62
" Young Mr. Maxwell would make a very good match.”
Camilla’s lovely face hardened just a little at the mention of Maxwell. Grey could have kissed her. “He was quick to abandon her the last time he courted my daughter, so I will have to reserve judgment until he’s proven himself a changed man, no matter how well I wish to think of him.”
“Very wise,” Grey agreed, ignoring the look his brother slanted toward him.
“A few years can do wonders for a man’s maturity,” Archer remarked.
Grey shrugged. “Or not. Some men simply become overgrown boys and never face the consequences of their actions.”
Archer smiled. “And some blame society and hide like scared mice for the rest of their lives.”
Were they alone Grey might have hit him. But they weren’t alone, and instead of giving into his anger, he was left with having to face how much hearing his brother say such a thing hurt.
Not only hurt, it made him deuced uncomfortable. "
― Kathryn Smith , When Seducing a Duke (Victorian Soap Opera, #1)
63
" What would the ton do without us to feed them scandal broth?”
Grey returned her grin. “The lot of them would starve.”
They chuckled and as the humor faded, Grey tilted his head to look at her. “You look beautiful tonight.”
She flushed, pleasure lighting the dark depths of her eyes. “You don’t have to say such things.”
“I know I don’t, but you are my fiancée and it’s perfectly acceptable for me to voice my thoughts aloud. It’s rather refreshing after keeping them to myself for so long.”
That got her attention. One of her fine, high brows twitched. “How long?”
He grinned. “Since you were old enough for me to think such thoughts without being lecherous.”
They stood no more than six inches apart. Close enough that he could see how amazingly flawless her skin was-not a freckle in sight. Close enough that she could see every twist and knot in his scar-and yet she barely glanced at it. Her gaze was riveted on his. She didn’t care that he was disfigured-at least not on the outside. Not on the inside either, so it seemed.
“I’ve never been a good man,” he confessed-a little more hoarse than he liked-“but I promise to be a faithful husband.” It was the best he could offer, because as much as he would like to be the man she wanted, it wasn’t going to happen.
Her smooth brow puckered. “I haven’t actually consented, you know.”
“Rose, we have to marry.”
“No.” She raised sparkling eyes to his. “I want you to ask me to marry you-not demand it. I don’t care if it has to be done. I want to feel like I have a choice.”
“If you did have a choice, what would it be?” He was on dangerous ground with her, inching into territory better left unexplored for both their sakes.
Rose smiled, and everything was right with the world. “Ask me and find out.”
His hands came up, seemingly of their own volition, to cup her face. She was so delicate, yet so strong. Her entire world had been turned upside down, and yet she faced him with a teasing glint in her eyes and a soft flush of color in her cheeks.
“Rose Danvers, will you do me the extreme honor of becoming my wife?”
Were those tears dampening her eyes? And was it joy or sorrow that put them there?
“I will.”
He knew that they had to marry regardless, but hearing her say those two little words was like someone kicking his heart through his ribs. It hurt, but there was such unfathomable joy that came with it-such terrible happiness that Grey had no idea what to do with it. He’d never felt anything like it before.
Holding her face, he lowered his head and hungrily claimed her mouth with his own. Her lips parted for his tongue as her fingers bit into his arms. A trickle of warm wetness brushed against his thumb. She was crying.
A sharp gasp came from the open door. “What the devil is going on here?”
The kiss and its magic were broken. Rose stepped back, and Grey dropped his hands, but he wasn’t willing to let her go just yet. He placed one arm behind her back, holding her close so that they faced her mother together.
Camilla did not look happy. In fact, she looked like any mother would to walk into a room and find her daughter being molested.
“Mama,” Rose begun. “It’s not what you think.”
“It is exactly what you think,” Grey countered, drawing his friend’s stormy and narrow gaze. “I have asked Rose for her hand in marriage and she has accepted. I regret that you had to find out this way, but I was too overcome with joy to contain my feelings.”
