This Duchess of Mine Read Free

something else. But meanwhile you will freeze.”
    â€œFreeze?” Jemma stared down at the chemise gown.
    â€œThere is nothing more unattractive than flesh dimpled with cold,” Corbin said flatly. “And the king’s fête takes place on his yacht. On the river. Unless you wish to spend the evening inside longing for a fireplace and a woolen shawl, you should wear the green gown. Which, by the way, is gorgeous.”
    â€œBut—”
    â€œAnd not so desperate,” he continued.
    Jemma whipped around. “I am never desperate!”
    Corbin met her eyes in the glass. “Then why the desperation?” he asked gently.
    â€œI am not desperate. I am…”
    â€œInterested?” Corbin’s eyebrow rose, and his smile was so amused that she couldn’t help smiling back.
    â€œIn my husband,” she told him impulsively.
    She surprised him. He dropped into his chair with something less than his usual insouciance. “Your husband? Your husband?”
    â€œNo one else’s,” she said, adding, “I have never meddled with a married man.” It was a frail claim to virtue, but all she had.
    â€œI thought you had decided on Villiers,” Corbin said.
    â€œNo.” She didn’t say that it was a near miss.
    â€œYour husband . I don’t even have the faintest idea what to advise you. I am shocked. Husbands are so—so—”
    â€œUninteresting.”
    â€œOf course, Beaumont is all that is admirable.”
    Jemma sighed. “I know.” She picked up the chemise gown and held it against her body, looking in the glass.
    â€œEssential to the future of the country, from what I hear.”
    â€œTedious.”
    â€œI didn’t say that! He holds deep moral beliefs, of course.”
    â€œHe’s my opposite,” Jemma said dismally. She threw the chemise dress back on the bed.
    â€œHow clever of you to recognize it,” Corbin said.
    â€œLife is so much more interesting when people understand how angels and devils differ. I hear His Grace is most sincere in the House. You can—” He hesitated.
    â€œâ€”I believe you can trust everything he says.” He sounded horrified.
    â€œI know, I know,” Jemma said, sighing again. “He’s a veritable Puritan.”
    â€œWe need good people,” Corbin said firmly. “It’s just a pity that they’re so—so—”
    â€œGood.”
    â€œI expect I feel so only because I myself am quite errant. I have never considered taking a seat in Parliament. Everyone—but everyone —wears those snail wigs. The ones with small crustaceans ranked around the ears like soldiers on parade.”
    â€œI can easily imagine you in Parliament,” Jemma said, moving behind her friend so she could meet his eyes in the mirror over her dressing table. “You’re certainly more clever than most of them. I’d much prefer to see you running the country.”
    He laughed at that. “I hope we are not friends due to some hopeless misconception about my character, Duchess.”
    â€œWe are friends because you are funny,” Jemma said. “And because you tell me the truth if my stockings are at odds with my slippers. And because you gossip cruelly about everyone and pretend to me that you will never do so behind my back.”
    â€œIt’s not a pretense. I can have room for only onewoman in my heart at a moment,” he said, “and you are she.”
    Jemma bent and kissed his cheek. “We are admirably suited.” She sat back down next to him.
    â€œExcept you are so serious this evening,” Corbin pointed out. “So passionate.”
    â€œAre we allowed to be serious only about stockings?” she asked.
    He thought about that longer than she thought necessary. “I am quite serious about scandal,” he offered.
    â€œBut never about passion itself?”
    He wrinkled his nose but his eyes were