How to Dazzle a Duke Read Free Page B

“I am afraid I can think of nothing, Lady Dalby.”
    “You have reached your majority?”
    “I have. I was twenty-one in February.”
    “You will wish your father’s consent, however, will you not?”
    “I would,” Miss Prestwick said softly. “I confess to have given
    no thought to an elopement.”
    “And I should not think it will come to that, so give no thought
    to it now,” Sophia said. Truly a remarkable girl, quite the most
    composed and straightforward girl of the Season. “Your father,
    Viscount Prestwick, should be involved in this, do you not agree?
    It is very much to be desired to have one’s parent fully engaged in
    the marital dance. He wants you to marry well, I assume, so he
    can have no qualms about your seeking aid from someone reliably
    able to induce events to take the required turn, can he?”
    “Can’t he?” Miss Prestwick asked in answer, her dark eyesglittering in suspicion. “Do you want something of my father,
    Lady Dalby? I can assure you that he has nothing you might
    want.”
    How to Daz zle a Duke
    13
    Charming. This was going to be a pure delight.
    “But, darling,” Sophia cooed, “that is flatly untrue. I’ve yet to
    meet a man who has nothing I might want. I want so very many
    things, you see, and yet not a one of them a duke, at least for a
    husband, so we shall not be in any competition on any item that
    truly matters. A most important point for allies in arms, wouldn’t
    you agree?”
    “In arms, Lady Dalby?” Miss Prestwick said with a sharp
    smile. “Shall it come to that?”
    “Dukes do not come easily, Miss Prestwick, and very rarely
    do they come willingly.”
    “Perhaps I will surprise you and be the exception, Lady
    Dalby.”
    “Darling, you are already the exception, and perfectly de
    lightful because of it. Now, shall we not trade your exceptional
    qualities for a dukedom? Is that not a fair trade?”
    “And what shall we trade for your aid, Lady Dalby? What
    does Prestwick have that you could want?”
    “He’s a man, darling. He must have something .”
    “He has no wife, Lady Dalby,” Miss Prestwick said stiffl y,
    rearranging herself slightly.
    Sophia laughed lightly, nearly mockingly. “Darling, can you
    possibly be insinuating that I am in need of a husband? And your
    father that fortunate man?”
    Miss Prestwick said nothing. She did not look pleased, though
    neither did she look entirely insulted. Such a remarkably com
    posed girl. Would it even take a week to see her married to her
    duke? How to get the bet on White’s book was the question. She
    had quite used up the Marquis of Penrith’s usefulness there.
    Oh well, there was always some man or other to do whatever a
    woman required of him, which was really so pleasant of them.
    “I merely made an observation, Lady Dalby, not an insinua
    tion. You do not wish to marry?”
    14 CLAUDIA DAIN
    “I have married, Miss Prestwick. Once is suffi cient.”
    “I daresay I do agree with you there, Lady Dalby. Done well,
    once should be more than suffi cient.”
    A heart like a diamond, had Miss Prestwick. Quite a rarity in
    any woman possessed of less than thirty years, and not even
    common in women above forty. Of men and the softness of their
    hearts, it was nearly impossible not to be crass and observe that
    they were entirely both more romantic and more self-serving
    than should have been possible. Which brought her thoughts
    round to the Viscount Prestwick again.
    “Miss Prestwick, I hope I shall not embarrass you by remark
    ing that you are quite the most sophisticated woman of your
    years and station that I have had occasion to meet. It is such a
    relief to know that some women are still capable of being both
    reasonable and well-informed about the state of things in general
    and men in particular.”
    “Thank you, Lady Dalby,” Miss Prestwick replied cordially.
    “I have observed that there is far too much emotional distur
    bance and far too little intellectual calculation in Society.