Thwarting the Duke Read online

  “You’re too kind,” Grace grumbled from beside Hope. And she had played beautifully the night before. Quent was lucky she hadn’t kicked him in the knee after that comment.

  But their brother only laughed in response. “You know I love to hear you, love. But most of the girls singing were akin to screeching wildcats in a bag.”

  “Have you much experience with screeching wildcats in bags?” Hope asked as the carriage rambled to a stop in front of a lovely house on Curzon Street. “How does one hold on to such a thing?”

  “Carefully, love.” Quent nodded. “Very carefully.” Then he bounded out of the coach first and offered his hand to Lila. Then he helped Grace and Hope climb from the carriage as well.

  Hope linked her arm with her sister’s as they climbed the steps to St. Austell House. “Will Mr. Lacy be here this evening?” The man didn’t care for dancing, but he had attended a few events this season.

  Grace shook her head. “He’s in the middle of researching something about infrared radiation, at least I think that’s what he said.”

  Whatever in the world that was. Sometimes Hope wasn’t certain if Mr. Lacy was brilliant or just odd. She and her sister crossed into the St. Austell foyer and Hope cast Grace a sidelong glance. “You’re certain you want to marry him?” She was fairly certain Mr. Lacy would bore her to death after just a fortnight of marriage. She couldn’t imagine spending her lifetime with the man.

  “He’ll do.” Grace heaved a sigh. “Besides there’s no telling who our great-uncle would select for me instead. And at least I’ve chosen Mr. Lacy.”

  Their great-uncle might have better taste than Grace did, but Hope bit her tongue from saying as much. Not that she disliked Mr. Lacy. The fellow was nice enough, just extraordinarily boring. She couldn’t imagine him pretending to blackmail anyone. She couldn’t imagine him ever bantering the same way Lord Kilworth did. She couldn’t imagine Mr. Lacy’s kiss coming anywhere close to Lord Kilworth’s. Perfectly pleasant. There wasn’t anything about Lord Kilworth’s kiss that had been perfectly pleasant. Passionate, breath-taking, earth-shattering were more apt descriptions.

  They followed Quent and Lila down the corridor, into the ballroom; and almost as though her earlier musings about the man had conjured him up, Lord Kilworth was near the far wall, conversing with the Prime Minister. When his gaze shifted from Liverpool to fall on Hope, the air whooshed from her lungs and she might have stumbled if her arm wasn’t still linked with Grace’s.

  Her sister snorted. “If I live to be a thousand, I will never understand your taste in men.”

  Hope quirked a grin in Grace’s direction. “And I shall never understand yours, my dear sister.”

  Lord Kilworth muttered something to the Prime Minister, though his gaze remained focused on Hope, and then he made a direct path towards her.

  Hope’s belly nearly flipped. He was so dashing and so very handsome, and…

  “Ah, Baxter.” Quent offered his hand to the earl.

  Quent knew Lord Kilworth? She hadn’t realized the two of them were acquainted. Of course her brother had been friends with Henry once upon a time. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised by that fact.

  “Post.” Lord Kilworth accepted Quent’s hand and smiled at Lila. “My lady.”

  “Honestly, a ballroom is the last place I’d ever think to find you,” Quent said.

  Lord Kilworth’s eyes flashed to Hope, making her belly flip all over again. “Yes, well, a certain lady has promised me a waltz, though I may have had the date incorrect.”

  Hope’s cheeks burned slightly. However, she wasn’t about to admit her error in front of her family. “I’m afraid they’re not playing a waltz, my lord.”

  “Indeed.” The grin he flashed in her direction had the very real possibility of making her melt right in the middle of the ballroom. “Care to take a turn about the room with me while we wait?” He offered her his arm, which she took without hesitation.

  Her brother seemed quite amused by the whole thing, which was odd. These days, he rarely noticed anything that wasn’t directly related to Lila.

  “So did you give me the wrong date for this soiree to make a fool of me, Lady Hope?” Lord Kilworth asked only loud enough for her to hear once they’d left her family behind them.