He could feel Rose gaping at him. He didn’t look at her, not because the words were a lie, but because they were all too damnably true. "
― Kathryn Smith , When Seducing a Duke (Victorian Soap Opera, #1)
66
" What were she and Maxwell talking about at this moment?
“I owe you an apology.” Archer came to stand beside him, also looking over the garden. “I shouldn’t have said what I did. It was very low of me.”
Grey shrugged. “You’ve said worse.”
“True, but those times I was right.”
He laughed. “I’m not so sure you’re not right now as well.”
“You’re many things, but I’ve never thought coward amongst them.”
“That’s because you’re my younger brother. You’re not supposed to have an accurate opinion of my strengths and weaknesses.”
“And as eldest, I suppose you do have an accurate accounting of my strengths and weaknesses, Tryst as well?”
Grey turned his head with a brash grin. “Only your weaknesses. I haven’t ascertained if you have any strengths yet.”
Thankfully his brother laughed. “Bastard,” he muttered.
“Undoubtedly.” Then, with more seriousness, “I do know your weaknesses, Arch. You’ve a soft spot for a pretty face, especially one you think is in need of rescue.”
Archer scoffed. “I haven’t tried to play anyone’s Lancelot since school.”
“Be that as it may, I feel I should warn you away from Rose.”
His brother stilled, arched a brow, and fixed him with a decidedly superior look. “Is this warning for my benefit or hers? Or perhaps your own?”
Grey frowned. “For the benefit of everyone involved. She doesn’t need you to rescue her, and she’d only marry you because-“
“Because I remind her of you.” He grinned at Grey’s surprise. “Perhaps I do have an accurate understanding after all, brother.”
Grey turned away. “Perhaps you do.”
A hand came down on his shoulder. “Don’t worry yourself. I have no intention of taking advantage of Lady Rose. Even if I did fancy her, I’m not foolish enough to pursue a woman obviously interested in someone else, and I’m too lazy to attempt to change her mind. Maxwell on the other hand…”
The ache in his jaw returned. “As long as he treats her as she deserves, I don’t care. In fact, I wish him all the good fortune in the world.” He could say that and actually mean it. “I promised her father I would see her happily situated. Her happiness is all that matters.”
Archer fixed him with a pitying look. “If that were true, old man, you would have married her already. Maybe you should ask yourself what could possibly be more important than her happiness. I’m fairly certain there’s something, and it certainly isn’t your own.”
Speechless, Grey said nothing as his brother walked away. Instead, he stood and stared once again out into the garden, his fingers tracing the jagged line of his scar. "
― Kathryn Smith , When Seducing a Duke (Victorian Soap Opera, #1)
67
" Voluptuous?”
Grey smiled at the naughty light in her gaze. “A full subscription. Perhaps you will discover between the pages other activities you would like to sample with me.”
It wasn’t much of a gift, certainly not an expensive one, but Rose embraced him as though he had given her the world-and he had the wine stains on his cuffs to prove it. “Thank you!” She kissed his cheek. “Oh, Grey, thank you so much!”
“It’s only a magazine, Rose, but you are welcome.”
She pulled back so that he could see her face, the delighted flush in her cheeks. “It’s not just a magazine. It’s a gesture of…trust and respect. Do you know how many husbands would forbid their wives to read such literature?”
Yes, he did, and he would hardly call it literature. “I’m of the opinion that a husband can only benefit from his wife reading this kind of material.”
A coy, seductive-wonderfully wicked-smile curved her full lips. “Perhaps we will both benefit.”
He could shag her senseless right then and there. He gave her back her wine instead, and positioned himself with his back against the headboard. He tugged her close, turning her so that she sat with her back against his chest. “Read to me.”
She looked horrified at the idea. “What? No, I couldn’t.”
Grey trailed his fingers down the side of her neck, smiling smugly as she shivered. “Read it. Please.”
