When the Duke Found Love by Isabella Bradford

Author:Isabella Bradford
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Regency, Fiction, Historical, General
ISBN: 9780345527332
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 2012-11-27T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

A blithering, babbling idiot.

Nearly two weeks had passed since Sheffield had watched Diana leave the milliner’s shop, yet he still could not recall that afternoon without coming to the same judgment regarding himself. She’d told him she did not want to be alone with him, she’d defended her betrothed, she’d told him to forget they had ever kissed. He’d responded by behaving like a mooncalf, telling her how he was bewitched and befuddled by her, how he could not put her from his mind, how he was desperate to see her alone again. He’d confessed it all, even used that very word, confession, as if he needed to grovel for her approval and absolution.

Then, as if that had not been enough, he’d showed her the silk flower that he’d plucked from her hat the first day he’d seen her, before he’d even known who she was, the flower he’d kept like a talisman ever since. No wonder she’d been left speechless by that. What could any lady say?

Nothing. Except that the Duke of Sheffield, famous for his charm and the ease with which he could seduce the most worldly of women, had been undone by a country-bred virgin who’d promised to wed the dullest man in all Britain.

Oh, yes, he was a blithering, babbling idiot, and no one was going to persuade him otherwise.

Which was why he was now in a place specially designed for other idiots like him, or at any rate, for gentlemen with more money than sense. It was a house so exclusive that it had no real name, but everyone for whom the door would open knew of it, and where exactly in Covent Garden it was. The main sport was gaming, with tables arranged in several rooms, but also available was an assortment of overpriced wines and unsavory food pretending to be French. Equally overpriced and unsavory women paraded among the gentlemen, paying the most attention to those who won or who flashed the largest wagers. Because Sheffield did neither, they generally ignored him. But then he drank little of the wine, ate less of the food, and took part in none of the games, either; his entire reason for being there was so that he would not have to go home just yet to a vast house that was empty except for servants.

He’d spent the earlier part of the evening dining with Lady Enid and her parents, a strained and dutiful meal if ever there was one. He’d created this false betrothal, and now he had to abide by it, at least for the time being. He had kept his distance from Diana and the rest of the family, and to his regret, she’d likewise made no effort to contact him. When she’d asked him to keep away, he somehow hadn’t realized that she’d intended to do the same.

Surely Diana must have felt the same joy that he had when they’d been together, the same spark between them. Surely it hadn’t been all

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