The Duke's Dilemma by Nadine Miller Read Free Book Online

as family finances were at too low tide to worry about outfitting someone with no social status and no hope of gaining any.
    The dress Emily chose was a cream-colored silk with long sleeves to which Maggie Hawkes had added a burgundy overskirt. The color combination and fabric were more suited to December than May and the décolletage , which had been modest on Lucinda’ s diminutive bosom barely managed to cover Emily’s more generous endowments. The only thing to be said for Lucinda’s cast-offs was that they were of a more recent vintage than the threadbare garments she herself had brought from the West Country.
    All things considered, Emily had fervently prayed she would not be expected to dine with the invited guests, but Mr. Rankin had insisted she was expected to join the duke’s table. Interpreting her reluctance as dismay at being thrust into a level of society far above the one she normally moved in, he had assured her, “You have no need to be nervous, Miss Haliburton. I shall instruct the housekeeper to seat you next to me so we may continue this fascinating discussion on Mesopotamian legends.”
    Now, waiting for her aunt and cousin to complete their toilettes, she found herself hoping that Mr. Rankin would not be put in an embarrassing situation by befriending her if the handsome brigand she’d crossed swords with that morning did indeed turn out to be the Duke of Montford playing at being one of the common folk.
    She could just imagine the cut direct such a man would give a little nobody who had dared call him a…looby for heaven’s sake.
    Her pulse was still fluttering wildly when thirty minutes later a footman led them to the Grecian salon where the guests had gathered before dinner. Emily immediately espied Mr. Rankin conversing with the Earl of Chillingham, a veritable peacock in orange and blue satin, and a handsome man in elegant black, whom she recognized as Beau Brummell—the commoner whose caustic wit and flair for fashion had made him a favorite of both the ton and the Prince Regent.
    The three blond ladies who aspired to the duke’s hand were dressed, like Lucinda, in virginal white. As a result, Lady Sudsley’s red-haired daughter, in pale pink with tiny pink roses threaded through her auburn tresses, looked entirely unique. Lady Hargrave’ s ponderous bosom heaved with agitation. “We are undone by that shrew, Lady Sudsley, and her brazen off-spring,” she moaned to the earl.
    “Never so, madam.” The earl’s eyes held a malicious gleam. “The chit has no chin. She may be appealing straight on; from the side, she looks like a chipmunk. Not at all the thing for a fellow as particular as Montford.”
    Emily barely had time to digest this enlightening bit of information when a footman opened the door and the Duke of Montford, flanked by his two elderly maiden aunts, made his entrance. Like Mr. Brummell, he was resplendent in black satin with pristine white linen, but even the elegant Beau paled before the imposing splendor of the tall, regal duke.
    All conversation instantly ceased.
    “Good evening. I trust you are all settled comfortably in your respective chambers.” The duke’s rich voice echoed in the silent room, and a chorus of eager assents rose from the people ringing its perimeter. How clever to hold this first reception here, Emily thought, noting the huge circular divan in the center of the room which forced the guests to line up along the walls for the duke’s inspection.
    She watched him progress from one group to the next, chatting briefly with each and raising his quizzing glass to peruse each of the young ladies offered up to him with the same concentration she’d seen potential buyers inspect the horses for sale at a country fair. Any moment now, she expected the arrogant coxcomb to ask to see their teeth.
    She was so incensed by this display of autocratic insensitivity she forgot her nervousness and before she knew it, the duke was approaching the Earl of