My Darling Duke

by Stacy Reid

  Kitty snagged a glass of champagne from a passing footman and made her way over to Charlotte. A smile lit her entire features, her blue eyes sparkled with welcome, and her unique prettiness struck Kitty. Charlotte’s alabaster skin mottled easily under the rays of the sun, and she had the blackest hair Kitty had ever seen on another. Many times they had laughingly called her Snow White, drawing an undeserved comparison to the Grimm brothers’ fairy tale.

  “Oh, Kitty, I am frightfully bored,” Charlotte said by way of greeting.

  “Perhaps we are getting old,” Kitty teased.

  Her friend rolled her eyes in an unladylike fashion. “Why yes, we are decrepit at three and twenty.”

  They shared a laugh.

  “I have decided on a path for my future,” Charlotte murmured unexpectedly.

  Kitty looped their hands together and directed them toward the upper bower’s balcony for privacy. Though with the crush and loud laughter and facile chattering, there was little chance of being overheard as it was.

  “I… The marquess is seeking a mistress, and I mean to apply for the position.”

  “Charlotte!”

  She looked a little conscience-stricken. “I have few choices remaining open to me now,” she said after a moment’s reflection. “I’ve no offers but indecent proposals.”

  “This is far wickeder than even what I conceived to rescue my family!” Kitty said, considerably intrigued.

  That set her incorrigible friend’s eyes dancing devilishly. “He wants me desperately, you know…and seems willing to grant me whatever boon I want to allow him to be my protector.”

  This was said with such wistful yearning, Kitty’s heart ached for her friend. “If he desires you so ardently, why does he not offer marriage?”

  Charlotte hesitated, coloring a little, and then said, meeting Kitty’s look of inquiry, “It is frightfully complicated, I fear.”

  Kitty touched her shoulder lightly, knowing of Charlotte’s stubbornness once she had decided on a path of action. “I would be remiss if I did not caution you about the scandal and ruin you may find in the marquess’s arms.”

  Kitty saw the stricken look on Charlotte’s face, the color ebbing from her cheeks.

  She twisted her fingers together and said with ill-concealed difficulty, “There is even worse ruin in poverty.”

  Kitty found herself unable to utter a word.

  “Now, let’s speak of other matters,” Charlotte said with a small smile.

  They chatted amicably for a few minutes before Charlotte pled a headache from the stifling heat of the crush and promised to call upon Kitty in the upcoming week.

  She spied her sister coming toward her and waved. Judith ambled over, and not for the first time Kitty admired Judith’s peach ball gown with its modest neckline trimmed with delicate and elegant lace. Her blond hair was caught in an array of charming ringlets, and the entwined ribbons did not lend the air of maturity for which she had hoped. While Kitty was in Scotland, their mother, with encouragement from Lady Darling, had allowed Judith to be out, in the hope of improving her matrimonial appeal with the eligible beaux. And tonight Judith appeared just as she was—a young, innocent debutante not yet jaded by dashed expectations and a treacherous heart.

  “Oh, isn’t the ball simply wonderful! I’ve had so many dances, my feet are sore,” Judith said with a rueful yet mischievous smile.

  “I daresay it is fun,” Kitty obligingly replied.

  “It is more than that!” Judith cried dramatically, her brown eyes kindling with indignation. “You and Anna never told me balls and soirees were just so splendid.” She looked about her with bright-eyed appreciation. “I was asked by my new friend Lady Jane if we are to attend Lady Beadle’s masquerade party next week. Jane said it promises to be the most convivial of the season. Wouldn’t it be infamous of us not to attend? Oh, please convince Mamma we must go, Kitty!”

  “I shall speak with Mamma and Anna,” Kitty promised with a light laugh.

  “Capital! I shall inform Jane there is a chance I might attend!” her sister cried, delighted, hurrying back to her friend.