Her fingers trembled slightly as they parted the pages. “What would you like to hear?”
“A story,” he replied, brushing the tip of his finger along the curve of her ear. “Something that will take a while.” Because the longer she read, the longer he could touch at his leisure.
“’Lady Jane’s Confession,’” she read, her voice a little huskier than normal, “’Or, An Adventure in Lust.’”
Grey gently pulled a pin from her hair and set it on the bedside table. “Sounds interesting. "
― Kathryn Smith , When Seducing a Duke (Victorian Soap Opera, #1)
69
" So, of course Rose decided this would be a good time to discuss such matters. “I would also like to know if you know ways to prevent pregnancy.”
He choked on a grape. She lurched toward him, but he coughed and spat the villainous fruit on the grass. He wiped at his watery eyes with the back of his hand as he turned his face to her once more. “That will teach me not to chew sufficiently.”
Rose smiled shakily, her heart skipping. “You scared me.” What if he had choked to death right in front of her?
She couldn’t even begin to contemplate life without him.
“You stunned me. That’s not exactly something you bring up out of the blue.” His eyes twinkled. “Was it the mention of your puppy? Are you frightened of having a litter?”
When he looked at her like that-like they were friends and so much more-it made her insides feel like leaves blowing in the wind. Her gaze slid to her lap. “I would like us to have some time together before we have children.”
Some of the tenderness drained from his expression. “I should have taken precautions last night. I’m sorry. I didn’t think of children, only…”
“Only what?” If it made his eyes warm like that, she wanted to know what he’d been thinking.
His gaze locked with hers, so sharp and hot. “I thought only of how it felt to be naked inside you.”
A hard throb pulsed low and deep inside her, bringing sexual awareness speeding to the surface. It had been different without the “French Letter.” It had been better than the times at Saint’s Row, even though she wouldn’t have thought that possible. But that difference wasn’t entirely physical, she knew that. “And how did that feel?” Lord, was that warble really her voice?
Grey regarded her from beneath heavy lids. “Like heaven.”
Dear God, the man knew exactly what to say to her. She was already leaning toward him, pulled by some invisible string. “Really?”
He reached out, cupping her jaw with his warm hand. His thumb brushed her lower lip, pulling it just a little. “Really. And if we weren’t out in the open I’d show you.”
“I’d let you,” she replied breathlessly.
The air between them seemed to crackle. If lightning struck the ground between them it wouldn’t surprise her.
Grey rose to his feet and held out his hand. “Come with me. "
― Kathryn Smith , When Seducing a Duke (Victorian Soap Opera, #1)
73
" Trust me, Mr. Maxwell.” No more Christian name familiarity for him! “Greyden Kane has never had to ‘overwhelm’ anyone.” He was overwhelming enough on his own.
It was too dark to tell for certain, but she thought Kellan might have flushed. “Since we are speaking plainly, I must express my surprise that you would fall so readily into the clutches of such a man.”
Rose’s eyes narrowed and she took a step toward him as flames of anger leaped to life within her breast. “By ‘such a man; you refer, of course, to the duke. The very same man who came to my father’s aid when his so-called friends abandoned him. The same man who took my mother and I in after my father’s death and kept us from a life of poverty and no prospects. The very man who was a friend when others-including you-turned their back.” Rage tightened her jaw and clenched her fingers into fists. “I would rather fall into his ‘clutches,’ Kellan, than depend on your friendship, which was proven itself far less palatable than this swill Lady Frederick calls punch. Excuse me.”
She shoved the glass into his hand, not caring that some of the sugary liquid splashed over his fingers. And then she whirled on her heel and left him standing alone, and went back inside to face the stares with as much dignity as her anger would give her. "
― Kathryn Smith , When Seducing a Duke (Victorian Soap Opera, #1)
75
" Does your husband dictate where you can and cannot go?”
The woman looked as though she expected to be proven right.
