The Duke Conspiracy Read Free Page B

handsome
he looked as he maneuvered expertly amongst the dancing
couples.
    How was it possible that she was left
standing on the sidelines when so many other ladies were dancing
holes in their slippers? she thought with a twinge of desperation.
This had never happened to her in Vienna, she thought with wistful
longing. In Vienna she had been, if not the belle of every ball, at
least rather highly popular. Here in London she knew almost no one.
Of course, she had made a few friends in the weeks they had been in
residence, but it was not at all the same as the tight community
the expatriates had formed in Vienna. She fervently hoped some of
those old friends would soon turn up in the capital.
    She was lost in happier recollections when a
deep voice pulled her from her distraction. “Miss Smythe? Might I
have the pleasure of your company for the next dance?”
    Blinking in surprise at the gentleman before
her, Rose drew a momentary blank before recognition dawned on her.
“Lord Dunbar?” she asked as she dropped a brief, hasty curtsy
before her face bloomed into a smile she struggled to prevent
turning into a grin. “I would be delighted to partner you in the
next dance.”
    “I was wondering if you perhaps had an
injury,” the viscount commented, causing Rose to look at him in
question. “I have not yet seen you on the dance floor this
evening,” he explained. Rose could see from his contrite expression
that he regretted his choice of words, but her own face felt like
it was flaming with her embarrassment so she was unsure how to set
him at ease.
    “I am new to Town, my lord, and do not know
many people,” she tried to excuse.
    “I wouldn't think that would much matter,” he
replied, still confused. “A beautiful young woman such as yourself
very rarely finds herself standing with the chaperones.”
    “I have not yet been presented in the Queen's
Drawing Room, so that could account for it,” Rose tried to put a
brave face on it. She was torn between feeling flattered over his
compliment and being irked that he was harping on her lack of dance
partners.
    Rose was almost amused by the viscount's
confusion and his look of chagrin as he began to realize that he
should never have pointed out a young lady's identification as a
wallflower. He tried to turn the matter into a jest. “Did you do
something particularly scandalous while in Vienna?”
    Rose looked at the viscount sharply as she
felt the heat rise once more into her cheeks but she refused to
allow him to get a reaction from her. Keeping her face as straight
as possible, she allowed one eyebrow to inch toward her hair line.
“Not that anyone ever found out about.” She turned the veiled
admission into a sly jest.
    Lord Dunbar threw his head back and chuckled
loudly, causing heads to turn in their direction. Rose struggled to
maintain her composure despite her fierce desire to rebuke the
viscount. She could hear her mother's words in her mind— don't
make a scene.
    “Come along, miss, our dance is beginning. Do
not mind the busybodies staring. You will have to grow accustomed
to it, as I am quite certain you are about to become a popular
young woman.”
    Rose stared at the viscount, shocked at his
apparent arrogance. “Just because you have paid me a bit of
attention?” she asked, incredulity coloring her surprised
tones.
    “No,” he declared with disgust, “because you
are a taking little thing and everyone will soon discover that for
themselves.”
    Rose managed to keep her mirth contained to a
delicate, low chuckle but inside she was full of gales of laughter
and she was sure it was written all over her face. Her breath
caught as she noticed the look of appreciation on his face . Was
it possible the viscount was about to set up a
flirtation with her ? she wondered. His next words
disabused her of that idea.
    “How is it that you have not yet made your
curtsy to our Queen? Surely you were not that far behind us in
age,” Lord Dunbar probed.
    “You