The Unexpected Duchess (Playful Brides #1)(36)

Jane pursed her lips as if she were about to whistle and took a small sip of tea. “Are you quite certain?”

Cass nodded. “I have to admit, I’ve had the same thought a time or two.”

Garrett crossed his arms over his chest and sat back in his chair. A bark of laughter followed. “Lucy and the duke. Now, there’s a thought. How do you like that, Your Grace?”

Lucy set her teacup down with a clatter. She didn’t know what to do with her hands. She settled for folding them in her lap. “You are all being absolutely ridiculous. There is no one I admire less than the Duke of Claringdon.”

“Oh, yes, he’s only a handsome, wealthy, war-hero duke,” Jane said, fluttering a hand in the air. “What’s to admire?”

Lucy narrowed her eyes at her friend. “If he’s so magnificent, why don’t you pursue him?”

Jane laughed at that. “An overbearing controlling soldier? Not my sort. He is, however, your sort.”

Lucy’s mouth dropped open. “Preposterous. I don’t have a sort.”

“Don’t you? He’s just like you,” Garrett chimed in.

Lucy made a mental note to kick her cousin the next time they were out of eyesight from her darling aunt. In the meantime, she counted ten and picked up her teacup again. She refused to allow her friends to bait her any longer. They were just teasing her, after all, and she’d got a bit too ruffled about it. But as she sipped her tea she couldn’t help but think of what Jane had said. The duke was just like her, was he? Gulp.





CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO


The Upper Assembly Rooms took Lucy’s breath away. They always had. Since the first time she’d seen the magnificent ballroom when she was eighteen. So formal and grand with sweeping high ceilings, frescoed walls, and sparkling chandeliers. Bath was a place for holidays, and while some found it too sleepy for any true amusement, Lucy had always loved the quiet intimacy of the town. She and Garrett had spent many happy days here. Lolling about on the grass in the Upper Crescent, taking tea at the Pump Room, exploring the Roman ruins, and riding through the hilly countryside. Bath was lovely. And a ball at the Assembly Rooms was always delightful. Except, that was, when the Duke of Claringdon appeared.

Cass had accompanied them. They’d managed to cajole and convince her. She wasn’t in mourning, strictly speaking. Julian was not related to her. Not to mention the fact that the man had not yet died to her knowledge, but she was heartbroken nonetheless. It took more than a bit of convincing to get her to agree to come with them. She knew she had to put on a happy face for Society and pretend to enjoy herself, but she turned down every dance—and that included the one that the duke requested.

Lucy wore a pretty sapphire-colored gown and a strand of pearls, while Jane wore a light-blue high-waisted gown and a matching gold pendant. Cass looked radiant as ever in a lavender-colored gown with diamonds around her neck and entwined through her hair.

“He’s here,” Jane whispered once they’d made the rounds at the ball and had a chance to see who was in attendance. She motioned with her chin over to the opposite side of the room where the duke stood apparently holding court with his latest set of admirers in a new town.

“I honestly didn’t believe he’d do it until I saw him here tonight.” Lucy shook her head.

“He told you he intended to come, didn’t he?” Jane replied.

“Yes, but—” Lucy bit the tip of her finger. “The nerve of that man. It shouldn’t surprise me, but it does.”

Garrett took a sip of the drink he held in his hand. “I, for one, applaud him.”

Lucy glared at her cousin. “You cannot possibly mean that.”

Garrett smiled. “On the contrary, I do. He knows what he wants and is intent upon winning it.”

Jane rolled her eyes. “You’re talking about our Cass, not some trophy.”

Garrett took another sip. “I simply mean that his tenacity is to be commended.”

“I think it’s positively dreadful,” Lucy said. “His following her here is the last thing Cass needs. Especially so soon after the news about Julian.”

“He’s coming over,” Jane whispered.

Lucy sighed. “Of course he is.”

“Miss Lowndes, now might be the perfect time to ask you to dance with me,” Garrett said, handing off his empty glass to a passing footman.

“Are you asking or telling me you should ask?” Jane replied sweetly.

“It depends,” Garrett replied.

“Upon what?”

“Upon whether you will say yes.”

Jane cocked her head to the side. “I will, but only because I don’t want to be standing here in the middle of the crossfire when Lucy and the duke go at it. Which is sure to happen any moment now.”

“You flatter me,” Garrett said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“You should be flattered. Besides, it was better than Lucy’s response to the duke’s offer to dance,” Jane replied with a snort.

Lucy wrinkled her nose at them. The pair took off to dance just as the duke strolled up. A brandy in one hand, his other shoved negligently in his pocket, he looked nothing if not the debonair nobleman out for a night’s amusement.

He stopped in front of Lucy and Cass. Cass had just finished talking to Aunt Mary, who stood impatiently by their side, clearly waiting for an introduction to the celebrated nobleman. He bowed gallantly to all three of them.