My Fair Duchess (A Once Upon A Rogue Novel Book 1) (24 page)

“How long have you been standing there?” Amelia asked again. She simply had to know.

Colin shrugged. “Long enough to know you harbor false hopes.”

“Aversley!” Lady Langley cried out.

Amelia kept her attention trained on Colin. “Which part is false, Your Grace?”

Colin yanked on his cravat as he stared at Amelia. Her hands were on her hips, and she had a challenging glint in her eyes. By God, she was already changing his views on women. Or at least one woman―her. But that did not mean he wanted any part of love or that he would share any of this with her. “Likely both, but most definitely the latter. However, I did not come here to talk about me.”

He strode across the room and gave his aunt what he hoped was a stern look of warning. He did not like that she had tricked Amelia into spilling her secrets while he was standing there, though he had to admit hearing Amelia say she thought he was kind, good, and generous pleased him. In fact, it pleased him more than it bloody should.

He had never been close to his aunt, but he knew she had never approved of how his mother had treated his father, and that simple fact alone made him like her and had caused him to think he could trust her not to meddle in his affairs. She never had before.

Glancing between his aunt and Amelia, he said, “If you are done discussing me, I’ve come to collect Lady Amelia to take her shopping for gowns. She only has two nights before her first ball, and she needs to be properly outfitted.”

“You’re going to take her shopping?”

He chuckled at the disbelief in his aunt’s voice. “Yes. To Bond Street. I’ve scheduled an appointment with Madame Laurent.”

Amelia gave him a puzzled look. “But if we go to Bond Street together, even with my lady’s maid as chaperone, won’t people whisper that there is something between us?”

“They will,” he replied, watching her face. “That’s part of my plan, Lady Amelia. The gentlemen will want you because it seems I do. We men are simple creatures. We always want what we think we cannot have.”

Amelia rose slowly and faced him. “I only care if one man wants me, and as long as you’re certain of this plan I will go along with whatever you say.”

He grinned wickedly and held out his arm to her. “You’ve no idea how I’ve dreamed of a lady telling me she’d go along with whatever I say.”

Amelia smirked at him. “I’ve no doubt you’ve met plenty of women willing to do exactly as you bid, but let me clarify that my willingness to act like an eager puppy extends only so far as the boundaries of decorum allow.”

“I do so like you, Lady Amelia,” his aunt said with a snicker. “You’re feisty.”

Amelia inclined her head toward his aunt, but Colin caught the mischievous twinkle in her eye. When Amelia slipped her slender arm into his, Colin was struck with how right it felt to hold her so near. “Incomparable women don’t adhere to the boundaries of decorum, my dear. That’s what makes them unique. And when I am finished recreating you, you will be in a class of your own.”

Amelia snorted.

“Personally,” his aunt said from behind them as they strolled toward the door, “I don’t see that there is any need to recreate Lady Amelia at all. From the short time I’ve spent with her, she seems perfect to me. A smart man will want her exactly as she is.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Colin said. “But the man she wants is a fool.” Amelia’s sharp intake of breath was not lost on him, but he did not say another word as he led her out of the house and into the awaiting carriage.

Several hours later, Colin sat in the world’s most uncomfortable chair, but that was not what had his anger mounting with every second that passed. Amelia had come out from the dressing room with at least twenty different shades of material draped cleverly around her, apologizing each time for how awful she looked. He had responded repeatedly that she looked lovely. It was true. Amelia could have been wearing a sack, and she would be ravishing. Why he had ever thought she needed a beautiful gown to enhance her already stunning appearance now mystified him.

Damn it all, he had contributed to her doubts about herself along with every other foolish gentleman she had come across.

Amelia strolled into the center of the waiting room, this time resplendent in azure. The color of the gown enhanced her eyes perfectly and left him speechless.

She eyed him, as did Madame Laurent who hovered behind Amelia. “Well?” Amelia said, repeating the same process she had been for the last two hours. “What of this color?”

“It looks perfect on you.”

“You’ve said that about every hue I’ve been draped in for the last two hours! I am sure I look inadequate. I always look wretched.”

“May I have a moment alone with Lady Amelia, Madame Laurent?” Colin asked in as steady a voice as he could muster with the anger at himself simmering within.

“But of course,” the seamstress replied and hurried to the opposite corner of the room to busily toy with swatches.

Colin rose, walked over to Amelia, and grasped her by the elbow to lead her to the looking glass. “You do not properly see yourself, Amelia,” he said staring at her.

She furrowed her brow. “I see perfectly fine, and what I see is tall, gangly and graceless.

