The Third Duke's the Charm Read Online Free

instead caused an unwanted giggle to rise in her throat.
    “I don’t think, my lord,” she said in all fairness, though it cost her in pride, “you have paid enough attention to my age or lack of popularity. It is kind of you to be so—”
    For the second time that evening he interrupted her. “Neither matter to me. You are ten years younger than I am, and as for your popularity or lack thereof, I doubt you can deny much of that is deliberate on your part.”
    A bit stunned, Vivian sat silent. The canny observation was true, and she was unsettled enough already. More to the point, it was beyond comprehension that he’d paid attention enough to even know that about her.
    Carefully, after taking a calming breath and considering the words, she spoke. “I suppose it could be said I am unmarried by choice, but then again, I might argue that my offers have not been similar to those given to the diamonds of the first water and none of the gentlemen truly engaged my interest. And in the same vein, my lord, may I point out you might have taken a successful interest in any of the popular debutantes at any time. Why me?”
    “I dislike insipid women.”
    And then he executed his infamous smile. It was well done with a slow curve of his lips and a slight crease near his remarkable eyes. He deliberately let his gaze travel lower to survey her body with most improper male assessment, and though Vivian had been stared at before, she still could not quite suppress the flush that warmed her skin. It was as if he’d touched her, and though she was not in any way as experienced as he was, she knew somehow that was exactly what he intended her to feel.
    Maybe Charles was not the only rakish brother.
    No, she was not adept enough at this game to play with the infinitely skillful Marquess of Stockton. The proposal was ridiculous.
    “I would like to think I do not qualify as insipid,” she said with a hint of desperate humor, for really, she was so unprepared for this situation she was utterly at a loss.
    “You don’t. If I didn’t have that confidence, I would not be here, trying to convince you to accept my suit. Now then, may I have an answer?”
    It was too fast, too much, and though she’d anticipated not being comfortable with the interview over Charles and his deception, she had never prepared herself for this.
    “You can’t expect me to make a decision so swiftly,” she hedged.
    “But yet I do. The moment word of my brother’s elopement gets out, our engagement will look as if it was staged and I am trying to avoid that.”
    At least he hadn’t pointed out she was unlikely to get a better offer anytime soon, or ever, for that matter. A marriage to Charles was a coup, but a marriage to Lucien Caverleigh, ducal heir, would be a sensation. Not that she wanted to draw any attention to herself—just the opposite.
    What a quandary.
    It would make her mother happy. It would therefore make her father happy. The duke would be satisfied to have his oldest son settled. For all she knew, it would save Charles from the repercussions of his reckless abduction of the vicar’s daughter. It would delight the gossips and apparently make Lord Stockton also content in that he was finally doing his duty to his title.
    The real question, of course, was what it would do for her? But then again, Vivian no doubt should have outgrown her romantic yearnings four years ago when she so abysmally failed her first season.
    And yet it was quite clear that she had not.
    ***
    It looked as though she just might still decline his offer.
    Why wasn’t he surprised? Lucien gazed at the young woman sitting across from him and wondered at the whimsical nature of fate. For years he had studiously dodged any circumstance that might trap him into the matrimonial noose, but when it came to Vivian Lacrosse, he was not able to employ his habitual detachment, which was why he usually avoided contact with her.
    Yet here he was, proposing marriage—on a whim, no