Never Courted, Suddenly Wed (Scandalous Seasons #2)(44)

“You’ve proven her wrong.”

She smiled up at him. “You are just being polite. Thank you, Your Grace.”

The duke bent down and retrieved a pebble. He flicked it so that it skipped once, twice, and a third time upon the water’s surface.

“I wouldn’t imagine a duke skipping rocks.”

He winked. “I’m not really a proper duke.”

Sophie stooped down and searched for a suitable rock. Her fingers found a flat, smooth stone. She winked back up at him. “Then you are in good company,” she said and skipped her rock. It traveled four hops before it sank beneath the surface of the water.

Mallen clapped his hands together. “I’m very impressed, Miss Winters.”

“Oh, that is nothing. I can skip them a good deal farther.” She sought out another stone. Her eyes collided with a smooth, flat rock several feet away.

If the rock had just been a bit closer.

If she hadn’t been in such a blasted hurry.

If it hadn’t rained last evening.

Then Sophie would have been just fine.

As it was, her foot slipped on a patch of mud and she skidded forward, tumbling into the lake.

Her stomach lurched wildly as she slid unceremoniously into the mouth of the lake, soaking her skirts and slippers.

Sophie closed her eyes. She could only imagine tomorrow’s copy of Lady Ackerly’s Tattle Sheet.

Goodness. She was in trouble when she returned home.





Lady Ackerly’s Tattle Sheet





Miss S.W. asked Lady Jersey whether she’d read Lady Caro Lamb’s latest work; Glenarvon. Lady Jersey walked away from Miss S.W. without a single utterance.


13

With his father’s recent revelation about their impending financial ruin, Christopher knew he really should be closeted away in the old marquess’ office, reviewing the ledgers so he might ascertain the full-extent of their financial woes. There had to be an alternative solution that did not entail Christopher resorting to the contemptible role of fortune hunter or a life in Bedlam.

A walk, however, often helped him focus on important business matters.

Yes, a trip through Hyde Park was just the thing he needed to develop a sensible strategy to his precarious state.

Said trip had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with Sophie’s morning outing with Mallen.

“Waxham, so good to see you!”

Christopher bit back a curse and slowed his steps as Lord Dennington stepped directly into his path. Though he and Dennington’s acquaintance went back to their days at Oxford, they’d always moved in different social circles—in large part because Dennington had always been a worse gossip than the matrons at Almack’s.

He forced a grin for the foppish lord. “Good to see you, Dennington,” he lied. He had important matters to attend to. Christopher went to step around the podgy earl, which was no easy feat considering the other man’s girth.

Dennington held up a staying hand. “Did you hear?” he said in a whisper that carried a good distance away.

Christopher sighed. The one minute he’d spent in Dennington’s company was one minute more than he cared to. He made to step around him.

Dennington matched Christopher’s movement, effectively blocking his escape.

“Did I hear what?” Christopher didn’t bother to bite back the impatience in his question.

“About the Duke of Mallen.”

Christopher froze. His spine stiffened. Perhaps he did care about what Dennington had to say after all. “What about Mallen?”

The other man gave a pleased nod. “Glad I have your attention, now. All quite scandalous,” he said. “One never expects a scandal from the duke. From her perhaps. But never him.”

Christopher’s head spun as he tried to keep up with Dennington’s rambling. His stomach tightened. “From her?”

“The incorrigible Miss Winters,” Dennington supplied. He gesticulated wildly with his hands. “If that isn’t an unlikely pairing? The flawless Duke of Mallen and the hoydenish Miss Winters are walking in St. James’ Park. Can you imagine?”

Christopher’s hands balled into fists at his side. He’d rather not imagine. Christ, what was Mallen doing, taking her on a walk through St. James’ Park? With its location near the clubs on St. James’ Street, everyone knew it was not the place for an unmarried lady who wished to protect her reputation.

Encouraged by Christopher’s silence, Dennington continued prattling on. “I have to be honest. I’m not altogether certain why he’d go about courting her.”

That single condescending statement jerked Christopher’s attention back to the moment. It mattered not that the courtship had been fabricated by Christopher and Mallen. A haze of fury momentarily clouded his vision. He arched a single brow. “Oh?”

Dennington was either a dolt or too absorbed in his latest morsel of gossip for he didn’t appear to heed the lethal edge in Christopher’s utterance. “It is no wonder she remains unwed. Why she’s nothing more than a plump, unseemly bit of—”

Christopher punched Dennington in the nose, knocking the other man upon his arse.

Dennington’s eyes went wide in his fleshy, pallid cheeks that stood in stark contrast to the blood streaming down his bulbous nose. “Whatever did you do that for?” he cried.