No Duke Will Do - Eva Devon Page 0,32

to give a cut better than anyone, and she quite liked him, for he did not try to pander to her or make her feel as if she was a silly miss.

“Do I, indeed? The lemonade must be particularly tart this evening,” she replied with forced ease.

“Perhaps you should try the wine,” Drake drawled. “Young ladies aren’t really supposed to, though.”

Drake paused. “Your brother looks most happy in the arms of Lady Harriet.”

“Doesn’t he?” she agreed, a true smile tilting her lips.

“Do you think there shall be a wedding in a few weeks’ time?” Drake asked.

“I do hope so,” Lady Mary returned.

“And that would be a boon for you, would it not?” Drake observed.

She swung her gaze to his perfect face. Shocked. “I beg your pardon?”

Drake glanced at her, askance. “Well, then you wouldn’t have to trounce about all these gatherings, looking for a husband of your own out of necessity. You could understand you didn’t have to worry about the certain necessities of finance.”

It was so odd for the ton to speak of money that she was almost certain she’d misheard him.

“Don’t dare deny it,” Drake said, arching a brow.

“Oh, I shan’t,” she assured, feeling suddenly tired. “At least, not to you.”

He gave a saucy grin. “Oh, I’m someone you can be honest with, am I?”

“Mostly honest,” she granted. She drew in a long breath as she surveyed the room. “Everyone is staring,” she pointed out. “Me, standing here, speaking with you.”

“It’s because I’m a duke,” he proclaimed, accustomed to being stared at.

“Of course, it is, but my brother is a duke.”

“Yes, but they think you might marry me,” Drake teased.

“Never!” she protested, fighting a laugh. Drake was not the marrying sort. He’d made that clear to her family over the years. And care for him as she did, she couldn’t imagine being wed to his quipping, icy person.

“True,” he agreed. “You and I would suit terribly.”

And it was true. Drake was sardonic. He had a wounded soul. She could tell that from the dark shadows in his eyes, which he tried to hide. She knew him better than most. He’d been coming to their family for years. Invited by Rob, he’d spent several Christmases with them, and she liked him quite well. He was a friend to her brother in a time when her brother needed friends.

“Do you think Rob shall be able to climb out of the hole he’s in?” she asked.

Drake peered down from his substantial height. “How very direct of you, Lady Mary. I do think so. As a matter of fact, I think he’s almost entirely out of it, and Lady Harriet is going to pull him the rest of the way, will he or nil he. She seems most determined. I think she’s absolutely in love with him.”

“You too are so blunt and bold,” she exclaimed, whipping open her fan.

“You love every bit of it,” Drake teased with a wink.

“I do,” she agreed.

He turned to her. “You wish to be just as blunt and bold, don’t you?”

She gasped. “How could you possibly know?”

“I see it in your eyes,” he said. “You’re not given to silliness.”

“Thank you for noticing,” she said ruefully.

“But what are you doing, then, dancing with all these silly fools?” he challenged, folding his hands behind his back.

“They’ve written their names in my dance card, and so, I must,” she pointed out with a sigh.

“No,” he countered rather strongly. “You mustn’t. You can do whatever you damn well please, you know?”

“I cannot,” she protested. “I am merely a lady, a lady who is the sister of a duke, who was the daughter of a duke, and is about to likely be freed from ruin.”

“Financial ruin that is,” he said. Something danced in his eyes just then.

She gazed at him. He was so bloody intractable.

Did he know something?

Was there some way he might’ve gathered that she was not at all interested in any of the men about her? “Are you suggesting I live as a spinster?”

“You, a spinster?” he scoffed. “I can’t see it. You’re not that sort of young lady. I can’t see you running off to a nunnery on your knees, praying to God every night.”

“Oh, I do pray,” she said wearily.

“Oh, I’m sure you do.” He rolled his eyes. “But I can’t imagine you living the cloistered life, and I certainly can’t imagine you married to one of these fools, either.”

“What can you imagine?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“I can imagine you married to someone who will challenge you and