  “I suppose I owe you an apology for that,” she returned, not really daring to glance over at him. “But it was your fault.”

  He laughed at that. “My fault?”

  She did chance a peek up at him then. “It was impossible to think straight after you kissed me.”

  A rather pleased expression settled on his face. “Well, then you are quite forgiven.” He laughed again. “In fact, that may be the only excuse you could give that I’d find worthy of forgiveness.”

  He was slightly arrogant, wasn’t he? “Yes, well, I probably should never kiss you again, just to keep my mind straight going forward.”

  “Where would be the fun in that?” Lord Kilworth drew her to a stop and tugged her closer to him.

  Hope inhaled the citric of his shaving lotion and managed, just barely, not to sigh.

  “I’ve thought of nothing except kissing you over the last two days.” His voice rumbled over her and tingles raced across Hope’s skin as his dark blue eyes speared her where she stood.

  “Even now, while you were talking to Lord Liverpool?” she asked. “You were thinking of kissing me even then?”

  “Even then.” He agreed with a wicked twinkle in his eyes. “Sending me to the St. Austells’ stoop on the wrong day should warrant me at least one more kiss, shouldn’t it?”

  Heavens, there was something about him that nearly made her forget her name. The golden hues in his hair, the dark depths of his eyes, perhaps. But it was probably the way he looked at her as though she was the most beautiful girl in the world. “But you said you’ve forgiven me for that.”

  “For the wrong date, yes, I suppose I have.” He seemed to think for a second. “But I haven’t yet forgiven you for upending my phaeton.” Then he winked at her. “In fact, I think I may need several dozen kisses to even consider forgiving you for that particular situation.”

  He would have to mention that! Her cheeks stung a bit. “You are a blackguard, aren’t you?”

  “Afraid it runs in the family.”

  There was nothing quite as lovely as Hope Post when she was blushing. If Thad—

  “I didn’t realize you knew my brother,” she said, breaking into his thoughts.

  Thad glanced back across the ballroom to find Quentin Post watching them rather closely, and he shrugged. “Actually, I’m well acquainted with both of your brothers.”

  She blinked up at him, her eyes very close to sparkling, which made Thad’s heart twist a bit. What would it take to see the return of that sparkle, full force? He was fairly certain he’d do anything to see it again. She was stunningly beautiful, but when her eyes sparkled…

  “Four-in-hand club,” he choked out as his voice almost caught in his throat.

  “You race?” she asked, a smile alighting her face.

  Ah, and that smile. Still, she didn’t have to sound so surprised by that fact. He was far from docile himself. “Quentin is easy to defeat. He’s often too reckless by half.”

  She laughed and the melodic sound reverberated through Thad like nothing ever had. “Met his wife when his horse threw a rock that hit her in the head.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” Thad laughed right along with her. He could see Quentin Post doing that very thing.

  Lady Hope shook her head and her flaxen curls brushed against her shoulders. It was nearly mesmerizing. It would be only too easy to twist one of those curls around his finger, but… He could never do so in Lady St. Austell’s ballroom, not with a room full of interested eyes focused on them.

  “I would have never taken you as a Corinthian, my lord.”

  “No?” He frowned slightly. “What would you take me as?”

  “I thought you were rather frighten
ing when we first met.”

  “Cruel.” He remembered Lady Grace’s earlier words at the theatre. “You thought I was cruel.”

  Lady Hope shrugged. “You did bark at Jamie and me, you were quite furious that day.”

  He had been that. “You could have easily killed my favorite mare. Luckily, Sulis is no worse for the wear.”

  “And then you told Mr. Lacy I was a menace.” Her green eyes focused on him and Thad could happily lose himself in her depths and never want to be found. “I haven’t forgiven you for that.”

  “I did mean to apologize,” he began.

  Her brow creased in disbelief. “You’ve had plenty of opportunities, my lord.”

  He couldn’t help but grin as memories of each of those opportunities flashed in his mind. “That night at the Wolverlys. I meant to apologize, but you jumped right to the conclusion that I was blackmailing you, and it was so enjoyable, sparring with you, I never did get around to apologizing that night.”

