How to Beguile a Duke (Entangled Scandalous) by Ally Broadfield Read Free Book Online Page A

tiara if and when it becomes an issue. Until then, do we have an agreement?”
    She cast her eyes upward. “I suppose so.”
    Though he had no idea what possessed him to treat her as an equal, he reached to seal their agreement with a handshake.
    “Are you going to hand it over now?”
    She was tenacious. He’d give her that. “It is not on my person. We’ll have to return to the house.”
    Catherine kept up a steady barrage of chatter for the entire walk back to the house. “How did you find it?”
    “While organizing the books in the library.”
    She snorted. “You mean the great duke actually condescended to organize his own books? Don’t you have servants for that sort of thing?”
    “I am very particular about how my books are arranged and prefer to do it myself.”
    He pulled the door open and waved his hand for her to enter before him. He ought to set her straight about how she was speaking to him, but surely she would discover this on her own as soon as she reached town. There were few members of the ton who would tolerate her lack of deference.
    They proceeded to the library. Nick strode to his desk and unlocked the drawer where he stored the journal. The wooden box that held it had been a gift from his father, the only one he had ever kept. It seemed appropriate to use it to hold a journal detailing the sexual exploits of a married woman. He lifted the journal, but hesitated to unwrap it from the oilcloth and hand it to Miss Malboeuf. Surely she was an innocent, and it gave him pause to think of her reading it. Would she find it intriguing, or would she shrink away in fear? On second thought, he couldn’t imagine her shrinking away from anything. She appeared to view life as an adventure. Surely her mother was aware of the contents and still sanctioned her trip to London to retrieve it.
    A shadow fell over the journal as she moved in front of the desk. “I thank you for taking such care to preserve my great-grandmother’s journal.”
    “All books deserve deferential treatment, regardless of their contents.” He removed the cloth and ran his hand over the surface of the leather-clad journal before passing it to her. “Remember our stipulations. You will keep me apprised of your investigations, and the journal is to be returned to me before you leave to go back to the Americas.” Hopefully his ploy to distract her with journal would meet with success.
    A dazzling smile transformed her face. Had her eyes been so green earlier? “Thank you for refraining from referring to my home as the colonies. And also for allowing me to have the journal. I shall uphold the terms of our agreement.”
    He cleared his throat, giving himself time to recover from the surprise of her genuine gratitude. “You are welcome.” Despite her behavior, he didn’t doubt her pledge to uphold their agreement.
    She cast her eyes to floor, then raised them to meet his. “Once again, I would like to offer to purchase Walsley Manor.”
    “And once again, I refuse.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the desk.
    “I won’t stop asking.”
    “And I won’t stop refusing.” There were no circumstances under which he would agree to sell Walsley. “It seems we are at an impasse.”
    She put her hands on her hips. “If it is a matter of the price, you needn’t worry. I am authorized to spend any amount necessary to secure the property.”
    There didn’t seem to be any way to make the stubborn woman understand, and he would not share his personal history with her. “It is not a matter of money. This is my home and it is not for sale.”
    “But—”
    “Miss Malboeuf.” He released a huge sigh before he could prevent himself. The woman brought out the worst in him, which wasn’t surprising given her infuriating persistence. “I have already made it abundantly clear that I do not intend to sell Walsley. Not to you or anyone else.”
    As he studied her, he thought about the breeches she had worn under her gown, the arch of