Rules to Catch a Devilish Duke by Suzanne Enoch Read Free Book Online Page A

test.”
    And she was more gracious about her present circumstances than the very well dressed Eustace. It was damned charming. “Not for money. If I win,” he said slowly, considering, “you will owe me … a kiss, at the time of my choosing.” It seemed rather juvenile, especially for a duke of his reputation. But at the same time it seemed important that he give her the opportunity to refuse him. Now. Because otherwise he had the distinct feeling that he would be kissing her, regardless.
    She eyed him for a moment, her lips pursing thoughtfully. “And if I win?”
    Hm. He hadn’t thought about that. “If you w—”
    “If I win,” she interrupted, “you will owe me a kiss at the time of my choosing.”
    “Then you may break, Sophia.”
    “Thank you, Adam.”

 
    THREE
    “Mrs. Brooks, you truly don’t need to help me dress,” Sophia commented, frowning. “I’ve seen to myself since I was six years old.”
    “His Grace said that you’re to have a maid. And I’m the one who’ll be assisting you. Stop squirming now, dear.”
    With a sigh, Sophia stopped wiggling and instead faced the tall dressing mirror in her large private bedchamber. The deep green silk gown looked completely impractical for the cold weather of Yorkshire, but then she imagined the assemblies here were as stuffy and close as they were anywhere else. And actually she didn’t much care if the gown might be inappropriate for cold weather. It was lovely.
    Dark green lace turned the round neck into a pretty V -shape, while more lace flared out from the half-length sleeves. “I feel like Juliet Capulet in this gown,” she said. “I had no idea the assemblies here were so fancy.”
    “It’s a bit much for a solicitor’s wife, isn’t it?” Mrs. Brooks agreed. “But it fits almost like it was made for you. Lady Wallace won’t be able to say anything against your attire, that’s for certain.”
    “Just the rest of me.” The general disdain with which the world at large viewed her had truly never troubled her—until the moment a fortnight ago that the Duke of Hennessy had arrived at The Tantalus Club to deliver his terms for her surrender. And so tonight she would pretend to be proper and regal, because it amused her to do so. She might have agreed to her father’s demands—he’d left her no alternative—but before January fifteenth she meant to do as she pleased. And that had seen her to a grand holiday in Yorkshire.
    “Don’t you mind that. I’m a housekeeper, Sophia. If the master of the house comes calling, there isn’t much a girl can do against it. And none of it’s the babe’s fault, for heaven’s sake.”
    Evidently the story of her birth had traveled as far as the servants in Yorkshire households. Turning around, she gave the housekeeper a hug. “Thank you, Mrs. Brooks. I never expected to hear that here.”
    “I’m just thankful that if only one guest is to be at Greaves Park, it’s someone pleasant, and not one of those fribbery females Udgell said would be descending on us. And us having to be so pleasant to all of them, as one of them will be His Grace’s choice for his duchess.”
    That sounded like the beginning of a very interesting tale. “What do you mean?”
    “Oh, we’re not to discuss it.” The housekeeper leaned closer. “But His Grace needs to marry, or he’ll lose most of his properties. He made a list of females he thought might suffice, and invited them all to holiday at Greaves Park. He means to choose one of them to be his bride.”
    Sophia’s heart thudded in abrupt, surprised, hope, until reality crashed back around her ears. He’d invited her to Greaves Park as a kindness to a friend. She was not a marriageable female. Not to a duke. No amount of cursing or wishing would alter her circumstances.
    Interesting as this conversation was, though, whatever effect the lovely gown was meant to have on her host’s reportedly frowny sister would be negated if she was late to dinner.