Only a Duchess Would Dare (The Rogues' Dynasty #2) - Amelia Grey Page 0,1
is here to see me.”
His cousin’s blue eyes narrowed. “Good Lord, who is she?”
“The devil if I know.” Race brushed his light brown hair away from his forehead and studied over her name, drawing a blank. “There are at least a dozen dukes, if not more. I’m not acquainted with all of them. And I certainly don’t know how many dowagers there are.”
“The area of Blooming is up near the Northern Coast,” Morgan offered. “That must be the reason we’re not familiar with the name.”
“It would seem so, but I haven’t a clue why the dowager would be here to see me.”
“Maybe she was a friend of our grandmother’s and wants to converse with you about her.”
“Damnation, Morgan, I can’t do that now with a house full of lively guests to entertain. She’s come without an appointment and says she’s willing to wait until I’m available to see her.”
Morgan grinned. “And I can see you are on the verge of telling her just where she can wait.”
Race smiled mischievously. “Tempted? Yes.”
“But you won’t. Our grandmother would roll over in her grave that you would even think of treating an older, titled or not, lady any way other than if she were a queen.”
“Don’t remind me,” he grumbled, all good humor vanishing from his face. “Why wouldn’t Her Grace do the proper thing and leave, and then later make an appointment to see me?”
“It tells me she wants to do more than just converse about our grandmother. Is there any chance she’s here because you seduced one of her maids, or worse, one of her granddaughters?”
Race glared at his cousin but stayed silent.
“Blast it, Race, whoever it is you’ve taken to your bed, I suggest you turn on that charm you are so famous for and make amends right now. It’s better to win her over upfront. She’ll go easier on you if you have to ask her forgiveness later.”
“Bloody hell, Morgan. I don’t even know who she is, so how can I know if I’ve seduced someone she’s related to?”
“Are you in any other kind of trouble that I don’t know about?”
“No,” Race stated, cocksure.
“Hmm,” Morgan said and then added, “It’s too bad Blake and Henrietta missed the party. With his being a duke, they would know exactly what is and what isn’t acceptable in a situation like this.”
“Why the devil isn’t our cousin here? What’s he doing today, anyway?” Race asked in an annoyed tone.
“He married Henrietta two weeks ago.” An amused twinkle danced in Morgan’s bright blue eyes. “You figure out what he’s doing on a rainy Sunday afternoon.”
Race uttered a curse under his breath. “Oh, right.”
“Where is Gibby? He’s been around long enough he should know what to do.”
“I don’t know what he’s up to. I received a short note from him earlier today saying he couldn’t make it.”
“So what are you going to do about the duchess? She’s waiting to speak to you and you can’t just leave her in her carriage. That’s an outrage.”
As much as Race didn’t want to concede to Morgan or the dowager, his grandmother had raised him and his cousins to respect women. As inconvenient as it was now, he couldn’t change his nature. And he had to admit that the woman had piqued his interest. While he’d had his share of unannounced females appear at his door, none of them had been old or titled.
“You know I’ll do the proper thing,” Race finally admitted.
He called to Mrs. Frost, who had remained silently by the front door. “Go out to the carriage and inform Her Grace that I insist she come in and join the party. If she refuses, which I expect she will, have some of the servants move enough furniture out of the music room to make a comfortable place for her to sit down. See to it that she is served tea and some of Cook’s plum tarts, and tell her I’ll make time to see her.”
Race turned to Morgan and grinned. “Satisfied?”
“I am, but she’ll probably think you’ve treated her atrociously. You know how fretful dowagers get when they feel they haven’t been pampered and treated as if they were queens. She will probably tell everyone what a scoundrel you are.” Morgan chuckled lightly. “And if she does that, you will be the talk of the ton after this little escapade.”
“Most certainly,” Race agreed. “No doubt it will give the scandal sheets a week’s worth of articles if anyone finds out I’ve not rushed to do her