How to Dazzle a Duke (19 page)

If his involvement resulted in her being the Duchess of Edenham, did she really care if he made a wager about it?

“I never said I wanted to marry the Duke of Edenham,” she

said, still thinking it over furiously.

Iveston shrugged casually. “It was a logical deduction. And,

if I may say so, you do look at him with all the subtlety of a hawk

on the wing.”

At that remark, she very intentionally looked at Iveston with

all the subtlety of a hawk on the wing. Which apparently caused

him considerable amusement as he came near to laughing. Yes,

well, he could afford to laugh; he was going to be a duke, his

future secured.

“If I may say so, Lord Iveston, you are more astute than the

rumors indicate,” she countered.

The look that appeared on his face at that was completely

worth the breach of etiquette. With Lord Iveston, she had quickly

moved past every boundary of decorum. And he appeared

to enjoy pushing her beyond it. Strange to admit it, but she

was having more fun with Iveston than she had yet done in

Society. He was so easy to talk to, likely because he was so

peculiar.

“If I have convinced you I’m not a complete lackwit, then I

am satisfied, Miss Prestwick,” he said, grinning.

132 CLAUDIA DAIN

“Not a
complete
? My, you do have lower standards than what

I would have expected, Lord Iveston,” she teased.

“As I am to be a duke, I have great freedom in my standards,”

he said.

“And in your behavior, clearly.”

At which point, they stood grinning at each other. It was,

oddly enough, very nearly comfortable to be talking to Lord

Iveston, and she had never found anything at all comfortable

about talking to a man. It was quite a surprise.

“Now, have we parried enough? What do you say to my sug

gestion?” he asked.

“I say, Lord Iveston, that it would look peculiar indeed if you

were to wager that I will marry Edenham in this Season or any

other,” she answered. “First, it would alert Edenham to my inten

tions, which is never wise for a woman to do when dealing with

a man. You may well be the exception, but they are very skittish

as a general rule. Second, as you have spent a more than ordi

nary amount of time talking to me now, and then for the wager

to appear on White’s book, it would look very much as if I

had asked you to place the bet, perhaps with the hope that it

would force Edenham’s hand somehow. Or worse, that you had

found me very lacking indeed and were wagering on Edenham

taking up the challenge. Or yet again,” she said, growing quite

breathless as the possible outcomes spun out before her, “that you

and Edenham had some sort of wager as to whom would escape

the net of Penelope Prestwick.”

“Miss Prestwick,” he said, laying his hand upon her arm. The

strangest warmth, soothing and calm, flowed through her. “Stop.

There is no need to drive yourself into a frenzy. I shall not wager

such a simple thing if you feel so many ill responses could accrue

to you.”

“Thank you, Lord Iveston,” she said, staring up at him. He

How to Daz zle a Duke

133

was a very attractive man, wasn’t he? Quite tall and so very fi tlooking.

“Perhaps the answer is to wager on something else entirely,”

he said, smiling gently down at her. “I could wager that it is I who

will marry you this Season. That will throw the odds very much

in my favor as we both know you and I will not marry. I could

make quite a purse, once you break Edenham to the halter.”

“Lord Iveston! That is such an odious way of putting it!” she

said stiffly. “But it does make good sense,” she added with a grin.

“Of course, there is the question as to why anyone would believe

I would prefer Edenham to you.”

“You make a very poor liar, Miss Prestwick,” he said. “Your

very eyes proclaim your preference. You do remember the meta

phor of the hawk?”

“Lord Iveston, do not say I am so obvious in my interest. It

strips me of every notion I have of myself as a proper woman.”

“A proper woman is deceptive? Or is
devious
the word you

meant?”

“
Discreet
was the word I meant, Lord Iveston, as I am quite

certain you are aware,” she said, smiling with more pure enjoy

ment than she had ever yet done with a man. What was it about

Iveston that made her laugh? She wouldn’t have thought it pos

sible for an heir apparent to provoke such a response in her.

“Then we have an agreement, Miss Prestwick?” he said, his

eyes shining merrily.

She nodded. “You are to place your bet that you and I will

wed. I am assuming that men, being men, will cluster about to

see what you see in me and to perhaps beat you to the prize. It is

to be hoped that one of those men is the Duke of Edenham.”

“You shall not mind being . . .
clustered
, Miss Prestwick?”

Iveston asked softly. He seemed to put undue emphasis on the

word; she couldn’t think why.

134 CLAUDIA DAIN

“I think I shall enjoy it completely, Lord Iveston,” she said. “I

have watched it happen to other women and I think I can man

age it very well. After all, the gentlemen of the ton do know how

to behave around a woman of refinement, don’t they? I should

think it will all be good fun.”

“I do think I must remind you that you did just refer to your

self as a prize to be won. The rules of engagement are a bit dif

ferent in situations of that kind. You might ask Lady Dalby for

some help in learning how to handle yourself.”

She puffed out her chest. “Lord Iveston, I know how to handle

myself in any circumstance in which I find myself. I do not re

quire instruction. From anyone.”

Lord Iveston dipped his blond head down and looked at her

from beneath his pale brows. “Then, Miss Prestwick, let the

games begin.”

6

“I don’t care what you say. This game has gone on long enough.

I want to get home to my wife and play a game of my

own.”

When Cranleigh snarled in that particular fashion, it truly

was time to give in to him. Iveston was more than certain that

Amelia knew that quite well by now.

“Would you say I’d won the bet?” Iveston asked him as they

walked across the salon to Lady Dalby.

“All she did was talk to you. Once. She’ll need to do more

than that to convince me.”

“Convince you? It’s Mr. Grey I must convince, isn’t it?”

Iveston asked in a hushed undertone.

“You’re not leaving?” Sophia said as they stood before her,

making their bows. “So soon?”

