" I shouldn’t mind being his wife at all, if he ever asks me.”
It was at that moment that Mr. Gregory looked up and caught them watching him. He smiled and raised his glass of champagne to them.
Eve smiled in return before turning to snatch a similar glass for each of them off the tray of a passing footman. “See? He catches me staring and he barely reacts. Most men would be halfway across the floor already.”
Rose took a sip from the flute her friend had given her. “Perhaps he is so confident in his intent to have you that he feels he needn’t exert himself.”
The blonde made an indelicate sound. “He’d better reconsider exerting himself, otherwise I’m likely to find someone with less confidence.”
How Rose wished she had that kind of self-value. "

― Kathryn Smith , When Seducing a Duke (Victorian Soap Opera, #1)