She giggled. “You ought to, yes, for that’s how I meant it. So many gentlemen know only of politics or only of fencing, but you seem to know a little of everything.”
“Something of a jack of all trades,” Stewart teased.
“And yet I’ve mastered them all far more than you,” the duke replied with equal jest.
Charlotte giggled, as did Chelsea, the wine they had drunk going to their heads . She could see the men had a close relationship, perhaps as close as her own friendship with Chelsea. And though she didn’t much like the duke of course, she was strangely pleased that he had someone he could lean on.
“And you?” he asked eventually. “What do you enjoy doing? Apart from swimming, of course.”
Charlotte looked up to meet his gaze, but her eyes got caught on his lips instead. He licked them to moisten them, and Charlotte’s own mouth fell open. How plump, how luscious his lips were. How desperately she wanted to lean over and kiss them.
“She rather enjoys a game of battledore,” Chelsea said, noticing Charlotte’s sudden distraction and jumping in to help her. “And very good at it she is too.”
“An athletic lady then,” Stewart said with an appreciative nod. “You still have that same boundless energy you had as a child, then.”
Gathering herself, Charlotte turned to Stewart and smiled. “Yes, but I have learned better ways of directing it than pestering those around me.”
“She also enjoys a debate on the role of women in society, don’t you, Charlotte?”
Charlotte’s mouth dropped open again, and she stared at her friend wide-eyed. Such conversations were ones to be had in certain company only.
“I…” She stuttered for a moment, but when she locked eyes with the duke once more, her nerves seemed to fall away. His eyes seemed to be telling her to continue, that he was interested and wanted her opinion. “I believe that women have a lot more to offer than they are currently given the opportunity to.”
“I quite agree,” Stewart said as the maids cleared away the plates and the butler poured them all a glass of port. “There are plenty of charitable causes which would greatly appreciate the input of more ladies. Certainly a great number who would accept more donated goods such as knitted socks and fresh pies.”
The duke laughed. “While there is nothing wrong with a knitted sock or a fresh pie, I’d wager that’s not quite what Miss Charlotte meant. And I must admit, I quite agree. Sometimes,we gentlemen get so caught up in the beauty of a lady that we rather forget her intellect.”
Charlotte watched him as he spoke, her entire opinion of him changing. She smiled gratefully at him, wondering whether he truly meant it. If he did, there was far more to the duke than she had ever realized.
Perhaps I could come to like him after all.
Chapter 10
“Why don’t we retire to the drawing room?” Chelsea suggested. “It must be time for a little light entertainment. All this serious talk is giving me a headache.”
“Charades?” Stewart suggested as the four of them rose to their feet and began to file out of the room.
“Always been my favorite,” Chelsea said.
She and Stewart went ahead, chatting quickly and happily between one another. Alexander watched them leave, holding back. This was his chance to be alone with Miss Charlotte, to speak with her without the prying ears of their friends, albeit for no more than a minute.
He waited for her to catch up to him then smiled at her. The tension he had seen melt away during dinner returned almost instantly, her shoulders tightening from his closeness. He wanted to put her at ease, wishing she did not dislike him so. He had rather enjoyed their conversation that evening and being able to gaze at her from across the table had made it all the better.
To call her beautiful felt like an injustice. She was more than that. Beauty felt so empty compared to what Miss Charlotte was. She excited him, both his mind and his body. She made the room feel somehow more alive than it would feel without her, and it sent his imagination reeling with inappropriate images.
“You need not worry,” he said in a low voice as he came up beside her. “I will not reveal our secret.”
She glanced up at him, and the sight of her eyes sent a tingle through him again. “You came dangerously close more than once,” she said.
He grinned, hoping his boyish charm showed through. “I know.”
As they turned into the corridor together, their shoulders brushed together. It was light, barely there, but Alexander shivered, imagining it was her bare flesh. She glanced up at him sharply as though he had touched her intentionally, but he pretended as if it hadn’t happened, and she continued walking.
She made him feel young. Light. Like none of his problems existed—or if they did, that he could manage them. That they didn’t matter compared to being in her company. That there was more to life than worry.
“But I was only teasing. Stewart and Lady Chelsea could never possibly guess the truth, no matter how close we came to mentioning it. And correct me if I am wrong, my lady, but I am certain I saw you stifle a laugh once or twice.”
She stuck her nose into the air, as if refusing to give him an answer. He smirked, knowing he was right. He supposed he deserved that, too, and there was something in her haughty expression that set his heart racing again. It was like she was daring him, teasing him, drawing him in.
