attempted to silence the countess.

When her mother again spoke, she had the wherewithal to speak in a quiet, but still outrage-laden whisper. “Whatever is he doing here?”

“Whatever is who doing here?” the earl asked, with as much interest as he showed his wife when she spoke of her needlepoint projects.

“That bounder,” her mother exclaimed. “That libertine. That… rake.” Suddenly, her eyes lit, and a slow-dawning horror took root in Constance. She was already shaking her head. “That… duke!”

In but two words, hope was born in the countess’ tones.

Constance closed her eyes. “Mother,” she said warningly.

There’d been a time not very long ago when the countess’ status would have trumped all, including a visit from a disgraced duke.

“Desperate times and all that,” her mother said. Rushing over, she took Constance by the shoulders and gave her a light shake. “The Duke of Renaud is here to see you.”

Her father’s heavy brow wrinkled with confusion. “To see who?”

The countess slashed a hand in Constance’s direction. “To see your daughter.”

“I cannot imagine why,” Constance said softly. That much was true. After their volatile parting, she’d never dared to expect to see him again. And she’d been bereft at the idea of it. Just as she was unable to quell the light giddiness in her chest at knowing he was here.

Scott coughed into a fist. “Should I say Lady Constance is not receiving—?”

“No!”

Like denials exploded from both mother and daughter.

A guilty flush heated Constance’s cheeks as her mother chose that miserable moment to turn a sharp gaze on her. “Oh?”

Father scratched at his slightly balding pate. “But… I thought you thought we should turn the bounder out.”

“He’s not a bounder.” The defense slipped out before she could call it back. Constance bit the inside of her cheek, hard.

Her mother gave her an even longer look, and Constance fought the need to shift.

“That is…” Constance couldn’t come up with a single,

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