Romance: Regency Romance: In Bed With The Duke (A Regency Romance) Read Online Free Page B

Thank you, your Grace.” His smile widened, and I dipped my head. It felt too bold to hold his gaze, and where our fingers touched, my skin felt like it was burning through my glove. He released my fingers, and looked me up and down. Sophie was still curtsied at our feet, as were the rest of the ladies in the dining room. The Duke raised his voice and spoke to us all now,
     
    “Ladies, I greet you all humbly. Welcome once again to my table, and thank you once more for the pleasure of your company. While I sincerely hope that the circumstance keeping you at Barclay House will be resolved with all swiftness, in truth I would rather keep you all here for myself.” A cheeky smile crossed the Duke’s face, and the room erupted in girlish giggles. Had he really just said that? My shock must have been plain on my face for the Duke leaned towards me and whispered in my ear, “You must learn to relax, Mrs. Rutledge. This is not the most shocking thing to have happened in this hall.” I looked away, his breath was warm on my neck, “And there are fifty-six bedrooms in Barclay House. Not including my chambers.” I swallowed hard. This was almost too much to bear. The Duke was flouting all semblance of decorum, and from the look of his smile, he knew it too.
     
    His Grace leaned back and looked me in the face. His gloved hand touched my chin gently. “Welcome, Mrs. Rutledge. I hope you will be happy here.” He smiled at me once more, and my stomach dropped once more. He was devastatingly handsome, and I had no trouble seeing how he was able to get away with so many scandalous antics. Any woman would swoon before him, but I wouldn’t be one of those women. I couldn’t. I fixed my eyes on the toes of his polished leather boots, fighting the urge to let them linger on the way his spotless pantaloons clung to his muscular thighs. I curtsied deeply.
     
    “Thank you, your Grace. I would truly be lost without your patronage.” I kept my gaze on the ground until I could see the toes of his boots moving away over the polished wood floor. The bustle and noise of the dining room returned, and Sophie was at my side once more. She gripped my arm tightly and hissed in my ear.
    “You are such a goose! I can’t believe that you would be so ungrateful! His Grace is most generous and kind, and you acted like he had asked you to dance after all the other ladies had been chosen. I’m embarrassed for you, Charlotte, I hope no one else overheard your conversation.” I didn’t reply. Sophie could admonish me all she wanted, it didn’t change the fact that I wasn’t about to twitter and bat my eyes and wave my fan in His Grace’s direction just because of his title. He knew he was better than the rest of us, but that didn’t give him the right to treat me with any less decorum than a lady of his own social standing. I refused to be ashamed. I had acted the way any lady should, and I knew that my father would have been proud of me… my mother, however, would have said the same thing as Sophie, which made me all the more determined to refuse his advances.
     
    The Duke took his seat at the head of the table, and all of the ladies clamored to sit near him. Sophie pulled me towards the middle of the table, but I refused and instead sat towards the end of the table with some ladies that I recognized from one of the Regimental balls. The women welcomed me cautiously but courteously, and I tried to relax as his Grace rang a tiny silver bell and dinner was served.
     
    Course after course of mouthwatering food was presented to us. Glazed pheasant, racks and racks of glistening lamb, sauces, fish, venison, apricots in brandy, a haunch of mutton served with gravy, countless small savory pastries and handsomely molded jellies, and some dishes I couldn’t identify, but that the other ladies helped themselves to with gusto. The deep red wine was richer than anything I had ever tasted, and one of the women, Mrs. Carter I believe, told me in hushed