The Third Duke's the Charm by Emma Wildes Read Free Book Online Page B

lordship expects is a meek and grateful wife, that is not what he going to get.”
    That won a smile. “Excellent. I’m sure Lord Stockton would not embrace a timid wife.”
    “Yes, well, brave words,” Vivian had to confess, though the term
embrace
brought an interesting picture to mind that caused her cheeks to warm. “I doubt I am much of a match for Lucien Caverleigh, but then again, I am sure he isn’t quite used to someone like me either. I’m not one of the sophisticated beauties he is used to having on his arm, but I am not an ingénue either. I suppose we will have to come to some sort of treaty, as it were, to satisfy both sides.”
    A choked laugh ensued and Lily’s eyes were alight. “Marriage is not a military campaign.”
    “Until I know if he is the enemy or an ally, at this point, I think it is.”
    ***
    His fiancée wasn’t at home, and that was more of a disappointment than he cared to admit, not to mention that Lucien found himself instead facing Vivian’s mother in the drawing room, the experience setting his teeth on edge.
    Lady Lacrosse was all that her daughter was not: superficial, flighty, and socially ambitious.
    It would not do to alienate the woman immediately, but he was hard-pressed the moment she said with her hands fluttering theatrically over her teacup, “We are quite grateful, my lord.”
    “For what?” He couldn’t help but lift his brows. He didn’t need to question why she was beaming at him with that certain gleam in her eye. She was the epitome of the match-making mother who had finally netted her catch.
    “The proposal.” There was a delicately timed pause. “Vivian isn’t flirtatious and charming like many younger girls, but she is—”
    “Intelligent and beautiful.” He finished the sentence for her, glancing at the clock. “You do not have to sell me on her charms, my lady, for I offered in good faith and deserve no gratitude. Do you have any idea when your daughter might return?”
    “Actually no.” Still slender, attractive in middle-age, unless she opened her mouth in his opinion, she smiled but it was a little stiff. “I assure you she took her maid though, as a proper chaperone.”
    “I am hardly worried she will embarrass me by a lack of propriety. She is a very level-headed female in my opinion.”
    “Of course she is,” she said earnestly, completely missing the irony in his tone. “However, since we have this opportunity, can we briefly discuss the wedding?”
    “I am willing to do that, but shouldn’t Vivian be here?”
    “I’m afraid her tastes match mine only infrequently and we do want this to be a fashionable event, don’t we?”
    He fought the urge to rise from the brocade settee and exit the room at once. “I should think, as it is her wedding, she should be able to do as she pleases.”
    “I was thinking September.” She acted as if he hadn’t even spoken. “That gives me enough time to plan the wedding and for the guests to make the arrangements so they are free. Such a busy time of year.”
    He leveled a look at his future mother-in-law. “I was thinking three weeks from now.”
    Well, she’d asked him
.
    Her affronted expression provided some satisfaction, since she didn’t seem inclined to actually inquire of Vivian what she wanted. “I . . . we . . . couldn’t possibly plan a wedding on such short notice. Not one elegant enough to honor the heir to a dukedom.”
    “I prefer a modest affair. If I may presume to speak for her, I think Vivian would concur.”
    “Your father—”
    “Is not the one getting married.”
    “No, but such haste isn’t seemly nor is it practical.”
    “It is actually very practical because do you really expect me to wait that long?”
    “Until September? Are you really that anxious to be married, my lord? Most men . . . oh.” She broke off, finally getting the inference from his lifted brows.
    The sexual implication was clear enough Lady Lacrosse was speechless. Luckily, at