My Fair Duchess (A Once Upon A Rogue Novel Book 1)

by Julie Johnstone

  “I see that,” Harthorne said with a smug smile. “And that is exactly the point I just made. You seem overly invested to me, as if you are a man who truly cares for my sister and is not simply interested in her because of our wager or even because you have to marry. Do you care for Amelia?”

  The question was like a punch to the gut. Did he care for her? His stomach clenched as she smiled at her newest dance partner, Cooper. The man slid his hand too low for Colin’s liking.

  “Do you think Cooper is taking liberties with your sister?”

  Harthorne glanced from Colin to Amelia and Cooper. Turning back to Colin, he grinned. “No, I don’t. Do you know what else I think?”

  Colin absently shook his head, finding it hard to care what Harthorne thought. His blood rushed in his ears and all his muscles tensed in preparation to plunge in the dance crowd and rescue Amelia from the lecherous Cooper.

  “I think only a man besotted would construe an innocent dance as an attempt at seduction.”

  That got Colin’s attention. He narrowed his gaze on his friend. “I am not besotted with your sister. Not only do I hardly know her, but I am not a man to become besotted. Ever.”

  With a hearty chuckle, Harthorne clapped a hand on Colin’s shoulder. “If it makes you feel better, keep telling yourself that, my friend.”

  Irritated, Colin shrugged Harthorne off. “It is the truth. My interest in your sister may seem keen, but it is because I know you are going to lose the wager. I do not want her reputation besmirched. I will not be made a laughingstock as my father was.”

  Harthorne grinned at him. The man actually had the gall to grin! “I predict things will turn out splendidly. Exactly as they should for two people who mean the world to me. I do believe I’ll go play a game of cards in the other room.”

  “I thought you were going to keep watch over your sister.”

  “I’m confident you won’t let her out of your sight,” Harthorne replied.

  That was perfectly true. For the next hour, Colin watched Amelia dance with suitor after suitor and with each new partner the strange tension within him grew. By the time the night was over and he could take his leave, he felt just as exhausted as when he had been in the boxing ring at Gentleman Jackson’s for hours. The difference was he felt happy now. Fighting at Gentlemen Jackson’s had always managed to push the gloom down somewhat, but it had never made him feel happy. Yet, simply watching Amelia made him happy. The thought scared the devil out of him, because if she could give him happiness, she could just as easily take it away and then all that would be left was misery.

  The next morning, Colin rose before the sun with an odd sort of tension running through him. He did not like the fact that Amelia made him feel anything. What had been so perfect about the wager was that even if he lost and Amelia became his wife, he had been sure he could remain aloof for a lifetime and thus, safe from pain. He dressed quietly, so as not to awaken anyone else in the household, and made his way outdoors to practice fencing to relax.

  On the way to the open field he had trained in the day before, he was strolling past a garden when the sound of Amelia singing reached him. He stopped to listen. Her merry tone made him smile, but seeing her bent over a vegetable garden, her dress sleeves rolled up, and her hair shoved haphazardly on her head in that beautifully messy style of hers released his tension in a way nothing in his life ever had. He frowned at that.

  “Amelia,” he called, certain a short conversation with her would confirm that her change had already begun.

  She paused with her tool raised high in the air, sat up on her knees, and craned her neck around to look at him. A large splotch of dirt covered her right cheek, and the urge to walk over to her and wipe the grime off her lovely skin nagged him. He strolled over with his arms crossed. The last thing he bloody needed to do was touch Amelia.

  “Last night went splendidly,” he said.

  Amelia frowned and swiped a hand across her sweaty forehead, which put another dark streak of dirt on her skin. That was it. He couldn’t stand it. He dropped to his knees, whipped out a handkerchief, and held it in the air between them. “May I? You have dirt on your forehead and cheek.”

  “Does it bother you?” she said with a laugh.

  “Only because it covers your pretty face.” Bloody idiot. Why was he saying such syrupy nonsense?