  The rest of the ball passed in an uninspiring blur for Kitty. She tried her best to smile and laugh when appropriate, but there was a fog clouding every moment of each encounter. Kitty felt breathless with shock to realize it was an awareness that she was inexplicably lonely.

  It cleaved at her daily, loneliness, as intense and frustrating as it was unexplainable. Yet she had been for some time, even before she met the duke, and had buried the unwanted frustration behind duty, filling that empty space with a sense of purpose and responsibility for her sisters and mamma.

  She did not want to bear it anymore. And so something must be done.

  Kitty felt such sorrow to realize Alexander had felt this aching emptiness for years. He had been lost in loneliness, doubt, and a loss of hope long before she knew him. She recalled the bleakness in his eyes as he had stared at her, no doubt feeling the icy loss of more freedom if he should never walk again.

  Do you think me so shallow I can love you only if you are perfect?

  Yet that assessment of his character felt wrong. Was he afraid she would be unable to share that hollowness that he said was unending? Her conviction fought with the burning memory of his dismissal.

  You bore me, Miss Danvers.

  His tone had been flat, but his eyes had been wild and bright with pain…and fear…and perhaps, just perhaps, there had been love.

  Oh, what am I to do?

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Dressed in a lime-green day gown, Kitty glided down a curving flight of steps to the main floor. Her friends were all gathered in the drawing room, after insisting on having this month’s intrepid meeting at her town house, simply because she had never hosted the Sinful Wallflowers before. Her previous humble abode’s location had not been ideal. And Kitty was glad for today’s meeting, for she needed their advice and comforting presence.

  She entered the drawing room, and lightness entered her heart to see the heads of Ophelia, Maryann, and Fanny bent together as they giggled over pictures in some book.

  “I do hope that is not another naughty book snatched from your brother’s collection, Maryann,” Kitty greeted, closing the door behind her to afford them privacy. She was pleased to see tea, sandwiches, and cakes had already been sent up.

  “Charlotte may not make it; her mother has forced her to take a carriage ride with the odious Viscount Mauler,” Fanny said crossly, closing the book. “He attempted to take liberties with her on their last outing, and she smacked him with her parasol. I am surprised he is still pursuing her.”

  “He wants his heir,” Ophelia said with a snort of disgust. “The man has been married twice and has seven daughters! I cannot believe Charlotte’s mamma is even entertaining the man’s pursuit.”

  “And the viscount is older than her father,” Maryann said with a scowl.

  “She must be devastated,” Kitty said, moving to sit between the girls on the sofa. “I believe she truly admires Lord Sands, and to be forced to marry where her heart does not lie is so cruel! We must help her escape his clutches.”

  Her passionate outburst had her friends examining her rather closely.

  “I can sense we are about to hatch a plan to save dear Charlotte,” Maryann said, fixing her glasses firmly on her nose. “But first we need to fix you.”

  “Me?” She glanced around the room. “And where is Emma?”

  “Yes, you,” Maryann retorted. “Emma is in Cornwall visiting her aunt who is ill.”

  “We have seen your despondency,” Fanny said archly, artfully passing around tea for everyone. “We would be poor friends if we had not observed the strain in your smile at last night’s ball. Now, tell us what happened in Scotland. Ophelia of course told us where you went.”

  Kitty scowled at her fr
iend, and Ophelia merely gave an inelegant shrug.

  “Did you mean to keep it from us?” Maryann asked gently, a vein of hurt in her tone.

  A lump formed in Kitty’s throat. “Of course not. You are all my dear friends, and I trust you to keep my confidences. I have simply been so wretched!” She took a deep breath and spilled the entire story with the duke, even including details she had not shared with Anna. Such as the fact that Kitty had kissed the duke several times.

  “Well, upon my soul, you love him,” Fanny gasped, her eyes wide.

  “I do, and I hate that I do, for he does not care for me. I have been away from him for a month, and all the odious man does is torment me with notes and flowers but say nothing more!”