He wanted to run the pad of his thumb over her skin and remove the lines of worry. Instead, he took a deep breath and continued. “The color of the gown does not make you beautiful, nor in truth, does the opulence of the material. It is correct both can enhance beauty, but unless beauty is there it cannot be revealed.” He gripped her shoulders and turned her until she faced the looking glass. “You already possess beauty. It’s here.” He brushed his finger down the silken skin near her shining eyes. “Real joy comes from your eyes. I also see beauty here.” He ran a finger perilously close to her full lips. “When you smile, it’s genuine.” The tremor that he felt course through her made him want to spin her around, tilt her head back and claim her delectable mouth for a kiss that would make her forget who the devil Worthington was. The problem was the kiss might make him forget who the devil
he
was.

Appalled at the desire she inspired in him, he forced it under control, inch by painful inch, until the detachment that had always been a part of his life when it came to women descended over him like a fog blanketing the countryside. He forced his fingers to release her arms and break the contact that made him feel tethered to this woman who was supposed to mean nothing to him. Yet, words that needed to be spoken still burned his throat. “Never forget that a dress cannot make you beautiful because you are already heartbreakingly so.”

Her mouth parted, but before she could say a word, he turned on his heel and stalked toward Madame Laurent. “Make her a gown in every color she wore for me today, but the first one must be made of the color she is wearing now. Have it sent to my aunt’s home in two day’s time.”

It was no surprise that Madame Laurent nodded vigorously. Colin had offered her a small fortune to assure him Amelia would have a new dress for her first ball in two days. He felt Amelia’s quiet presence behind him. The very air seemed to shift when she drew near. He turned to her. “If you’ll please go change. I have somewhere I need to be shortly. I’ll drop you off at my aunt’s.” He had absolutely nowhere to be, but he knew he needed to get away from her and clear his head.

As she wandered off to change, he paced the room, his mind turning. He was beginning to question his plan, his wager, and devil take it, his sanity. If Philip lost the bet, Amelia would be his wife, and that had previously been an acceptable outcome to the unescapable situation his father’s will had left him in. It had only been tolerable because he had assumed he would never have any feelings for Amelia other than indifference, as one has to a rather bland cup of tea. One drinks it because it’s there, but really, one could take it or leave it.

Except, damn his father, Colin
had
to take a wife.

What the devil was he going to do? He could find another wife. A dull-witted, ugly thing he’d never desire or think witty, but then he would be unable to help Philip, assuming Philip would even let him out of that part of the wager. Colin paused and placed his hands on the back of the settee, digging his fingers into the plush material. If Philip lost then that meant Amelia would have changed. Colin couldn’t stand the thought of that. He didn’t want to be right.

Suddenly, the room felt too small and hot. He felt as if he was going mad. He strode toward the door and threw it open with a bang. Gripping the banister, he took long measured breaths. If Philip won the bet, Colin had no doubt that Amelia would become Worthington’s wife, unless the man was a complete and utter fool, and as much as he hated to admit it, he didn’t think Worthington was that stupid.

What a bloody, impossible predicament he was in. The idea of winning the wager made him sick and the idea of losing the wager made his blood run cold. He didn’t know what the hell he wanted with the exception of Amelia in his bed, and that was the last thing he could have. At least, not yet.

The next morning, Amelia positioned the light-green carriage hat on her head. They had purchased it on the spot yesterday, and now she gaped at her reflection in the looking glass. Stepping back, she viewed herself in the carriage dress that had been quickly altered for her. An unstoppable grin spread across her face. If she had known years ago that taking extra care with her appearance could make her look passably pretty, she would have set her books aside and tried harder with her clothing and hair. She laughed. Her books had been her refuge when she was teased so mercilessly, so perhaps she had not been ready to set them aside until now.

Until
Colin came into my life
. She caught her breath on the errant thought.

Warmth blossomed low in her belly with the remembrance of Colin’s sweet words to her yesterday in the seamstress’s shop. The man had a way with complimenting her that made her think he actually believed the nonsense he was saying. She cocked her head and attempted to see herself as Colin had tried to paint her yesterday.

She widened then narrowed her eyes. They might be shiny, but she vowed one was slightly bigger than the other. She pursed her lips. He had said her smile was genuine, which made her beautiful. She had always considered herself sincere, but it certainly did not seem honest to dress in finery, bat her lashes, and brush herself against a man to get him to fall in love with her when normally she would do no such thing. Doubt seeped into her mind, not for the first time.

A scratch at the door interrupted further contemplation. “My lady, His Grace is here to collect you for your outing.”

Amelia rushed to the bedchamber door and flung it open. Whether the gown was hers under false pretenses or not, she did like it and could not wait for Colin to see her in it. “Thank you, Lucy. Are you ready to go?”

Amelia new lady’s maid nodded. “Yes, my lady.”

“Then come on. Let us see how the duke likes my carriage gown.” Amelia hurried down the spiral staircase without waiting for a reply.

As she neared the bottom, Colin looked up and his eyes lit, making Amelia grin. “You approve?”