Tall, Duke, and Dangerous (Hazards of Dukes #2) - Megan Frampton Page 0,4

have an opinion about dust, because she wasn’t aware it existed.

But even if her status was suddenly elevated, she was not.

If only her half brother, Sebastian, had remained as the duke she would have been far more comfortable. But Sebastian was not the rightful duke, not since it was discovered that the late duchess—in this particular case, the dastardly duchess—had lied about her relationship to Ana Maria’s mother. When it was revealed that the two duchesses were sisters, not cousins, it had invalidated the second marriage because English law forbade marrying the sister of one’s dead wife, making Sebastian a bastard, so the title went instead to their cousin Thaddeus.

Thaddeus was kind, in his way, but he wasn’t Sebastian. Ana Maria had only wanted to become a lady because Sebastian had seemed to want it for her so desperately. And now that he was established in his new life with his new lovely wife, it all seemed so pointless.

But it wasn’t as though she could toss off her elegant clothing and grab an apron and pretend things hadn’t changed.

They had. This room, redecorated to her taste and overflowing in flowers from potential suitors, proved it.

She liked the flowers—even if some of them made her sneeze—but she did not appreciate the attention. The gentlemen who sent them would never have noticed her when she’d been wearing her apron, and she knew full well why they were noticing her now. Thaddeus, continuing what Sebastian had promised, had bestowed a generous dowry on her, one that was drawing all of Society’s eligible bachelors like—like ants to sugar.

“What are you thinking about then, my lady?” Jane’s voice said, interrupting her thoughts.

“Flowers, ants, and sugar,” Ana Maria replied, snorting at her own words.

“It’d be better if you were thinking about your suitors and which one of them you’ll decide on. I like the looks of that earl’s son, Lord Brunley. He’s quite handsome and has nearly all of his teeth.”

“High recommendation,” Ana Maria replied drily. “So I can look at him while he chews.” Is that what marriage was? Dearest, let me pop that toast in your mouth as I gaze upon you.

“What else is there to require in a husband?”

It was unfortunate Jane asked so many questions. So many questions Ana Maria could answer, but not to anyone’s satisfaction but her own.

What else is there to require? A kind soul, someone who would listen and care for her? Someone who would want her, not the daughter and cousin to a duke with a fortune?

How would she be able to tell if a suitor truly cared for her? Someone who would ask her why she was thinking about flowers, ants, and sugar instead of regarding her with a horrified look because she wasn’t thinking about proper ladylike things?

Someone tall and protective and solid.

Someone very like—no. She could not finish that sentence, not even in her own mind.

She’d rather die by sneezing than admit to her own interest. If Sebastian, or Thaddeus, or worst of all him, at all suspected she harbored a secret fascination for a certain tall, grunting gentleman with a penchant for frequent pacing she would be completely mortified, and it wouldn’t do any good anyway.

He treated her as a sister, and not even as a much beloved sister. More like a forgotten sister who was only noticed when she was a nuisance. And since Ana Maria was so well behaved, she was never noticed. Not by him, anyway.

No. Better to consider the gentlemen who were now noticing her. Or even better, figure out something that didn’t involve gentlemen or marriage so she could at least be satisfied in her own life, even if she ended up alone.

There was a knock at the door, and then it opened, revealing the butler, who always seemed as though he were disapproving of Ana Maria.

Or that could be her imagination.

“My lady?”

“What is it, Fletchfield?” Jane answered.

The butler gave a slight frown, indicating what he thought of Jane’s presumption.

“Miss Octavia Holton is here to see Lady Ana Maria.”

Ana Maria smiled. “Please see her in, Fletchfield. We will take tea as well.” Miss Octavia was Sebastian’s young sister-in-law, and a welcome addition to Ana Maria’s acquaintance, though their ten-year age difference made it seem as though Ana Maria was Octavia’s older sister. Until Octavia, Ana Maria hadn’t had any friends in her new world, and the friends from when she was a drudge all treated her differently now.

Even Jane.

That was one of the reasons she’d refused to hire