  “Love! You hardly know him, Kitty,” Ophelia objected, sounding considerably surprised.

  Kitty surged to her feet and started pacing by the windows. “How long does it take to fall endlessly into passion and feel tender sentiments for another? No other has ever held such power to sway my emotions from one extreme manner to the next as the duke. I ache for him, and then I feel such anger, then I cry, and then I laugh when I remember the incredible moments we spent together.” She paused and stared at her friends, who returned her regard with an air of astonishment.

  “There is something wonderful between us, and it sparks to life from a mere glance and transcends into something so profound at times that I am breathless, unable to believe such feelings for this person could be real. I am certain, so certain that the duke feels it, too! That wretched, odious man!”

  Ophelia’s eyes widened, and she lowered her teacup and saucer to the table before their sofa. “Your nerves are overset.”

  Kitty snorted inelegantly and resumed her pacing, wearing the carpet into the floor. A stark emptiness rose inside her like a great swell, threatening to drown her. “With Alexander, I saw…” She choked on the words, tears welling in her eyes.

  Maryann stood, ambling over, and touched Kitty’s hands fleetingly, her eyes warm with compassion. “What did you see?”

  “Happiness.” She closed her eyes, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Kitty swiped it away with anger. “I cannot explain it. I am happy with Mamma and my sisters, doing everything I can to help them find their place within society. But since I met the duke, I saw…I saw happiness for me—and for him. This hope is unlike any I’ve ever felt and I daresay will ever experience again. It feels raw, powerful, and fills every part of my heart with a certainty that Alexander is an important part of my life. He is not my life…but he completes it so fully, I know now how empty I’ve been. I suspect I am his happiness, too, but he will not reach for me. He sends me notes and flowers yet no words of love or commitment. He mocks every emotion I feel in my soul for him by remaining silent!”

  “What do the notes say?” Maryann asked.

  “They are all simple letters… He misses me… He thinks of me,” she said with a note of wonderment. “Things we had not shared in our time at McMullen Castle. But if he wants me to know these things, why is he telling me in this wretched manner with little directions to his regards?”

  Fanny also stood and drifted closer. “Perhaps he is afraid.”

  “Afraid?” Kitty cried, her heart incensed beyond measure. “He is Alexander Masters, Duke of Thornton. What about me can he fear?”

  “Of disappointing you, hurting you with his limitations, loving you so much, he would rather set you free than be a burden,” Ophelia murmured.

  “How absurd. A man as self-assured and indomitable as Alexander could never think he would be a burden,” Kitty said softly.

  But then her thoughts drifted to their moments on the lake. With you I want to share my silence.

  Alexander was a man who had chosen to exile himself from society. And had done so for ten years. Yet he had stepped from his cold, lonely world and braved the scandal sheets and society’s overly lurid speculation to meet her. The first such person to interest him…touch him…kiss him in years.

  She pressed the tips of her fingers to her lips, remembering the incredible taste and feel of him, the powerful press of his body against hers.

  Yet it wasn’t those memories that made her throat ache with longing. It was the way he’d teased her, charmed her, brought laughter and happiness to her heart. And it was the way he had made her feel comfortable to speak about her dreams and to be natural without fear of being lambasted for being willful or overly passionate.

  He liked her impudence.

  And she…she loved him.

  “He believes his limitations will be a burden to my happiness when it is so far from the truth. He said…he said he may never be able to love me as a man loves a woman; he may never be able to grant me children. We had an intimate moment, and he got hurt during…during…” She ended on a huff, blushing furiously. “After that, he rejected every offer of comfort and my love. Since then I have been so despondent and unlike myself!”

  Her friends were silent at this passionate confession.

  “And you want him still?” Fanny asked, searching her expression.

  “Yes.” That truth she could not hide from, nor did she want to pretend about the affections she felt for Alexander.

  Ophelia smiled. “If he’ll not come to you, you must go to him.”

  “And do what?”

