Duke of Disrepute (Dukes of Distinction #3) - Alexa Aston Page 0,63

Right in her husband’s presence. Even the Duke of Disrepute had some rules he lived by, Elise. Discretion was one of them. I never considered her for a lover. In fact, I have never spoken publicly about any woman I’ve bedded. It’s my one-time lovers who weren’t as discreet and made public our liaisons.”

“I suppose it’s a good thing you haven’t slept with my sister-in-law,” she said lightly. “Although not from lack of trying on her part. You might want to emphasize to her again that you are looking for a wife this Season.”

He smiled, his even, white teeth gleaming at her. “I’ll do so.”

Leading her to the carriage, he handed her up and joined her, sitting across from her in-laws.

“We’ve never been in a ducal carriage,” Lady Ruthersby fawned. “It’s so very plush.”

“Thank you. I quite like it. As to this evening, I thought we should have supper together. Unless you have made other plans?”

“No, none,” Lord Ruthersby confirmed. “We would be delighted to dine with you, Your Grace.”

Weston turned to Elise. “That means you should reserve the supper dance for me since we’ll all sup together.”

“That’s not necessary,” she told him.

“Yes. It is.”

“Then I will save it for you, Your Grace.”

The rest of the ride was taken up with the countess chattering nonstop. Elise stopped listening since her sister-in-law never directed a question to her or ever included her in any conversation. Instead, she enjoyed the nearness of Weston. They sat close together, the right side of his body pressed against the entire left side of hers. He radiated heat, which filled her. With every breath, she caught the whiff of his cologne and that beautiful, masculine scent that was all him. She wondered if dukes smelled better than other men.

They arrived and went through the receiving line. He was doing a good job of including the Ruthersbys, both tonight and in the past few weeks. The four went to join the Colebournes in the ballroom.

A footman handed Elise a programme and Weston promptly took it, scrawling his name by the supper dance. Then he wrote his name again beside the last dance and returned the card to her.

“You can’t do that,” she said quietly. “Scratch through your name.”

“Why?”

“Even the former Duke of Disrepute must know if he dances with a woman twice, it indicates his interest in her. We don’t need to set the tongues of the ton wagging on the very first night.”

He shrugged. “I merely thought it would be easier to locate you to go home if we danced the final number together.”

She gave him a pointed look. “I won’t be that hard to find.”

“Look at it this way. If a duke is interested in you, it will cause other eligible men’s interested to be piqued. I am doing you a favor by dancing twice with you.”

“You have a ready answer for everything, don’t you?”

“I like getting my way. And crossing my name out seems so . . . gauche.” He looked around. “Ah, here comes the horde. I will introduce you around but you’ll need to decide which men to accept as partners. The way you look tonight, you really don’t need my help at all.”

Quickly, Elise was surrounded as Weston made introduction after introduction. The names and faces blurred. She hoped by engaging gentlemen as partners that she would get enough time with them to distinguish them from one another—and see if they were husband material.

As her dance card quickly filled, she leaned to him and said, “You need to go find your three lovely ladies and sign their programmes before it’s too late.”

Weston grinned. “It’s never too late for a duke to request a dance. I will do as you ask, though.” Then he winked at her, causing laughter to bubble from within her as he sauntered away.

Chapter Twenty

Weston did as Elise had requested and found the ladies she had recommended to him. All three were very attractive. Two were widows in their mid-twenties and one of them had a daughter. The third candidate was making her come-out but she had a maturity about her that most young women didn’t share. They eagerly made room for him on their programmes. He decided to dance the first three dances of the evening with them in order to be free the rest of the time.

To watch Elise.

The ball opened and he partnered with a widow first, a brunette with lively brown eyes. The second dance was with the other widow, a blond with a