Читать книгу Secrets Of A Duchess - Kaitlin O'Riley - Страница 11

Although not quite as large an event as the Maxwells’ ball the previous week, there were still a considerable number of people in attendance at Lord and Lady Talbot’s, for they were well known for their lavish entertaining, and each of their affairs was looked forward to with great anticipation. The opening dance at the Talbots’ ball that night was not the traditional quadrille, but a waltz, and the chattering voices in the ballroom hushed in astonishment as Alexander Woodward, the handsome and elusive Duke of Woodborough, escorted the little known Caroline Armstrong out to the dance floor.

The duke looked more striking than usual in his tailored black superfine evening clothes and crisp white shirt, which set off the clean lines of his incredibly handsome face. His dark black hair gleamed. He was impossibly masculine and had a very commanding presence. Caroline was stunning in a low-cut jade green silk gown that cinched in her narrow waist with a wide green bow in the back. Her honey-gold hair had been piled into soft ringlets on the top of her head and held together with pale jade ribbons that cascaded down her back.

The hushed crowd stared openly at the handsome couple on the dance floor, and even the most cynical socialite was intrigued by this latest development. The gossips were still wagging their tongues over Madeline Maxwell’s outrageous rejection of the duke only last week and then her sudden announcement at Lady Howard’s dinner party of her engagement to Oliver Parkridge.

Now this strange occurrence!

Everyone knew that the duke rarely attended Season balls, and it was rarer still for him to actually dance at one. Now he was dancing with Caroline Armstrong. Was this simply to put on a brave face after Madeline Maxwell spurned him? Or was this a new romance?

And here was the late Earl of Glenwood’s lovely granddaughter, the product of that scandalous tutor elopement and the one all the young men were calling a bluestocking, on the arm of the most sought-after bachelor in London. What was one to make of this? It was too intriguing!

All eyes discretely turned to watch Lady Madeline’s reaction to the duke’s very public display of attention to the Armstrong girl. What they saw was Madeline Maxwell, looking as pretty and feminine as ever with her yellow curls perfectly arranged and wearing a baby blue Worth gown, clinging rapturously to the arm of Oliver Parkridge, seemingly oblivious to the duke’s presence in the room.

Betsy Warring whispered frantically to Mary Ellen Talbot, “Why is the duke dancing with Caroline Armstrong?” She tugged self-consciously at the too-tight fit of her lemon satin gown and wished desperately that she were the one dancing in the arms of the handsome duke with everyone watching.

“I haven’t the faintest idea! He never dances with anyone. Oh, I just don’t understand how Madeline could have refused him.” She shook her head in disbelief. “She must be blind. Will you look at him?” Mary Ellen sighed, her big brown eyes gazing longingly at the duke.

“Who would have guessed that the duke would show interest in her of all people? She just appeared out of nowhere,” wondered Betsy, as she turned her rather wide nose up in the air with a disdainful sniff. “I heard that she was quite tedious at the Maxwells’ ball.”

“Well, she seems nice enough, just a little shy. Her sister, Emma, is great fun, though. I think my brother, John, is sweet on her,” Mary Ellen whispered to the girls as they continued to watch the couple at the center of the ballroom.

After her dance with the duke, the ton’s interest in Caroline increased. There had to be something special about the older Armstrong sister if the Duke of Woodborough danced with her. Surely Arthur Kingston’s reports of her being a stuffy country bore must have been exaggerated. The gentlemen all flocked to the shy beauty. Caroline’s dance card filled up quickly, and she danced with so many partners that night that she could not recall any of their names the next day.

Alex stood aside, watching her dance, never taking his eyes off her, an enigmatic smile on his face. By dancing with Caroline, he had set her apart from the other girls, which is exactly what he intended. Now aware of her sheltered childhood, the loss of both her parents, and how she supported her family, Alex felt that she needed this special time for herself, to enjoy being young and beautiful. She deserved it after all she had been through. It was surprising how happy it made him to see her laughing and smiling.