“My husband would never do that.” Rose informed her coolly. “Although there will always be unsavory characters at any social gathering, my husband trusts me to decide the ones I wish to attend.”
The woman flushed, and Rose felt a certain amount of satisfaction in knowing that her barb had struck a nerve. “If that’s true, he must have changed immensely since the days when we were acquainted.”
Ahh. Now the claws came out. No wonder the woman had made such vile aspirations earlier. She was jealous.
“He has.” Rose held the other woman’s gaze, not caring a whit for how she said the word “acquainted.” This woman had slept with her husband, and oddly enough she wasn’t the least bit jealous. She did, however, feel sorry for the woman because Grey had been a different man back then. “My husband is very attentive and courteous to my wishes. I couldn’t be more satisfied with my situation.” Oh God, had she actually said that? The innuendo practically stood up on its own and waved to everyone in the room.
What was it about Grey-no, about this woman-that made her feel as though she had to defend her marriage, and brag about her sex life? It was just so pretty.
“You were once a friend of the duke’s, were you not, Lady Devane?” The woman-whose name Rose could not remember-slanted a devious glance in the blonde woman’s direction.
Everyone looked at Lady Devane, because everyone knew the rumors and everyone wanted to see not only Rose’s reaction, but Lady Devane’s as well. Vultures.
Eve pressed her knee against Rose’s, giving her some well-needed support.
“I was, Lady Gosling,” Lady Devane replied smoothly. “But that was a long time ago, back when he was a man who never thought to marry.” She smiled at Rose. “And then he met the one woman who could tempt him. I believe you must be an extraordinary woman, Your Grace.”
Rose could have kissed her, for in that one moment, the woman who could have easily become her enemy proved herself a friend. And not only a friend, but she let every woman in that room know what she thought of their vicious tongues.
“Thank you, Lady Devane.” Rose flashed a genuine smile. “But I feel that I am the fortunate one.”
Lady Gosling-what a ridiculous title!-said nothing. Tight-lipped, she turned away and went off in search of other prey.
Yes, Rose thought, as Eve discreetly squeezed her hand and whispered, “Old hag,” she was fortunate. But Grey was obviously the smarter of the two of them, because he had enough sense to stay the hell at home. "
― Kathryn Smith , When Seducing a Duke (Victorian Soap Opera, #1)
77
" We’re just discussing details of Bronte’s wedding.”
Rose’s lips curved as she walked toward him. “Gentlemen discussing wedding details? I think the world must be ending.” Picking up his glass, she took a drink of lemonade. It was an innocent, innocuous gesture-and one of the most arousing things he’d ever seen.
Archer chuckled, seemingly obviously to Grey’s dumb state. “Lucifer is putting on his ice skates as we speak. And on that note, I’m afraid it is time for me to take my leave. I promised Mama I would escort both she and Bronte to the ball tonight, and I have yet to find a suitable mask.”
“I look forward to trying to ascertain your identity this evening,” Rose remarked with a smile that seemed only slightly strained. Regardless, the sight filled Grey with unease.
“As do I.” Archer bowed over her hand before leaning down to whisper, “Arse,” in Grey’s ear and punched him in the arm. Hard.
Sometimes, Grey hated his brother. "
― Kathryn Smith , When Seducing a Duke (Victorian Soap Opera, #1)
78
" I wanted to apologize.”
His gaze lifted from her bosom. He remembered those breasts in his hands. “For what?”
“For deceiving you as I did. I misunderstood the nature of our relationship and behaved like a spoiled little girl. It was a terrible mistake and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
A terrible mistake? A mistake to be sure, but terrible? “There is nothing to forgive,” he replied with a tight smile. “We were both at fault.”
“Yes,” she agreed with a smile of her own. “You are right. Can we be friends again?”
“We never stopped.” At least that much was true. He might have played the fool, might have taken advantage of her, but he never ceased caring for her. He never would.
