The Desirable Duchess Read Online Free Page B

work and I couldn’t get into it without my corset.” Then he promptly fell asleep.
    The duke surveyed him with affection. Edward’s very presence was making thoughts of marriage fade away. The duke realized that a return to a certain amount of loneliness had started him thinking about marriage. The bird shifted awkwardly on its perch. “Poor thing,” said the duke. “I shall make sure Miss Lacey buys you a very large cage so you can at least hop about.”
    Edward was slumbering so peacefully when they arrived at Wold Park, home of the Laceys, that the duke felt a pang of remorse at having to awaken him for what was surely going to turn out to be little more than a provincial children’s party.
    The house was blazing with light from top to bottom. The duke sighed. He hoped that the Laceys were as rich as he had heard them to be. In the short time since he had become a duke, he had been alarmed at the way mothers of hopeful daughters nearly bankrupted their husbands in their efforts to entertain him.
    He woke Edward, and then both men entered the hall, a footman following, carrying the bird and the duke’s gift.
    The butler relieved them of their cloaks, and, taking their presents from the footman, the duke and Edward walked into the Yellow Saloon, where they had been told the guests were being received. Mr. and Mrs. Lacey stood at the entrance. The Yellow Saloon, the Green Saloon, and the Blue Saloon, all on the ground floor, had been opened up for the festivities. The walls were draped in swathes of silk and huge arrangements of hothouse flowers scented the air.
    Alice Lacey was enthroned in a large chair at the end of the Yellow Saloon. She was surrounded with friends, and a table beside her was piled high with presents.
    Edward thought she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. The low-cut white gown showed the excellence of her bosom. A small fairylike diamond tiara was set amongst the burnished curls of her auburn hair and a thin string of diamonds was about her neck. Edward drew a deep breath. “Worth fighting for,” he murmured. “That’s the sort of lady I used to dream of on the battlefield, a true English rose.”
    Both men approached Alice, who stood up and curtsied. She shyly accepted the duke’s gift and then exclaimed in surprise at the mynah. “How wonderful,” she cried. “What is it called?”
    “Polly,” said Edward, pleased at the effect of his gift.
    “Oh, that is too ordinary,” said Alice. “What is it?”
    “A mynah,” said the duke. “A foreign bird. I would suggest it needs a larger cage.”
    The bird hunched on its perch and looked at Alice with bright, inquisitive eyes. “I am sure it is a he,” Alice said, laughing. “I shall call him Oracle… because he looks so wise. What does he eat?”
    “Loves fruit,” said Edward.
    Lucy Farringdon lifted a bunch of grapes from a bowl and gave it to Alice. “See if he will take one.”
    Alice held out a black grape, which the bird eyed inquisitively. She laughed with delight when Oracle seized it in his beak.
    “He should talk, but he don’t,” said Edward.
    “I am sure he shall.” Alice summoned a footman and said, “Tell the smith I want a very large cage for this bird as soon as possible.”
    “What about my present?” said the duke. “Am I to be outclassed by Mr. Vere?”
    She smiled at him and unwrapped his gift. She opened the lid. “My Heart’s Desire” tinkled out. A shadow crossed Alice’s face and she quickly snapped the lid shut. That had been their tune, hers and Gerald’s.
    “My present displeases you?” demanded the duke sharply.
    Alice rallied. “No, Your Grace, it is vastly pretty… and so very kind of you to have brought it to me.” She put it carefully on the table with the other gifts and turned her attention back to the mynah.
    The duke and Edward bowed and walked off to talk to the other guests. But when they found themselves alone for a moment, the duke said, “My present seemed