“Oi!Stop cursing in my damn house!”his mother shouted, causing Tavish, his brothers, and his sister to laugh.“We’re never going to be allowed in Mayfair.”
“Well, I’m going to be a lady,” Adara called out, practically bouncing in her seat.“Tavish, do you think your duchess will help me too?”
His duchess?She wasn’t his.Everything about him was rough, and she was everything soft and silky.
He’d always been rough, and he quite liked that about himself.Although Tavish was educated just like his brothers, he never wanted a quiet life or a wife, or any of those things their da had embedded in them.
“She’s not my duchess,” he said, but the beating of his heart and the image of her standing naked before him told a completely different story.
Bloody fecking hell.
Florentia sat in the Dowager Lady Wyndam’s sitting room, sipping her tea quietly, trying to ascertain the woman’s character.Usually, she could decipher their ilk in minutes of first meeting them, but that was not the case with the old woman in front of her.
The Dowager Lady Wyndham sat stoically in a red upholstered chair that oddly matched the elaborate gown she was wearing.She appeared like she was dressed more for dinner than for afternoon tea.
Her dark brown hair was streaked with gray.Her sharp brown eyes surveyed Florentia intently, making her slightly uncomfortable.No one made her uncomfortable.
Ever.
Except Tavish, the new duke, and now the dowager.
The dowager’s old, withered hand was wrapped around an ornate cane with intricate carvings at the base.
The grandeur of the home did not impress Florentia, she had lived with the old duke for three years after all.Her own mother had extravagant taste, yet the Allendale earldom coffers were always lacking.
“You are too young to be a widow,” were the dowager’s first words to Florentia.
At twenty-two years, Florentia was the youngest duchess of the ton.It wasn’t unusual for a gentleman to choose a young bride, but a forty-year age difference was a bit dramatic.
“I was also too young to be a wife to an old man, but no one cared,” Florentia said before relaxing against the cushions of the beige sofa.
A smile ticked at the side of the dowager’s lips.“No, they never do.Do they?”she asked, surveying her with warm brown eyes.
Florentia laughed, suddenly enjoying the company of the elder woman.“I have rarely been asked my opinion about my own life.”
“Indeed.”She lifted her cane and pointed it at Florentia.“I hear your mother has arranged another match for you.”
She stilled, not wanting to speak about her parents attempt at marrying her off to Baron Primwood.It was absurd.Three years ago, she had no choice, but now, a widow, she would not be controlled again.
It didn’t matter that her marriage contract only provided a paltry sum; all that mattered was that she was free.If she had to work, she’d do it.She’d do anything to rid herself of her mother.
“That is what she wishes, but I have no desire to marry another older gentleman,” she said, before taking a sip of tea.
Florentia had no desire to marry at all.In her experience, marriage was a way to be controlled.Not only for women, but for men, like her father.
Her father, the Earl of Allendale, had never gone against his wife on a single subject, not even for his daughters.
“If I was your age, I wouldn’t either.”The dowager chuckled, pressing a jeweled hand to her chest.“I don’t even want an older gentleman at my age.”
“Is that why I’m here?To discuss my marriage prospects?”Florentia asked before taking a bite of biscuit.It was savory and sweet, much better than the horrid biscuits the cook at Summerset House made.
“You’re here because I think you need the Widow’s League’s assistance.”Lady Wyndam leaned forward, placing all her weight on her cane.
“I don’t need your assistance.”Florentia had taken care of herself for years, and she would continue to do so, alone.
“Don’t you?”The dowager waved her cane at Florentia.“You’ve been causing tongues to wag, my dear.Everyone knows you’re sleeping with your servants, and possibly young Reeves Montague.”
Florentia picked up her teacup and saucer, refusing to acknowledge the accusations.It was the same complaint her mother had, though she had been much crueler with her words.The truth was, Florentia had slept with Montague once, but he was just too easy to manipulate, and her relationship with Thomas was completely over.She had no prospects for a lover.
