Redemption of the Duke Read Online Free Page A

pulled back simply at the base of her neck, no girlish curls
     above her ears. Her face was thin, her body well hidden in voluminous garments that
     protected her from the late winter cold of London—or protected her from other things.
    But that face—cheekbones that emphasized the hollows beneath, darkly arched brows
     above pale gray eyes that flashed silver at him when she was angered. She was no great
     beauty, but her features were arresting when she wasn’t in control.
    But he suspected she was in control much of the time.
    She and her friends walked away together, and he watched until they were out of sight.
     After that, he had no choice but to go home.
    Seabrook took his greatcoat, hat, and cane in the entrance hall, which soared up three
     stories and ended in a domed stained-glass ceiling.
    “Good afternoon, Your Grace. Your mother and sisters are in the drawing room preparing
     for callers.”
    “Then I should escape,” he said, trying to get a smile out of the old man.
    But Seabrook had been with the family for three generations now, and any humor must
     have long ago been extinguished.
    Adam sighed. “Then I shall be the good son and brother and greet them.”
    The drawing room had frescoes on the ceiling and several fireplaces along the length,
     with groups of sofas and chairs scattered about. It was easy to pause on the threshold
     and not be seen, since he wasn’t formally introduced.
    His mother was still a beautiful woman, with blond hair that had already been so light
     that the whiter strands of age simply blended in. She was vain enough that she now
     used makeup to enhance her features, but her maid was so skilled it was hard to discern.
     She had a generous mouth made for smiling, and Adam’s blue eyes, more beguiling and
     innocent on her. Not that she was all that innocent anymore, but she played it well.
     Men still regularly proposed to her, but as a duchess, she reigned supreme. He knew
     she’d never marry again, though he thought she might dally on the side.
    His sister Sophia was the attentive daughter because she knew it was her duty, rather
     than experiencing a deep connection with their mother. Sophia was blond as well, a
     shade of honey, her eyes their father’s green, her figure displaying the voluptuous
     curves she’d inherited from their mother. But her disposition was all her own: sweet-natured
     and kind, bright with opinions, and always generous with her thoughts. Sophia had
     written to him faithfully in India, letters he read over and over again in soggy tents
     while his candle sputtered. Once he’d inherited the dukedom, other women of his acquaintance
     began to write, but he valued them little compared to his deep tenderness for his
     sister. Even their older brothers could not fault her, and had let her be during her
     childhood. She’d been no threat to them, and there was plenty of money for her dowry.
     Of course, her beauty and disposition would bring the right sort of man to the marriage.
     Now that Adam was in charge, he would make sure she married the man she wanted, not
     the one who best suited the family.
    “Ah, Rothford, you have returned in time to greet your legion of female admirers!”
    Adam turned to the writing table, his aunt Theodosia’s favorite place in the drawing
     room, where she kept up the connections that spanned the Continent. She was his father’s
     only sister, long a childless widow, free to live her life as she pleased. She answered
     to no one’s authority but her own, and her eccentricities were legendary, from gardening
     at night to protect her skin (even though the poor servants had to man the lamps to
     light her way) to cold baths in country streams to invigorate her heart. When their
     servants at their country seat heard that she was coming, none of them set foot in
     the woods for fear of encountering the naked elderly lady.
    His mother had been a distant, beautiful woman he’d only seen after dinner each night