The Trouble with being a Duke by Sophie Barnes

Author:Sophie Barnes [Barnes, Sophie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-08-26T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Five days had passed since the Kingsborough Ball, and Isabella’s mind was more muddled than it had ever been before. She was being courted by Mr. Roberts, who still hadn’t proposed, and she was being pursued by a duke.

She let out a sigh of despair. She didn’t care for Mr. Roberts in the least—especially not now that he had revealed what her marriage to him would entail. But she knew that her father had done all in his power to encourage his suit and consequently feared that denying Mr. Roberts at this point would not only incur his wrath but also make a mockery of her father.

On the other hand, the man she felt drawn toward was so far above her on the social ladder that she felt such hopelessness at even considering the possibility of that working out. Besides, her mother hated his kind and everything they stood for, which would not lead to very joyous family reunions.

The duke seemed not to mind her station in life, which only endeared him to her further. He might have been a man of power, but he was good and kind, or he would have started by trying to make her his mistress instead. He had not, however, and while he seemed terribly convinced that a union between them would work, Isabella still worried.

She didn’t know him very well after all, and he didn’t know her. What if this . . . thing . . . they felt for each other wasn’t enough? What if it faded? He hadn’t called it love, much to her relief, since she would have thought him presumptuous if he had, but rather the promise of love. And yet . . . what if all it was, was a need? She’d heard of such unquenchable desire before, and judging from the way he’d kissed her at the ball, not to mention their interlude on the road three days ago . . . She felt herself grow unbearably hot at the reminder and went to open the window.

Lust.

She allowed the word to form in the privacy of her mind and took a moment to consider it. Was that what it was? A breeze swept past her face, toying with her hair, and she sighed as she looked at the piece of paper she held in her hand. Marjorie had brought it up to her in secrecy, and she’d waited for the maid to depart before tearing open the seal to read its contents—an invitation from the duke to meet him later that afternoon by the Kingsborough barn, located quite conveniently on the same road that she would have to take to go to her aunt’s house.

Isabella felt her heart flutter at the very thought of accepting such a liaison. It spelled trouble, and yet the note said that he only wished to talk to her. Instinct warned her that he would want to do a whole lot more, but the sound of her heart beating was drowning out her voice of reason.

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