  “And the next day in the park?”

  “You mean after you and your sister tried to pull the wool over my eyes and play me for a fool?” He shook his head just as the first chords of a waltz began. “My dance, I believe.”

  Chapter 10

  A fresh wave of tingles raced across Hope as Lord Kilworth drew her into his arms. The heat from his touch nearly singed her, but there was nowhere else she would rather be.

  She had the feeling that if they were the only two people in the room, he’d have pulled her closer and kissed her again. How very strange to want him to do so. She’d never thought she’d want anyone to ever kiss her again, not after Henry was gone. But there was something about the earl, something that made her feel…Well, the tiniest bit like her old self.

  He led her into a turn, his dark eyes focused so intently on her. “You don’t have any sort of inkling who Danby might try to match you with?”

  A sennight ago she couldn’t have cared less, but that was before she’d careened her way into Lord Kilworth’s life. But she couldn’t be so forward as to say something like that. “I believe His Grace keeps his own council on all things.” How forward could she be, though? “You’re not concerned he’ll try to foist me upon you after seeing us together in the park, are you?”

  An enigmatic look flashed in his eyes. Then he leaned in a little closer and said, “Should you decide to foist yourself upon me, I wouldn’t complain; but let’s do keep Danby out of that, shall we? Not conducive to one’s ardor.”

  Hope couldn’t help but laugh. He was so very different than she’d first thought him to be. He did possess the same devilish Baxter nature that Henry once had, though the two of them shared very little else. Learning that he raced was certainly eye-opening. “Are you the sort of fellow who makes wagers, my lord?”

  “Wagers?” He quirked one eyebrow as he led her into another turn.

  “You know, those foolish things I’ve heard whispered about. Wagers about which raindrop will reach the bottom of a window pane first. That sort of thing.”

  “Are you asking if I’m a fool, my lady?”

  “Hardly that,” she assured him. “I just thought that we might have a friendly wager between us, if you’d be willing.”

  His eyes narrowed slightly as though he was trying to figure her out. “What sort of wager do you have in mind?”

  One she had no intention of losing. “Even though they are newly engaged, I wager that Mr. Lacy will not ask my sister to dance even once this evening.”

  He squinted. “And why would I want to wager about that?”

  So she could win, of course. But she shook her head nonchalantly. “Just for amusement, and the opportunity to win a boon from me.”

  “Mmm.” He pulled her a little closer to him. “And what, my lady, is it you want from me, should you win?”

  Hope grinned up at him. “Well, now that I know how much you love to race, it would be quite delightful to take a team out to the Bath Road, wouldn’t it?”

  “Certainly, you don’t think I’d let you drive one of my teams?”

  “Well, only if I win the wager.”

  Her eyes sparkled, just like they had the first time he’d seen her; and Thad stumbled slightly, though he quickly recovered his footing. Heaven help him should she look at him like that on a regular basis. He’d be done for and would never know what hit him. But right in that moment, he was onto her game. “And what if I win?”

  The most seductive smile settled on her face and Thad felt it in his groin. “What would you want from me, my lord?”

  There were many things he wanted, but nothing a gentleman could ask a lady to give him in return for winning a wager. “I suppose I’d like to know where Lacy is this evening.” He couldn’t help but smile. “It would be very difficult for him to ask Lady Grace to stand up with him if he’s not here, wouldn’t it?”

  Her nose wrinkled up as he’d most definitely caught her, once again, trying to play him. She was utterly charming and matching wits with her was more delightful than he ever would have thought it could be. He splayed his hand across her back and drew her slightly closer once more. She fit so perfectly in arms. Had he made a mistake in telling Danby they wouldn’t suit? She might just be the most perfect match he’d ever find, and life with Hope Post would be far from boring.

  “You shouldn’t hold me so closely,” she said softly, though she didn’t try to push away from him.

  “And you shouldn’t attempt to play me for a fool,” he teased. “Nor try to get Quentin to remove my head from my shoulders should I take you racing along the Bath Road.”

