The Forbidden Duke Read Online Free Page A

the sense no one had said such a thing to her. And why should they when she’d been a pariah? He wanted to ask what had happened to her since that unfortunate event. More importantly, he wanted to know why she was here.  
    But he didn’t.
    At that moment, Harley announced the first guests, and Lady Satterfield went to greet them, taking Miss Lockhart with her.
    Titus watched them go, then turned and went to stand near the window closest to the corner away from the entry point, away from where people would congregate…just away . He fixed his gaze on the street below so that he could survey the arrivals. Why, he wasn’t sure. It wasn’t as if he cared who attended. Plus, his brain was completely focused on Miss Lockhart and her present circumstances.  
    The event that had caused her ruin may not have been directly his fault, but he should at least have inquired after her welfare.
    He stood near the window for a good half hour. As usual, people cast glances in his direction, but no one approached him. Nor did he approach anyone else. His stepmother would perhaps chastise him for his aloofness, but only for a bit. She knew he preferred solitude, even if she didn’t understand it.
    Since his father had died and Titus had inherited the title, he’d thrown himself into his duty, as both a landowner and a member of the House of Lords. He enjoyed spending time with his steward on his estate and with his secretary when he was in London. Beyond that, he had no interest in friendships or relationships of any kind—save the mistress he took for the Season. He supposed it was odd that a duke had no use for Society’s entertainments, but he’d spent his youth playing the role of dissolute rake to perfection and preferred never to look back.
    However, the presence of Miss Lockhart was forcing him to do just that, and he didn’t like what he saw.
    From the corner of his eye, he caught Satterfield approaching. Titus pivoted slightly. Satterfield was one of the only people he accepted into his inner circle.
    “You came,” Satterfield said, echoing his wife’s earlier statement.
    Titus kept his focus on the street, but darted a look toward his stepfather. “You and my stepmother have so little faith in me.”
    “It isn’t faith, my boy. It’s just that we know you.” He smiled briefly. “Genie says you’ve been standing over here brooding the whole time.”
    “I’m not brooding. I’m enjoying the only company I can tolerate.”
    “That doesn’t speak well of any of us, does it?” Satterfield said this with humor, provoking a small smile from Titus.
    He glanced at his stepfather. “Present company excluded, but then you haven’t been here the entire time.”
    “Gads no, but then I can barely tolerate this sort of thing either.”
    “So why are you here?”
    Satterfield pivoted so that his back was to the window and he faced the room at large. “Same reason as you, I expect. I love your stepmother, and I want to support her. Did you meet Miss Lockhart?”
    At the mention of her name, Titus had to reassess his behavior. Perhaps he had been brooding after all. “I did.”
    “She and Genie get on quite well. I wasn’t certain this would be a good idea, but I have to admit, it seems to be working out.”
    Titus was glad for that—no one deserved happiness more than his stepmother. She’d accepted him as her own son the moment she’d married Titus’s father and hadn’t treated him any differently once she’d finally had her own child. The loss of that child, Titus’s sister, was only one of the reasons Titus was eager to see her happy. He’d do anything for her, in fact. Anything except take a duchess.
    Maybe someday. Just not now.
    “And did your evening find a satisfying end?” Satterfield asked.
    It was his polite way of asking if Titus had secured his mistress for the Season. He had. Isabelle Francis was incomparably beautiful—or so Titus had thought last night. However, she now seemed a