When he recalled how sad she looked on the balcony that night and compared it to her glowing face on the dance floor now, he was amazed at the difference in her. It would be criminal to have such a beautiful girl hide herself and pretend to be uninterested in life when she deserved to be admired and the center of attention. There was a sadness about her. She was hiding something, and he was determined to find out what it was. Watching her glide across the room in graceful, fluid movements, he actually felt proud of her.

“What’s all this about you and the Armstrong chit?” a familiar voice asked.

Lord Peter Forester grinned at Alex. He was a handsome man, almost as tall as Alex, with sandy blond hair and laughing eyes. The two men had been friends since childhood, and Peter knew that there had to be a very important reason for Alex to put in an appearance at a second Season ball within a week. Peter was more than a little intrigued by his friend’s current behavior.

“What are you doing here?” Alex countered. Peter detested the social season almost as much as he did.

“I was going to ask you the same,” Peter responded. “But you didn’t answer my first question.”

“Shouldn’t you be dancing with your fiancée?”

Peter grinned knowingly. “Another artful dodge. But to answer your question, my darling Victoria is chatting with her friends at the moment. More to the point, what are you doing here?”

“I am simply enjoying the Season,” Alex answered casually, feigning innocence.

“This isn’t your thing at all, Alex. You haven’t attended a ball in years. Only a week ago you were complaining to me of matchmakers and giddy girls throwing themselves at you. I do recall you saying that after you straightened out the Maxwell situation, you were returning to the peace and quiet of Ridge Haven. What gives, my friend?”

Alex hesitated, not sure how to answer, his eyes following Caroline moving across the ballroom.

Observing that Alex had not taken his eyes off the young lady in question, Peter concluded, “Then it must have something to do with the lovely Miss Armstrong everyone is suddenly buzzing about.”

“Maybe it does.”

“Word is she’s a bluestocking.”

A slight smile played across Alex’s face. “Not true.”

Without another word, Lord Forester handed Alex his drink, maneuvered agilely across the crowded ballroom, and managed to catch Caroline just as a dance ended. Leave it to Peter to take matters into his own hands. Alex watched in amusement as Caroline smiled at his friend in acceptance of his invitation to dance and moved elegantly with Peter on the dance floor. Peter must have said something that charmed her, because her laughter brightened her eyes, and her smile was captivating. She was truly breathtaking and was the most beautiful woman in the room. The jade-colored gown she was wearing accented the green in her eyes, and her golden hair framed her delicate face prettily. When the dance ended, Peter bowed smoothly to her and made his way back to Alex.

“I now understand completely why you are here,” Peter commented evenly, taking his drink from Alex’s hand.

“I thought you might,” was Alex’s only response.

“It seems you have finally been caught, my friend. And by a most lovely trap.”

“It seems that way,” Alex admitted.

Continuing to watch Caroline, Alex didn’t mind when she danced with young Henry Whiting or Lord Marshall, or even his best friend, but he most definitely minded when Lord Kingston claimed her for a dance. Kingston was a notorious rake and treated women carelessly. The man clutched her too closely, and the lecherous look on Kingston’s face alone would have made Alex want to strangle him.

Ignoring Peter’s smug expression, Alex quickly made his way to the dancing couple and tapped Kingston, none too gently, on the shoulder as he overheard the man whispering to Caroline, “Are you sure you are the same girl I danced with last week?”

“I believe the lady has saved this dance for me,” Alex interrupted.

Smiling in relief, Caroline yanked herself free from Kingston’s clinging hands and gratefully slipped into Alex’s arms. “Of course, Your Grace. How silly of me to have forgotten that I promised this dance to you! Please excuse me, Lord Kingston.”

Leaving the slick man standing there alone and irritated, Alex expertly waltzed Caroline away.

“Oh, thank you!” she exclaimed. “I wasn’t sure how to extricate myself from his grip without being too rude.”

He held her close as he guided her across the floor in time to the music, marveling at how perfectly she fit in his arms. “You could always cough in his face again.”