  Her eyes widened, but much to his relief, they rounded in what appeared to be delight and not guile. “Go ahead,” she said, her voice low and wavering.

  With care, he cleaned her face and then stuffed the handkerchief away. “Were you pleased with the way things went last night?” He tensed as he waited for her gushing to begin.

  “Who wouldn’t be pleased spending hours fluttering her eyelashes and pasting on false smiles. It was almost as much fun as playing the pianoforte.”

  Colin suppressed a smile. “I thought you didn’t play.”

  “Exactly,” she huffed. “Because it’s mind-numbingly dull.”

  “And you find flirting dull?”

  Her gaze locked on his then strayed to his lips before coming back to his eyes. “I suppose one has to have the right partner.”

  Did she think he was the right partner? Devil take it, he should not care. “Well, you’re certain to find it entertaining when you flirt with Worthington, since he has your heart.”

  She nodded, but her brow was puckered.

  “Are you doubting your feelings?” He didn’t care for the way his pulse surged all of a sudden.

  She rested her hands on her knees. “No. Not that.”

  She sounded uncertain, by God, she did.

  “Part of me knows I need to catch Lord Worthington’s attention so he will have the chance to fall in love with who I really am, but there is another part of me that is frustrated because he has previously failed to notice me as I am. Graceless or not, gowned in shiny silk or drab cotton, if he is meant for me, would it really matter to him?”

  Her words caused his heart to pound harder. He wanted to tell her it should not matter one damn bit and to forget Worthington, who really was not worthy of her, but the same fear from last night reared its ugly head. He was becoming too involved and caring too much about what she did. “Worthington is a man like any other.”

  “Like you?”

  “I’m no better,” he said dully. “In fact, I’m worse.”

  “So you care about all that, as well? I would not have thought―”

  “I don’t care about anything,” he interrupted, needing to sever the connection he suddenly felt to her.

  The hurt that flashed across her face made him want to take back every bloody word he had just said. Instead, he sat in stony silence. Already, she was wiggling into his heart. He could not allow it. Hell, he was afraid to permit it.

  She stood and brushed off her skirts while piercing him with eyes that seemed to know too damn much. “You’re lying, again. You care about my brother, and I vow you care about me.”

  His heartbeat thrashed in his ears. “What makes you think I care about you?”

  “Because of the way you’ve treated me with such patience at kindness. We could be friends, you know. I bet you’ve never had a woman as a friend. Have you?”

  “No, I have not.” His words came out stiff. He could not bloody help it. The turn of this conversation was making him uncomfortable.

  “I’m going to be your friend,” she fairly growled then flashed him a smile. “We will be friends, whether you like it or not.” She plunked her hands on her hips. “In fact, you will not be able to stop it. One day you will wake up and realize you could not imagine your life without my friendship.” She tossed down her tool and speared him with narrowed eyes. “Think on that, Colin. Now, I am going to wash up and start packing for the trip to London.” With that, she whirled on her heel and walked away.

  There was no sway in her hips whatsoever, but damn it all, it was the most provocative stride Colin had ever seen―purposeful and unchanging from the day before
. It was perfect.

  London England

  Lady Langley’s home

  After three long days of traveling from Norfolk to London, Amelia wanted nothing more than to sink into a bath to wash the grime of the road away. Instead, she stood alone before Colin’s aunt, Lady Langley, and felt very much like a horse being inspected for purchase. Finally, the lady stopped in front of Amelia, one haughty dark-red eyebrow raised. “Aversley said in his letter that your mother would be joining you.”

  Heat crept up Amelia’s neck, along with a pang in the pit of her belly. “She fell ill just before we left and will follow once she’s better.” The lie made her stomach knot. Yet, it was the same lie her mother had uttered when she had told Amelia she would not be coming with her right away. Amelia had recognized the falsehood by her mother’s wringing hands and her darting eyes. She had tried, without success, to get her mother to tell her the truth.

