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The Duke And I Forty
Cassy waited anxiously for cards to be presented that would announce the identity of her guests and hoped that it was someone she liked. Lilian had promised to visit in her letter. She liked Lilian. Out of the dozens of young women she'd met in London, she was the only one who did not affect arrogant manners and snobbish ways. They had become friends for a time until Lilian had made a match and gone off with her new husband to tour America.But to Cassy's dismay, it was Robert. And he had brought along Zack, much to her surprise and vague uneasiness. Somehow, she knew that Henry would not be pleased to know that the viscount had been to his home in his absence."Henry is in London?" Robert asked with a slight lift of his brows. "How unfortunate. I had thought to find him at home. Well, I can present you with my felicitations, and perhaps have some of the Duke's excellent brandy. Oh, you do recall the duke's cousin, I am sure..."He seemed to expect Cassy to allow him to linger and she
The Duke And I Forty-One
"Are you certain you want to do that?" Adeline asked with an alarm in her eyes. "I think it ill-advised, at best."Pacing the floor of the rose drawing room in the dowager's home in London, Cassy snapped angrily, "Oh, I don't know. I'm not certain what I should do. I'd like to pull her hair out, or...or something equally vicious. But I suppose that would be rather drastic.""Going to Miss Whitefield's home is definitely not the thing, I would say." Adeline's voice held a sharp edge to it despite her amusement, and she gazed for a long moment at Cassy's high, flushed face and snapping blue eyes. "Besides, you're not even sure that the gossip is true."Turning to the Dowager, Cassy asked hopefully, "Have you heard anything?"Adeline shifted uneasily, then sighed and said in a grudging lone, "A little. But not, it seems, as much as you have. I haven't heard about Rebecca, for instance."Her shoulders stiffened, and her hands curled into small fists. "Then you have heard that he's keeping
The Duke And I Forty-Two
But waiting for Henry in his big canopied bed in the townhouse on park place, Cassy began to wonder if she had the same flair for "sensible choice" as Adeline obviously had. It didn't come easily to her. She wanted to fling her anger at him and tell him what she thought of him for seeing his actress again, then threaten to shoot him if he went to her again. Then she wanted him to take her in his arms and kiss her until she could think of nothing but his hard body and heated kisses.Hugging her knees, she sat up in the bed and watched as low light from candles placed on the mantel shed waving patterns on the deep green walls. She was wearing her prettiest nightgown, sewn of sheer material and caught up on her shoulders with a rosette on each side, then flowing down in a greek fashion, to swirl around her feet. In the light, a person could see right through it. What would Henry do when he saw her? Would he be pleased? Irritated? Surprised?When she finally heard his heavy tread in the ha
The Duke And I Fourty-Three
"You don't look very happy," Lady Theresa said bluntly, and Cassy shrugged."I am. Or at least, I was when we were in the country," she amended honestly."I don't think London is very conducive to happy marriages some of the time," Theresa said. Her pertface was thoughtful, and her blond curls danced merrily as she came to sit on the couch close to Cassy. "I understand Robert is a gossipy fool. And I happen to know that you and Zack did nothing out of the way." She smiled at Cassy's surprise. "Men can be foolish, don't you think?""No more foolish than women at times," Cassy muttered. "I should never have allowed them to stay without Henry at home." Or have allowed myself to fall in love with a man who has lost the capacity for emotions..."Nonsense!" Theresa said strongly. "There's nothing at all wrong with entertaining visitors, and it's not as if you received Zack alone in your bedroom!"A reluctant smile curved her lips, and Cassy managed a light shrug. "No, I suppose there isn't."
The Duke And I 44.
"Don't be so nervous," Theresa said with a decisive nod. She flicked a glance around the quiet, secluded courtyard of the staple inn, where they sat after a brisk morning shopping. "I knew you would be fretting like this. That's why I came and dragged you along with me. Aren't you glad?"Cassy managed a fretful smile. "I think so. I'm not sure. I'm not sure of anything. Theresa, are you absolutely certain we're doing the right thing? I mean, Henry has been so grim lately, and will hardly talk to me at all.""He'll get over it sooner or later," Theresa predicted. "And he won't be mean to you in public, because he won't want anyone to know there are any problems in his domestic life. It was like that after his mother..." She stopped and cast a quick glance at Cassy."Oh, I already know about his parents and Zack and his first love," Cassy said. "Someone finally told me.""You'd better not allow him to find out you know. He's quite savage on those subjects. Of course, now that he's marrie
The Duke And I 45.
"Cassy!" Theresa hissed, and came to her quickly, giving her a brutal pinch on her arm."Ow!" Cassy muttered and tried to stand up straighter, propping her shoulders against the wall and half leaning on Theresa. She hiccoughed again and dissolved into laughter, barely hearing her friend's soft groan of dismay.Almost whimpering at the fierce scowl on the duke's face, Theresa offered a weak, "We, uh, had a glass of claret, your grace."Cassy looked up, her smile quickly fading as it hit her that Henry was there and he was furious. His tall frame blotted out the light from behind, and it seemed suddenly too dark and shadowy in the alleyway."So, Zack," she heard Henry said lightly, "I see that you are once more with my wife. Getting to be a damnably dangerous habit for you, I'd say.""Henry," Zack began but stopped when the duke approached with a lazily graceful stride that looked more intimidating than it did casual. He stiffened and slid a glance toward Cassy as he stepped away from he
The Duke And I 46.
"Hold your head up and smile woman," Henry growled when Cassy hung back at the top of the steps leading to Theresa's imposing home. His hand gripped her wrist so tightly she almost gasped, and she felt like jerking away and fleeing back down the steps to the waiting carriage. There was a long line of carriages in the street outside her home; it was obvious the ton had gathered to see how Henry's duchess would juggle both her lover and her furious husband.Gaslights burned brightly, adding to the sooty air that hung over the city, casting hazy shadows in the gloom. The lights on the elegant coaches and carriages shimmered like earthbound fireflies, and the streets were alive with the glitter of jewels and the shimmer of fine garments.If not for the cold dread in the pit of her stomach, Cassy might have enjoyed the sight of London finery. As it was, she felt only a shivering apprehension at Henry's cold rage and implacable face. They'd ridden from the townhouse on Park lane to Theresa's
The Duke And I 47.
"Did you ever stop to think that perhaps I might want to talk to someone who at least pretends to like me?" Cassy countered, her eyes clashing with Henry's. "Zack has never said or done anything out of the way, and when I talk to him, I don't have to watch every word I say!""That's because he doesn't care who is in your bed. I do," Henry grated furiously, glaring back at her over the rim of his brandy snifter.The ride back from Theresa's ball had been just as quiet as the ride there and Henry had given Cassy no opportunity to evade him as he'd propelled her up the stairs and into his bed-chamber. Now, he stood watching her like a hungry predator, his eyes as green and narrowed and watchful as a panther's.Shifting uneasily, Cassy edged toward the door connecting their bedchambers, well aware that he was watching her with a coolly lifted brow. "I don't suppose," she said when he remained across the room, "that it would do me any good to care whose bed you slept in?" She refused to all
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