Rose practically sighed in relief. Grey had to struggle to keep his eyes on her face. “Good. I’m so glad you feel that way. Because I do so want your approval when I find the man I’m going to marry.”
Grey’s lips seized, stuck in a parody of good humor. “The choice is ultimately yours, Rose.”
She waved a gloved hand. “Oh, I know that, but your opinion meant so much to Papa, and since he isn’t here to guide me, I would be so honored if you would accept that burden as well as the others you’ve so obligingly undertaken.”
Help her pick a husband? Was this some kind of cruel joke? What next, did she want his blessing?
She took both of his hands in hers. “I know this is rather premature, but next to Papa you have been the most important man in my life. I wonder…” She bit her top lip. “If you would consider acting in Papa’s stead and giving me away when the time comes?”
He’d sling her over his shoulder and run her all the way to Gretna Green if it meant putting an end to this torture! “I would be honored.” He made the promise because he knew whomever she married wouldn’t allow him to keep it. No man in his right mind would want Grey at his wedding, let along handling his bride.
Was it relief or consternation that lit her lovely face? “Oh, good. I was afraid perhaps you wouldn’t, given your fear of going out into society.”
Grey scowled. Fear? Back to being a coward again was he? “Whatever gave you that notion?”
She looked genuinely perplexed. “Well, the other day Kellan told me how awful your reputation had become before your attack. I assumed your shame over that to be why you avoid going out into public now.”
“You assume wrong.” He'd never spoken to her with such a cold tone in all the years he'd known her. "I had no idea your opinion of me had sunk so low. And as one who has also been bandied about by gossips I would think you would know better than to believe everything you hear, no matter how much you might like the source."
Now she appeared hurt. Doe-like eyes widened. "My opinion of you is as high as it ever was! I'm simply trying to say that I understand why you choose to hide-"
"You think I'm hiding?" A vein in his temple throbbed.
Innocent confusion met his gaze. "Aren't you?"
"I avoid society because I despise it," he informed her tightly. "I would have thought you'd know that about me after all these years."
She smiled sweetly. "I think my recent behavior has proven that I don't know you that well at all. After all, I obviously did not achieve my goal in seducing you, did I?"
Christ Almighty. The girl knew how to turn his world arse over appetite. "There's no shame in being embarrassed, Grey. I know you regret the past, and I understand how difficult it would be for you to reenter society with that regret handing over you head."
"Rose, I am not embarrassed, and I am not hiding. I shun society because I despise it. I hate the false kindness and the rules and the hypocrisy of it. Do you understand what I am saying? It is because of society that I have this." He pointed at the side of his face where the ragged scar ran. "
― Kathryn Smith , When Seducing a Duke (Victorian Soap Opera, #1)
79
" You’d have a better time without me.” It wasn’t a direct refusal.
She folded her arms beneath the swell of her lovely bosom. “No, I won’t. And I don’t understand how you can expect me to face the gossips on my own.”
“I don’t expect you to do anything. You seem to be the one with the expectations.” Oh, yes, this was good. Getting defensive was so manly of him.
“Is it wrong of me to expect you to act like a husband?”
“Plenty of husbands do not attend balls with their wives.”
“Yes, but those wives generally find someone to keep them company later.”
Heat rushed to Grey’s cheeks as the meaning of her words struck him. “Are you planning to take a lover, Rose?”
“Of course not.” Rose regarded him as though he were a bothersome child. “I just want you to come with me. You are a duke, for heaven’s sake. You can tell them all to go to hell and get away with it. You have nothing to be afraid of.”
She couldn’t seem to get further than that. She thought he was afraid. That he was a coward. That stung. No, that pissed him off. But how could he make her understand?
“I’m not afraid of them, Rose.” Not really. “I just don’t want to be around those people. I don’t like them.”
“You can’t dislike all of them.” All her disdain was missing was a good eye-rolling. "
― Kathryn Smith , When Seducing a Duke (Victorian Soap Opera, #1)
