No Duke Will Do - Eva Devon Page 0,2
was beautiful. Just like one of the paintings or statues her father had collected over the years in their great house in the country.
It seemed wrong, that sin should be so beautiful, that the devil should come in such a guise, but here it was.
And perhaps that’s why so many were tempted, but she would not be enticed by Richard Heath, not as her father and all the people in this dratted, horrible place had been.
No, she was here to come to an arrangement.
Somehow, even though she knew she was the least experienced, she was going to come out the victor.
Of that, she was certain. For, the alternative was unthinkable.
“Come along, then,” he all but purred. “I’ll take you to my lair.”
There was something dramatic in the way he said it, that made her laugh. It was no nervous laugh, either. But a full one, as if the audacity of the moment had overcome her and she’d entered new waters of tenacity within herself.
“Do you find me funny, Lady Mary?” he queried.
“I think you are making fun of me,” she said. “And you do not expect me to recognize it.”
“Make fun of a lady?” he drawled, his eyes widening with feigned innocence. “I could never do such a thing. You’re born to such a grand station, and I, I am so terribly low. I could never deign to tease you.”
And at that moment, she absolutely knew he was bemused by her. He thought her absurd. Well, she was about to show him exactly what she was made of, just as he had suggested.
“I will not be laughed at,” she stated seriously.
“Won’t you?” he challenged softly. “That’s the only thing I can see to do with you. For in this life, Lady Mary, a bit of laughing, is the only way to get through.”
“I shall get through it with my dignity intact, if you don’t mind.”
“Most ladies who come here do not leave with their dignity intact,” he warned.
She shuddered at that.
What was he suggesting?
Was he going to have his way with her in his office?
There was nothing menacing about him at that moment. She should have been afraid; she knew she was risking a great deal. He might indeed force himself upon her.
Richard Heath was a notorious man, but either she came here to bargain with him, or she’d be forced to lay in his bed every night.
The idea was shocking, but it was also the truth.
And as she peered at him, she wondered if the ladies who lay in his bed enjoyed it. It was a thought that never should have occurred to a young woman, but it did nonetheless, for that was what was proposed to her.
Her father had made it absolutely clear that she would marry this man, whether she willed it or not. . . But she had other ideas.
Chapter 2
Richard Heath loathed most ladies. Fools, the lot of them. Or at least, that had been his experience until recently.
He opened the door to his office and ushered this young lady in.
Oh, he knew ladies. He’d met many of them, but none like this.
He was struck by the absolute understanding that, like her father, Lady Mary was no usual human being. Only, her father was the worst sort. Heath had no idea what sort she was, but she certainly was no silly miss.
No silly miss would have dared come to the East End of London and slip into his gambling club with the intention of seeing him.
Very few ever actually got to enter into his inner sanctum.
He was astonished he was allowing it at all. He should have had the footman shunt her off, but he’d been intrigued, something that didn’t happen often these days. And so, he’d slipped up behind her, taken her measure, and decided to discuss whatever it was she had come to propose.
He strode into the room easily, letting her follow and take in her surroundings. He poured himself a brandy, poured another one, and offered it up to her.
She eyed it and shook her head.
“You’ll need it,” he said.
“It is not necessary for one to imbibe to act,” she replied. “I’d like my wits about me.”
“Clearly,” he said. “But it will ease your nerves.”
Her brow furrowed with the arrogance of her class. “My nerves are just fine, thank you very much.”
He swallowed a laugh. “You look like a rabbit about to be eaten by a wolf.”
“What a terribly unflattering description,” she said.
He eyed her up and down. Confident or not, she