The Duchess of Love Read Online Free Page B

and rheumatism interesting.”
    His grin widened. “Oh, well, if anyone decides to stroll by the pond now, Little Huffington would have much more to talk about than animals and ailments. I am still naked, you know.”
    Miss Collingswood jumped and looked around wildly.
    â€œI thought you’d noticed. You did seem to be examining my—”
    â€œOh, shush! No one ever comes this way.”
    â€œSo you are here daily?”
    â€œOf course not. What do you take me for?”
    He shrugged. “Then this may be an extremely popular spot, for all you know.”
    She almost hissed at him. “It’s on Mr. Blant’s—now the duke’s—land. Anyone here would be trespassing.”
    He inclined his head. “True. And that would make you …?”
    â€œYou are impossible.” She glanced around again. “Do you really think someone will come by?”
    â€œI have no idea, but perhaps you’d best get to your proposal.” He fluttered her hat slightly. “Or I could suggest one of my own.”
    She glared at him. “As I was trying to say earlier—before you interrupted—Aphrodite, my older sister, is very beautiful.”
    â€œMore beautiful than you?”
    Her jaw dropped, and then she frowned. “Don’t be silly.”
    â€œI wasn’t.”
    â€œOh.” Her frown turned to a puzzled, almost wary look. “Well, then, yes, she is far more beautiful than I. She has golden blonde hair and the bluest eyes … I’m sure she’d be considered a toast in London.”
    â€œI see. And how is that a problem? Can she not make up her mind whom to marry? She must have men falling over themselves to offer for her.”
    â€œBut she doesn’t.” Miss Collingswood stepped closer to him, her warm brown eyes earnest. “She is twenty-three and, as far as I know, has never had more than a passing conversation with a gentleman. If a man doesn’t appear within the pages of a Greek or Roman text, she won’t notice him. Mama and Papa seem completely willing to let her live with them forever.”
    She was close enough to touch now.
    He gripped her hat firmly with both hands. No touching. He must keep his hands to himself, damn it.
    â€œAnd why is that a problem, if your parents and your sister are content?” He wished the mamas in London would be equally uninterested in throwing their female offspring at his head.
    Miss Collingswood’s frown returned. She looked exceedingly frustrated. “But Ditee is so lovely. It’s a sin to have her spend her life tucked away in this out-of-the-way village.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause she is meant for greater things, of course. She could be a … a duchess!”
    Damn. A duchess meant a poor, sacrificial duke, and he was the only duke in sight. He’d have another damsel to dodge, even here in boring Little Huffington.
    â€œNot that I would—or could—compel her to consider the Duke of Greycliffe,” Miss Collingswood was saying, “but I thought, since he was in the neighborhood, it would be a shame for them not to meet.”
    His jaw dropped. He snapped it shut. That’s right, she thought he was Nigel.
    â€œMrs. Edgemoor thought—but I suppose she might have been mistaken …” She looked at him hopefully. “The duke isn’t married, is he?”
    â€œNo.” He had a sudden, very inappropriate urge to laugh. He bit the inside of his cheek to restrain himself. “He’s not.”
    She nodded. “That’s good, then. And I know you’re a man and his cousin, so perhaps you’re not the best judge, but is he at least presentable looking? He needn’t be handsome, but it would be best if he weren’t, well …”
    â€œUgly?” Damn it, he was going to laugh. “Hideous? Nightmare-inducing?”
    â€œOh, stop it. Now you are poking fun.” She paused and looked