“I was thinking just that!” she laughed.

He looked down at her, again struck by her beauty. “You met Lord Forester.”

Her eyes sparked with interest. “I did, indeed.”

“He’s an old friend of mine.”

“So he mentioned.”

“Did he mention anything else?”

“Just that he was one of your oldest and dearest friends and that if I wanted to know any of your secrets I only had to ask him.”

“And did you ask him?”

“Of course!”

His eyebrows rose. “Did you learn anything?”

She frowned in disappointment. “No. He said that there were too many interesting stories to tell, but he promised to enlighten me another time.”

Alex laughed, and then gazed into her emerald eyes. “So tell me, Caroline, who can I ask to learn your secrets?”

Her eyes shuttered. Glancing away, she said, “Oh, I don’t have any secrets.”

“Don’t you though?” He knew there was something she was keeping from him. He sensed an invisible wall go up around her.

She smiled brightly at him. “Do you mind if we rest for a while? I’m exhausted, and these new slippers are pinching my toes.”

“Of course.” There wasn’t a woman he could think of that would admit that her feet hurt while dancing with the Duke of Woodborough. She is refreshingly different, he thought to himself, as he escorted her to an unoccupied settee and then brought her some cool punch.

The Duke of Woodborough’s attentive behavior to Caroline Armstrong was not lost on the gossips, who were observing them avidly. A low buzz of conversation rose in volume as they watched the pair in question conclude their second dance together and then retire to a secluded spot. Why, the duke was positively hovering over her!

Lady Weatherby, in her typically direct manner, asked Olivia Fairchild, “What is the duke doing with your granddaughter? He has danced with her twice this evening! It’s almost scandalous. Now look. He’s sitting rather cozily with her over there in the corner.”

Olivia responded in a light tone, “Well, Martha, it is quite obvious that he is taking an interest in her.” Pleased beyond words with Caroline’s actions this evening, Olivia thought the change in her granddaughter was remarkable. The duke seemed to have worked magic on her, for she no longer sat miserably in a corner but laughed and chatted readily with everyone.

“An interest!” snorted Lady Weatherby, her thin face showing disbelief. “Why, he’s shown more interest in your granddaughter this evening than he ever did to that Maxwell chit he was supposed to be engaged to!”

That last comment was overheard by Lady Madeline herself. Surreptitiously Madeline turned her head so she, too, could see the duke, a smile on his handsome face, sitting with the older Armstrong sister. It enraged her to think that Lady Weatherby’s remark was accurate. The duke had never danced with her twice in one evening, had never sat alone and talked with her, or even brought her a glass of punch! The truth was quite obvious now. Caroline Armstrong had deliberately stolen the duke away from her, forcing Madeline to throw herself at the dull Oliver Parkridge to save her face. How she hated Caroline Armstrong! Who did she think she was? And the faithless duke! How dare he cast her aside so carelessly! It was unbearable. Glaring at the couple lounging together, Madeline made a silent vow that she would find some way to make Caroline Armstrong pay for humiliating her.

Intuitively sensing her gaze, Caroline glanced up and caught Madeline Maxwell staring at her. The two girls looked at each other for a long moment. At last, Madeline shrugged her delicate shoulders, sauntered over to Oliver Parkridge, placed a tiny hand on his arm, and whispered in his ear. A smile spread across Oliver’s face as he escorted Madeline to the dining room.

Caroline shuddered from the blatant hostility she felt from Madeline once again. “I think Madeline Maxwell despises me,” she said to Alex in a hushed tone.

“Why would she? If she hates anyone, it’s me.”

“I have a feeling that she thinks you broke off with her for me.”

“That’s ridiculous. There was never anything between us to break off from, except in her own imagination.”

“That may very well be, but I don’t think she sees it that way.”

“I wouldn’t worry about her,” Alex laughed, but Caroline could not shake the distinctly foreboding feeling that Madeline had just given her.