Thawing A Duke's Heart (Faces of Love Series #1) Read Online Free

for me. Says I am far too kind and would be easily tricked by any of these devious young ladies. Though as I look around me, all I see are some lovely dance partners,” he added with a jolly bounce.
    “You are far too kind,” Gaffton simply replied.
    It took me a moment to realize that the Duke was suggesting that Dunlop was too kind in giving compliments to the young ladies of the hall. I did my best to stifle a gasp at such a forward and rude comment. Luckily, it passed over the heads of the rest of my family.
    The night went on without any further hitches. News of Dunlop and his companion was swarming the hall. My sisters and I danced heartily. Lord Dunlop was kind enough to ask for a dance from each of us. I did, however, notice that he danced with Elisabeth three times, one being the coveted waltz.
    I smiled inwardly at this. The dance I’d had with Dunlop, as well as the few conversations I had had over the evening, had given me the impression that he was a very kind-hearted, friendly gentleman, and quite prone to blushing and embarrassment.
    News of the Duke of Gaffton also circulated the hall. Dunlop and he had been friends since boyhood. The Duke was apparently a self-proclaimed bachelor. He was still relatively young in age at twenty and seven, only one year Dunlop’s senior, but he had apparently sworn away from any form of marriage, and as I had heard, was quite vocal on that point.
    It intrigued me that someone of such high social rank could so easily make that declaration. Of course, it wasn’t something I could ask him about outright, as that would be far too rude and presumptuous. However, more than that, he barely spoke more than a dozen words to Dunlop or his aunt and uncle. Even with a hall full of ladies willing to dance, and his companion dancing whole-heartedly, the Duke hardly danced a set.
    As easy as it was to read Dunlop and his jolly personality, his companion was the striking opposite. I pondered this inwardly as I stood with Elisabeth, Dunlop, and the Duke after a particularly lively set. Dunlop was preparing to secure Elisabeth for a third set. We had settled on sipping our punch to catch our breath before this.
    “Miss Withington, are you still here with us? Hopefully, we are not too dull for you,” Dunlop asked jokingly in my direction. I was instantly snapped from my thoughts and flushed with embarrassment.
    “You will have to forgive my dear Mary,” Elisabeth saved me. “She is a dreamer who spends more time with her nose in a book then socializing.” Of course, Elisabeth meant this in jest, though it was true, so I wrinkled my nose at her playfully.
    “You read books?” the Duke chimed in with surprise. His manner of speaking made it seem unfathomable that I could even possibly know how to read, let alone engage in its practice regularly.
    I did my best to ignore his sarcasm and rather simply answer, “Yes, Your Grace.”
    “Yes, well, only you, Gaffton, my boy, would only find interest this evening on the subject of books,” Dunlop said in good humor.
    The Duke chose to ignore his friend’s remark and instead glared down at me intensely. “What, pray tell, is your favorite reading?”
    I felt like a student standing before a teacher for an impromptu test. I swallowed hard, intimidated by his large stature and intense green eyes bearing down on me. “I’m not sure if I could pick a favorite.”
    “Then what is the last thing you read?”
    “Um,” I began, but before I could stammer an answer, Elisabeth was doing it for me.
    “I am whole heartedly sure that it is something of Miss L.E.L.’s. She is quite a favorite of Mary’s.”
    The Duke smiled in satisfaction at this. “Romance, as I suspected.”
    “And what is wrong with that?” I shot back in indignation.
    “Frivolous nonsense, if you ask me. A complete waste of one’s time. Though I find most women are in one pursuit of wasting time or another. Nevertheless, at least it is some form of reading, which is