  “Convince him that you are meant to be together,” Maryann said with conviction. “You are fierce and brave and quite inventive. I’ve never known you to wilt away from any challenge.”

  Kitty stared at her friend. “He should be the one convincing me! I do not know if I wish to sway him. He is the one who sent me away.”

  “That is foolish pride and fear speaking, Kitty,” Fanny whispered. “You are already so certain you and the duke are meant to be. You need no convincing on that matter.”

  Those softly spoken words pierced her heart deeply. She pressed a hand over her lips. “I would not know what to say.”

  Ophelia pursed her lips. “Seduce him.”

  “Seduce him?” Kitty gasped.

  “Yes. You said there were intimate moments before he got hurt. Perhaps it is still possible. Charm the duke with kisses and improper touches and show him that there can be normalcy between you two.”

  Maryann gasped, while Fanny laughed with delighted wickedness. Kitty could only stare at her friends. “What do I know of seduction? And I hardly think that might sway Alexander.”

  Ophelia took a demure sip of her tea, the slow movement quite at odds with the terribly devilish glint in her eyes. “Men have a reputation of being weak…desperately weak to our kisses, you know. And if the duke truly wants you as much as you want him…I daresay kisses are bound to work.”

  Maryann flushed and asked, “I gather you speak from some experience?”

  Ophelia tossed her dark head. “I have a friend…you may have heard of her—Cosima Wagner.”

  Kitty eyed Ophelia with new appreciation. Those who had been acquainted with her father knew that he was dotingly fond of her, perhaps to Lady Ophelia’s determent. Kitty had no notion her friend was being this naughty. To be friends with a lady rumored to be a courtesan?

  “The Prussian princess who is in exile? There is a rumor she is the mistress of that vile gaming hell owner. The one who is always in the paper for his wickedness,” Maryann gasped.

  To Kitty’s shock, a flush ran along Ophelia’s cheek.

  “Devlin Byrne,” she murmured.

  “A very made-up name if I ever heard one.” Fanny sniffed. “But yes, that is the man, and everyone believes the princess and Mr.—”

  “They are not lovers!” Ophelia said, a peculiar vulnerability flashing in her eyes before she lowered her lids. “We are friends of sort, Cosima and I. And she is very knowledgeable about men…and what is needed to seduce a gentleman to our way of thinking. She says there are many arts to rousing a man�
�s body. I daresay a woman should know more about it than stuffy old doctors!” She looked away, a full blush engulfing her body at her friends’ stare.

  Kitty hesitated, at a rare loss for words. Finally, she asked, “You have inquired of this lady how to seduce a man?”

  She nodded guiltily, her color deepening. “Yes.”

  “Ophelia, what have you been doing?” Maryann cried.

  Shock blasted through Kitty anew. “For what purpose?” she asked in a dramatically low voice. An indecipherable emotion flashed in her friend’s eyes before it was shuttered, and Kitty realized with a good deal of alarm that she was not the only one acting in a wicked and ruinous manner.

  “Did we not all promise to be wicked, bold, and unflinching in our desire to secure our happiness?” Ophelia demanded. Yet her voice cracked, and in her eyes, Kitty saw an uncertainty she would not have thought possible in the most daring of her friends.

  “We did,” Kitty said softly, taking Ophelia’s gloved hands between her own.

  How marvelous if we should all be guilty of doing something wicked, just for once? It felt like she had asked this question of her friends a lifetime ago. And yet here she was giving up on the promise of a forever kind of love, the kind she had to show Alexander was worth any risk.

  “Do you believe she would teach me?”

  Ophelia smiled and said obligingly, “If you have the courage to ask, my dear Cosima will tell you whatever you wish to know.”

  “And am I assured of her discretion?”

  “I have been meeting with her for more than two months. No one is aware of our friendship.”

  Kitty took a steadying breath. “Please introduce me to her. I shall be excessively thankful if you would.”