  When that hadn’t worked, Amelia had said she would stay until her mother felt well enough to accompany her, but Mother had ordered she go. She hadn’t wanted to come alone, but the more she’d argued the more insistent and upset Mother had become, until Amelia felt the arguing was only making matters worse for her mother’s already fragile state. So she’d relented but had stopped at Constance’s and gotten assurances that Constance and her mother would check on Mother every day. Philip was with Mother too, but he was a man, after all.

  Lady Langley waved her hand, and a kind smile came to her face. “No matter. This will give me a chance to really get to know you and decide if you are worthy of Aversley.”

  Amelia blinked. “You misunderstand, Lady Langley. I’m here to make my debut, not to marry your nephew.”

  The woman’s eyebrow quirked higher. “I misunderstand nothing. Colin wrote me about the wager.”

  “He did?” Amelia felt her mouth gape open.

  “Of course he did. He may be a lot of things, my dear, but a liar is not one of them. He would never ask me to sponsor you for the Season under false pretenses. He disclosed everything to me as was proper, but rest assured, I’ll not whisper a word of it.”

  “Thank you,” Amelia choked out.

  “No need to thank me. When I started to read his letter my first inclination was to deny his outrageous request, but then I thought about the fact that he had bothered to make the request of me.”

  “I don’t understand your meaning.”

  Lady Langley motioned her over to a settee and took the chair opposite Amelia. Once seated, Colin’s aunt continued. “Colin has never asked me for anything in his entire life, so you must be very special to him.”

  Amelia shook her head. “No, not me. My brother. He is doing all this for my brother.”

  “I don’t think so. If this were simply for your brother, Colin would not have asked for my help. He involved me to make sure everything is perfectly proper. I do believe he’s quite sure you will become his duchess.”

  “Well, he’s wrong,” Amelia retorted more sharply than she intended.

  Lady Langley cocked her head. “You may be the first debutante I have met that did not have designs on marrying my nephew. Do you find him displeasing?”

  “No. He’s very easy to talk to. And kind, generous, and good, though I vow he does not think so.”

  “I vow you’re right,” Lady Langley agreed with a soft smile. “You seem to think very highly of him.”

  Amelia nodded. “I do. I truly do.”

  “That pleases me to hear. I worry about him.”

  The flash of pain that crossed Lady Langley’s face tugged on Amelia’s heart. Impulsively, she grasped the woman’s hand. “I’m worried for him, too. That’s why I have a plan.”

  “A plan?”

  “Yes. I intend to show your nephew that he’s wrong about women. I mean to help him fall in love.”

  Both Lady Langley’s eyebrows arched high. “I daresay you will accomplish your goal, Lady Amelia.”

  The sound of a throat being cleared behind her made Amelia tense. She instantly turned in her seat and froze. Colin leaned in the doorway with the oddest expression on his face, almost one of wonderment

  Dear heavens. Had he heard what she said to his aunt? She jerked her gaze back to Lady Langley, and the woman gave a slight shrug as if in apology. Amelia dug her nails into the velvet of the settee. Colin’s aunt had known he was standing there and had not said a word while Amelia blurted her intentions for Colin.

  There was no hope for it now but to face him. Amelia straightened her spine and turned back around. “How long have you been standing there eavesdropping?”

  “I was not eavesdropping,” Colin said, in a smooth tone. “I simply did not want to interrupt. I came to see how the two of you were getting along, make my apologies for being detained and not being here to properly introduce you.”

  “How long have you been standing there?” Amelia asked again. She simply had to know.

  Colin shrugged. “Long enough to know you harbor false hopes.”

  “Aversley!” Lady Langley cried out.

  Amelia kept her attention trained on Colin. “Which part is false, Your Grace?”

  Colin yanked on his cravat as he stared at Amelia. Her hands were on her hips, and she had a challenging glint in her eyes. By God, she was already changing his views on women. Or at least one woman―her. But that did not mean he wanted any part of love or that he would share any of this with her. “Likely both, but most definitely the latter. However, I did not come here to talk about me.”