  “You’re not afraid of Quent?” She looked amused at that. “He’s much easier to manage than Braden is.”

  Well, that was probably true. But the man still wouldn’t be happy to find out his sister was hell-bent on behaving recklessly. She was docile, his arse. “Be that as it may,” he began right as the music came to an end.

  The last thing he wanted to do was release her, but there was nothing for it. Thad dropped his hand from her back and released her delicate hand, though he offered her his arm once more.

  “We are not racing along the Bath Road,” he muttered under his breath.

  And she quirked him the most adorable grin. “Afraid you wouldn’t be able to keep up?”

  Oh, he could keep up with her. He could even show her a few things, and he’d love doing that; but it was hardly appropriate. “My dear—”

  A gasp across the room caught his attention as Quentin Post’s pretty dark-haired wife collapsed to the floor.

  “Oh, good heavens!” Hope released her grasp on Thad’s arm. “Lila,” she breathed out as she began to push her way through the crowd.

  Thad was right behind her.

  Hope’s heart lurched as Quent scooped Lila up in his arms. What in the world had happened? As she reached her family, she felt Lord Kilworth directly behind her. He touched the small of her back and she took a steadying sigh. Who would’ve thought such a small gesture from him could put her more at ease?

  “What happened?” she asked, her gaze darting from Quent to Lila and back.

  “Overheated,” Quent said, though he didn’t sound terribly sure of that. “I do think it’s best we leave, love.”

  “Yes, of course,” Hope agreed. Poor Lila. She was such a dear, though Hope suspected her first Season in London must have overtaxed her. Life in Ravenglass was so much more serene than life in Town.

  “Thaddeus,” Quent said, looking past Hope’s shoulder. “Why don’t you stop by Post House tomorrow? It’s been an age since we’ve chatted.”

  Lord Kilworth squeezed Hope’s waist with his hand. “Of course,” he said evenly. “And, my lady, I do hope you’re feeling better soon.”

  Lila smiled at that, but Quent was glowering. Heavens. Quent rarely glowered. He truly was the more amiable of her brothers. Why in the world did he look so serious and stern?

  Hope tipped her head to the side so she could better see the earl. He didn’t ap
pear concerned by Quent’s glower in the least. In fact, he smiled down at her and offered her his arm. “Happy to escort you to your coach.”

  Chapter 11

  Thad waited until the Post carriage departed before turning back into the St. Austells’ foyer, wondering what in the world had gotten into him. When he’d first come to Town this Season, he’d been singularly focused on getting a new church building bill passed in parliament, but after meeting Lady Hope…Well, he’d quickly become quite focused on her instead.

  Thoughts about a broken phaeton, one earth-shattering kiss, and an amazing waltz were all and overshadowed by the threat of Danby and his special licenses, and now Quentin Post seemed quite ready to stick his head on a pike.

  He started back towards the ballroom, even though there was no reason for him to remain at the St. Austells’ now that Hope had left. Just as he was about to pass an open parlor—

  “Oh, Truscott, you did miss it!” laughed one gentleman from inside the room. “You should have seen Kilworth just now.”

  Thad’s eyes widened. He never really listened at doors. But he had heard his name, so he stopped right outside the parlor.

  “Picking right up where his cousin left off,” another fellow said with merriment lacing his voice.

  “Lady Hope?” Charles Truscott sounded amused.

  “One wonders,” the first gentleman continued, “do you think she only lifts her skirts for Baxter men, or might she lift them for me too?”

  A muscle twitched in Thad’s jaw.

  “Oh, I shouldn’t think it would take too much effort,” the second fellow replied. “Probably a natural reflex at this point.”

  While the three men laughed at Hope’s expense, Thad’s blood began to pound in his veins. The veritable jackasses. Hope might be somewhat reckless, which if he was honest was one of the things he loved about her, but…Dear God, did he actually love her? Had he truly fallen completely in love with Hope Post?

  “Not like the other one,” the first gentleman said. Who was that? Hessenford? Sounded like his voice. The degenerate. “Odds are Lacy’s cock will freeze off on his wedding night.”