The Duke’s Desire Read Online Free Page B

Eloise said, “except for Mrs. Davis-Jones.”
    Verity had no choice except to turn to him and curtsy.
    “Your Grace, allow me to present Mrs. Davis-Jones. Mrs. Davis-Jones, the Duke of Deighton.”
    “I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Your Grace,” Verity replied as etiquette demanded.
    His gaze held hers as if he were attempting to mesmerize her. This close, she could see the flecks of gold in his remarkable eyes. The last time she had seen them this close, she had thought their golden tints the reflection of the light from the glowing candle, the same light that made his naked flesh look as if it glowed, too.
    He reached out and took her gloved hand. For a horrifying yet thrilling moment, she thought he was actually going to kiss her palm—an outrageously intimate thing to do in company.
    Fortunately, he merely brushed her knuckles with his lips.
    Even then, her heart raced and her whole body warmed, with both excitement and embarrassment.
    “Ah, Mrs. Davis-Jones, I understand that youare an expert on marital bliss,” he remarked with blatant and arrogant sarcasm as he raised his eyes to look at her.
    She would not be upset. She would not show anything except mild interest as she withdrew her hand. “I fear the duke is mistaken. I am not an expert on anything.”
    Eloise glanced from one to the other, her fan fluttering about her chest. Could it be that Eloise felt as warm as she? Verity wondered.
    Indeed, she would not be surprised if every woman in the room was warmed simply by the excitement engendered by the duke’s virile presence.
    “It seems my dear cousin has finally decided to settle down and marry,” Eloise announced.
    The other ladies couldn’t have looked more taken aback if he had suddenly declared a burning desire to become a circus performer.
    “It’s true, it’s true,” the duke said with a sigh, and a twinkle of mockery in his eyes. “I have decided to put my neck in the matrimonial noose, like so many others before me.” He faced Verity. “Lady Bodenham tells me you and your husband were devoted to each other, even though he was much older than you. Well, I suppose one must take what one can get in the marriage mart.”
    In the face of such blatant insolence, Verity’s shoulders straightened and her chin lifted a little.“I loved my husband, though he was indeed considerably older than I.”
    “Of course. All widows claim they loved their husbands.”
    “Are you accusing me of lying, Your Grace?”
    The tips of the Duke of Deighton’s ears reddened. “I would never accuse a lady of deliberately lying.”
    “Perhaps this is a subject we should not pursue,” Miss Pale murmured tentatively.
    The duke ignored her and it seemed he recovered quickly from her reminder that it was not in the best of taste to speak of marriage to a widow, for he immediately said, “I confess myself fascinated with married life and marital bliss. Would you say disparity of age is a good thing, then?”
    She would not let him bait her. Good God, had she not learned at an early age to ignore those who would taunt her? “I was not aware that love paid heed to age.”
    “We all pay heed to age.”
    “Apparently some more than others.” She cocked her head and regarded him pensively. “Is it your intention to marry without love? In that case, perhaps we should hear what the Duke of Deighton would consider necessary to ensure matrimonial happiness without love.”
    “Based upon observation, I would say similarity of station, similarity of interests and—” he grinnedwith what looked like pure deviltry “—similarity of age.”
    “It occurs to me that the duke must be most familiar with unhappy marriages, for it would seem my late husband and I are the exception to your rules, and we were very happy until death took him from me.”
    She let the awkward silence last a moment before continuing. “Of course, marriages without love are the common thing among the nobility, are they not?”
    “I do