Seven Nights with the Duke: Those Very Bad Fairbanks, 4 by Clarke Alyssa

Author:Clarke, Alyssa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Darkan Press Inc.
Published: 2022-04-08T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

Dearest Elizabeth,

I hope you will do me the honor of speaking with me privately the next time we encounter each other at a ball. I have something to say.

Yours,

Rannulf.

“That’s it?” Lizzy muttered, turning the paper over. Weeks she had waited, afraid to open the dratted letter and it was only a couple of lines. “The vexing wretch!”

Rannulf knew her well enough that her terrible curiosity would get the best of her, and she would seek him out. With a groan, she lowered her face to the cushions of the sofa, then started to laugh.

“Have you pilfered Colin’s whisky again?” a voice asked behind her.

“When did Lizzy drink?” another gasped.

Lifting her face from the cushions, Lizzy turned to see her younger sisters, Ellie and Penelope.

“Are you spying on me, Penny?” Lizzy grouched.

Her sister giggled and ran out of the smaller drawing room. Ellie was tying her bonnet beneath her chin and laughing. “You know she shamelessly watches us, hoping for the day when she will also be out in society. It can be terribly hard on younger sisters to stay at home when we have such fun about town.”

“Penny will have her turn,” Lizzy said softly, thinking how much her seventeen-year-old sister wanted to attend a ball. Since she’d caught Fanny’s bouquet at her beautiful wedding a couple weeks ago, Penny had been walking on air with smiles and clearly dreaming about her own prince charming.

“Yes, but she has at least another year or two since Phoebe needs to be out before her. I am afraid she will do something wild in the manner of the very bad Fairbanks if she is not cautioned.”

“I will speak to her,” Lizzy said, “Now, where are you going?”

Ellie flushed, and Lizzy murmured, “Ah, another secret meeting with Lucien Glendevon.”

Her sister did not reply, only blushed and sailed from the room. Lizzy looked back at the letter she had hidden against her palm. She had found every excuse to not attend balls recently, also dreading what she might do if she saw the dratted man again. This was the perfect lure to get her out, but she would not waiver in her resolve.

Lizzy avoided attending any balls, knowing that the duke would seek her out. Her thoughts of him did not lessen, and the itch of her curiosity to discover what he had to tell her niggled at her like a rash. She was careful to always be attended by at least a footman and maid whenever she went out, although usually she was accompanied by one or more of her sisters. Although when the family was at home to visitors, she could not avoid society. She always wore her hair as sternly as possible and chose her gowns with care, eschewing any that could be considered frivolous or risqué.

Still, her beauty shone through, and Lizzy was mortified by other suitors trying to engage her interest. For every bouquet sent after a ball to her sisters, she received at least one addressed to her

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