  He strode across the room and gave his aunt what he hoped was a stern look of warning. He did not like that she had tricked Amelia into spilling her secrets while he was standing there, though he had to admit hearing Amelia say she thought he was kind, good, and generous pleased him. In fact, it pleased him more than it bloody should.

  He had never been close to his aunt, but he knew she had never approved of how his mother had treated his father, and that simple fact alone made him like her and had caused him to think he could trust her not to meddle in his affairs. She never had before.

  Glancing between his aunt and Amelia, he said, “If you are done discussing me, I’ve come to collect Lady Amelia to take her shopping for gowns. She only has two nights before her first ball, and she needs to be properly outfitted.”

  “You’re going to take her shopping?”

  He chuckled at the disbelief in his aunt’s voice. “Yes. To Bond Street. I’ve scheduled an appointment with Madame Laurent.”

  Amelia gave him a puzzled look. “But if we go to Bond Street together, even with my lady’s maid as chaperone, won’t people whisper that there is something between us?”

  “They will,” he replied, watching her face. “That’s part of my plan, Lady Amelia. The gentlemen will want you because it seems I do. We men are simple creatures. We always want what we think we cannot have.”

  Amelia rose slowly and faced him. “I only care if one man wants me, and as long as you’re certain of this plan I will go along with whatever you say.”

  He grinned wickedly and held out his arm to her. “You’ve no idea how I’ve dreamed of a lady telling me she’d go along with whatever I say.”

  Amelia smirked at him. “I’ve no doubt you’ve met plenty of women willing to do exactly as you bid, but let me clarify that my willingness to act like an eager puppy extends only so far as the boundaries of decorum allow.”

  “I do so like you, Lady Amelia,” his aunt said with a snicker. “You’re feisty.”

  Amelia inclined her head toward his aunt, but Colin caught the mischievous twinkle in her eye. When Amelia slipped her slender arm into his, Colin was struck with how right it felt to hold her so near. “Incomparable women don’t adhere to the boundaries of decorum, my dear. That’s what makes them unique. And when I am finished recreating you, you will be in a class of your own.”

  Amelia snorted.

  “Personally,” his aunt said from behind them as they strolled toward the door, “I don’t s
ee that there is any need to recreate Lady Amelia at all. From the short time I’ve spent with her, she seems perfect to me. A smart man will want her exactly as she is.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Colin said. “But the man she wants is a fool.” Amelia’s sharp intake of breath was not lost on him, but he did not say another word as he led her out of the house and into the awaiting carriage.

  Several hours later, Colin sat in the world’s most uncomfortable chair, but that was not what had his anger mounting with every second that passed. Amelia had come out from the dressing room with at least twenty different shades of material draped cleverly around her, apologizing each time for how awful she looked. He had responded repeatedly that she looked lovely. It was true. Amelia could have been wearing a sack, and she would be ravishing. Why he had ever thought she needed a beautiful gown to enhance her already stunning appearance now mystified him.

  Damn it all, he had contributed to her doubts about herself along with every other foolish gentleman she had come across.

  Amelia strolled into the center of the waiting room, this time resplendent in azure. The color of the gown enhanced her eyes perfectly and left him speechless.

  She eyed him, as did Madame Laurent who hovered behind Amelia. “Well?” Amelia said, repeating the same process she had been for the last two hours. “What of this color?”

  “It looks perfect on you.”

  “You’ve said that about every hue I’ve been draped in for the last two hours! I am sure I look inadequate. I always look wretched.”

  “May I have a moment alone with Lady Amelia, Madame Laurent?” Colin asked in as steady a voice as he could muster with the anger at himself simmering within.

  “But of course,” the seamstress replied and hurried to the opposite corner of the room to busily toy with swatches.

  Colin rose, walked over to Amelia, and grasped her by the elbow to lead her to the looking glass. “You do not properly see yourself, Amelia,” he said staring at her.