“I’m afraid we must,” Iveston said. “A new husband. A new

bride. There are laws, I think, demanding adherence.”

How to Daz zle a Duke

135

“Demanding something,” Sophia said with a small smile.

She was standing alone near the front window, her white

dress nearly glowing in the candlelight and refl ected in the dark

panes of glass. She looked very mysterious, very separate, though

in a room full of people, Iveston couldn’t think why.

“You have been most kind, to allow us all to overrun you,”

Iveston said.

“I don’t feel overrun in the slightest, Lord Iveston. You

and your brother, all your brothers, are welcome in my home,

always.”

“And our cousins?” Cranleigh said. “It seems you know our

American cousins, Lady Dalby. How is that?”

“We shared a country?” Sophia countered, then laughed

lightly. “No, I don’t suppose that quite answers it. It’s not a

complicated story. Do you mean to say your mother never

told you?”

A moment of uncomfortable silence followed. It was not pos

sible that Sophia had not orchestrated it intentionally, a punish

ment of sorts. Iveston didn’t know her at all well, but even he

knew that Sophia was careful of her privacy and didn’t allow

intruders into the depths of her life. He hardly blamed her as he

was much the same way himself.

“She did not,” Cranleigh said.

“How odd,” Sophia said, then shrugged. “It is only that I was

in New York and needed passage to England. An Elliot ship

was in the harbor, your aunt made the arrangements, and voila,

I was on my way. Such a lovely woman, very much like your

mother, but then, you know that.”

It was perfectly plain that Sophia was not going to say another

word on the subject, that she was aware that their mother had said

nothing to them about it, that their aunt had said nothing to

them about it, and therefore, she saw no reason to say anything

more about it. Which of course only proved that there was

136 CLAUDIA DAIN

some secret to the whole affair; and Iveston, for perhaps the fi rst

time in his life, was curious about things that had gone on before

he was born. Oh, he was as interested as the next man about wars

and kingdoms and all the important things that had fashioned

nations and treaties, but this was a very small thing. He had never

before been interested in very small things, such as those things

that involved his parents. It was particularly odd, almost a revela

tion of sorts, to think of his parents as having a history that did

not intimately involve him. He wasn’t sure he liked it.

“You and Miss Prestwick seemed to get on quite well together,

Lord Iveston,” Sophia said, changing the subject and proving his

point. “I had no idea you were so well acquainted.”

“We’re not, actually. She is a recent acquaintance,” Iveston

said.

“Kindred spirits, clearly,” Sophia said.

“We really must be going,” Cranleigh said, taking Iveston by

the arm.

“I do thank you most sincerely for the vase, Lord Cranleigh,”

Sophia said. “You Blakesleys are so very generous. I am so

appreciative.”

She looked quite genuine about it, which was almost touch

ing. Even Cranleigh looked somewhat emotional about it all,

which was so unusual an occurrence as to be remarkable.

“You’re very welcome, Lady Dalby,” Cranleigh said, tugging

on his arm again. It was most tiresome.

“You have plans for this evening, of course,” Iveston said.

“How nice of you to inquire,” Sophia said. “I do.”

Of course, nothing so simple that she should offer up her des

tination so that Iveston could follow her there and perhaps run

again into Miss Prestwick, Mr. George Grey somehow in tow.

This wager was becoming quite difficult to manage. He should

never have agreed to it. How was he to win if he could never get

How to Daz zle a Duke

137

all the participants in the same room? And he had to run over to

White’s tonight and get his wager there on the books. Small good

making a pudding of Penelope Prestwick would be if he had no

wager recorded on it.

“I fi nd myself open,” Iveston said as casually as possible.

“Really?” Sophia asked innocently. As Sophia was hardly an

innocent, it was entirely comical of her. “But then, you do have

the reputation for enjoying the quiet of Hyde House, feeding your

solitude.”

“I did think,” he said, ignoring Cranleigh’s rumbles of discon

tent, “that it was time I fed other needs, Lady Dalby. Perhaps

acquired a new reputation for enjoying different things.”

“Broadening your scope,” she said, nodding approvingly.

“How wise of you.”

“I don’t suppose you’d like to help me?”

“Lord Iveston! I am on quite close terms with your mother,”

Sophia said.

Iveston blushed. It was completely reprehensible of him, but

he did. “I’m afraid that’s not what I meant, Lady Dalby.”

“I don’t know whether to be relieved or not,” she said with a

half smile, teasing him mercilessly. “But what did you mean?”

“Iveston, we should leave now,” Cranleigh said at his back.

“Don’t worry, Lord Cranleigh,” Sophia said. “I shan’t harm

your brother a bit. Not even if he asks it of me. Not even if he

would enjoy every moment of it.”

Iveston did not blush. He grinned. It was a vast improvement.

It must have been that his mother was mentioned before; that

was the reason for his unmanly blush at Sophia’s first ribald re

mark. It stood to reason.

“Lady Dalby, may I confide in you?” Iveston asked. Cran

leigh made a sound; it might have been a moan.

“Please do,” she said. “I simply adore it when a handsome

138 CLAUDIA DAIN

man shares confidences with me. I am quite discreet. You may

trust me completely.”

Cranleigh definitely moaned. It was a most unpleasant sound.

He should give up the habit immediately.

“I have a wager in play, two actually, though both are

connected,” Iveston said. “May I ask your help in arranging

them?”

“I never like to get involved in a wager, Lord Iveston.”

Cranleigh snorted. It was an improvement, but a slender one.

“I do think wagers ought to play out without any interference,

don’t you?” Sophia continued. “How else is a wager ever to

be thought honorable if any sort of arrangements are connected

to them?”

“Oh, please,” Cranleigh said under his breath.