The Clarendon Rose Read Free

behaved shamefully.
    She waited to be put in her place.  
    But the duke merely glowered at her.   Then, one corner of his mouth rose in what Tina could only describe as a sneer.  
    “A palpable hit, Miss Merriweather.” He inclined his head.   “Such incisive honesty is commendable.”
    He glanced away from her, directing his attention to the fireplace, his expression distant.   She found herself unable to look away from the burnished, male beauty of his face.
    Then, he nodded slightly, as if he had reached some sort of decision.   He gave her a tight smile.   “And so it is that you have the advantage of me.”
    “How so, Your Grace?”   His smile made her feel short of breath, even though it was hardly more than a cynical twist of his lips.  
    “Please sit,” he said, his tone oddly gentle as he gestured at the chair she had previously occupied.   She had little option but to comply.   “You are correct in observing that I have little idea of what has gone on here in my absence.   Perhaps you would be willing to help in that regard by telling me something of your attachment to my brother—and of his to you?”
    Tina swallowed, unsure of what to say.   She suspected that the duke was really asking her to defend the impending union—but how could she, when she had every intention of ending it?  
    “Well, Your Grace…”  
    He grimaced as she hesitated over how to continue.
    “All these ‘Your Graces’…”   He shook his head.   “Tell me, Miss Merriweather, how did you address my father?”
    “From the time of my arrival, he asked that I call him Uncle Charles, because my mother was…”
    “Yes,” he agreed when she trailed off.   “The sister to my father’s first wife.   You may feel free to speak it.   I do not have my mother’s sensitivity to the past.”
    “Evidently not, Your Grace.”
    “Which brings me back to my point quite neatly.”   He settled in a chair opposite hers.   “The ‘Your Graces’ get rather cumbersome, and I still have some difficulty in accustoming myself to the title.   If we’re to be family, I’d prefer you dispense with the formalities and call me Clarendon.”
    “Clarendon?”   Tina felt a strange flutter at the thought of using such intimate address with this disturbing man.  
    He nodded, his expression grave.   “And no more ‘Your Graces’ if you please.   Now, pray continue your account.   I apologize for my interruption.”  
    She looked down at her hands, only now realizing how tightly her fingers were interlaced.   Forcing them to relax, she drew in a deep breath and summoned a smile for the duke.  
    “Edmund and I have been very close from the time I moved here,” she said, trying to keep to the truth without revealing anything that might lead to further questioning.   “But, it is only recently that he came to regard me in the light of a potential spouse.   I, in turn, have loved him very deeply for many years.”  
    As the brother I never had, she amended silently, trying not to wince openly at her prevarications.
    Like smoke, the silence drifted between them for a few moments, before dissipating when he cleared his throat.   “I see.   So the match has been undertaken out of deep, mutual regard?”
    She nodded, looking down at her hands once again.   “That is my understanding, sir,” she replied, unable to make herself call him Clarendon.
    “And my brother is currently away on an errand, is he?”
    A fool’s errand.   But aloud, she said:   “Yes, sir.   I’m not certain when he will return.   His mother seemed to feel it important that he set out immediately.”   So I would have no further opportunity to work my evil wiles upon her poor, hapless son.
    “So I understand.”   He spoke so dryly that she looked up in surprise.   His mouth had lifted in another of those cynical smiles, and again, she found it extraordinarily difficult to look away from him.   He ran a hand through his dark