When Seducing A Duke by Kathryn Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

damn either lady. I do not wish you to turn down an invitation on my behalf, but neither would I have you attend a gathering that would make you anything less than comfortable.”
    Rose looked away, returning to her previous shyness—avoidance. “They only invited me so they could ask about you, I’m sure.”
    “Rose,” her mother chastised. “That is quite ill natured of you.”
    The young woman shrugged gently rounded shoulders, hugged snugly by her dark blue day gown with crimson piping. “Be that as it may, Mama. It makes the statement no less true. I do not wish to be social with any lady, no matter how grand, who could be considered capable of such vileness.”
    Grey could kiss the chit senseless for her misguided allegiance. She might be all righteous indignation on his behalf, but he’d deserved what had happened to him that night. In fact, that incident had changed his life forever, and for the better he believed.
    There were those who thought he shunned society out of humiliation or fear. People who thought he could not bear to face them with his “pretty” face not so pretty anymore, but that wasn’t true. Grey no longer went out in society because he despised the ugly lie of propriety and civility that lurked beneath the surface. He avoided society because it disgusted him.
    “You’ve a great deal of honor and nobility in you, Rose,” he said—to the side of her head since she wouldn’t look up. “You remind me of your father in that way.”
    She looked up at that—a glimmer of tears in her big brown eyes. “Thank you.”
    Charles Danvers had been the best of men, but he’d no head for business or money management, like many of their class. That was what led to his undoing. Years of free spending, on himself, his wife, and his precious daughter led to a slow downfall. Grey had been just as ignorant as anyone else, since Charles never said anything. So when ruination struck, it struck hard.
    Poor bloke never recovered from it.
    Grey continued to hold Rose’s gaze, fairly drowning in the dark depths of her large eyes. How long they stayed as such he had no idea, but when Camilla cleared her throat, he knew it had been too long.
    “I’ve never had a chance to properly thank you for all you’ve done for us, Your…Greyden.”
    “My dear madam, that is quite unnecessary.” It might sound as though he was merely being polite, but it was true.
    “Still,” Camilla pressed on. “Your kindness to Rose and me…sponsoring Rose for the Season…I can never thank you enough.”
    Grey’s gaze flitted to the young woman sitting silent and pink-cheeked at the desk. “Seeing Rose happily married will be thanks enough.”
    Camilla chuckled with happiness, as any mother would at the thought of her daughter’s marriage. Rose, however, went from flushed to chalk-pale in seconds. She looked at Grey as though he’d punched her.
    “Not that my wants should be a consideration in your quest for a husband, Rose.” It occurred to him that a goodly portion of London society might be present at Rose’s wedding. It also occurred to him that she might be embarrassed to have him, a scarred, masked freak there as well.
    It also occurred to him, like a well-aimed kick to the head, that the idea of watching Rose marry anyone was something he looked forward to about as much as he would castration.
    Possibly less.
    He cleared his throat, aware now that there was a strange silence in the room. “You may take your time in your search. I will see to your comfort for as long as necessary.”
    “Oh!” Camilla gasped, hands pressed to her generous bosom. “You are all kindness, sir!”
    Grey managed to flash a tight smile before returning his attention to her daughter, a girl who took up way too much of his thoughts as it was.
    “Have you any traits that you require in a husband, Rose? I might know some gentlemen who would please you.” None half so much as he would like to please her. None who would kneel down