Ruin Me Please (18 page)

Parker’s lips twisted.  “I agree.”

With a look of
contrived
puzzlement, Seymour said,
“By the way, why would she need to talk, Durham?
”  Seymour gave him a wicked grin.  “She’s magnificent.
  Surely you can find something else more agreeable to do with her?
”

“She is that,”
Peyton agreed.

“
There are so many great things to do with a mouth, why waste it on talking?  She’s a
fetching piece of baggage
,” Seymour
teased
,
dusting a non-existent speck
of dust from the arm of his
blue
coat of Bath superfine
.
“
Talking is
so
overrated anyway.”
He elbowed
Parker as he looked at Durham.  “Didn’t you give your latest mi
stress her
cong
é
?”

“Now who’s being an
ass?
”  Durham
chided
,
frown
ing
at Seymour
.  “There is no reaso
n to be crass about the lady.”

“Pardon me
, just trying to lighten the mood.”  Seymour
flashed a vague
smile
, shrugging his shoulders
.

“I draw the line on anyone seducing any of the virgins or servants under my roof. 
Cu
r
rently I am
talking to you
,
Seymour
,
” Parker commanded.  “That
goes for you as well,
Hawk
,
”
h
e rei
t
erated with a chuckle.

“Whoa,
w
hoa,
h
old on a minute
. 
Hawk
?”  Durham wiggled his
brown
brows suggestiv
e
ly.  “Ummm…who are you trying to seduce?”

“Can’t you hazard a guess?
”  Seymour chuckled.
 
“
I saw that look you gave Poppy.  Is there something we shou
ld know about?”  Seymour looked intently into Declan’s eyes
.

“
P
oppy
!
”  Durham and Peyton shouted looking at each other
and then glancing over at Hawksley
.

Declan grimaced,
walking to the liquor cabinet to refill his tumbler
.  “I
just met the girl this morning.
”  He turned back towards his friends.
 
“
Let me get to know her first
before you have us married off.
” 
He took a
large fortif
y
ing gulp.

“I thought we were not going to discuss marriage anymore tonight?”  Parker smirked.

“Gentlemen
,
” Seymour
called with a devilish grin. 
“
Are we going to play or what?”

No sooner met but they looked;

No sooner looked but they loved;

No sooner loved but they sighed;

No sooner sighed but they asked

one another the reason;

No sooner knew the reason

But they sought the remedy;

And in these degrees have they made

a pair of stairs to marriage.

As You Like It

*William Shakespeare

“
F
inley
?”

“Yes
,
Your G
race
?”  Finley
questioned.
S
mall in stature
and persnickety to boot
,
he
ha
d
been D
e
clan’s valet for
fifteen
years
, ever since he was just a boy.  He
knew everyt
hi
ng there was to know about His Grace
and prided himself on
having such a pleasant looking specimen
to
care for
.  He certainly
did
not want to dress a corpulent man with heavy jo
wls. 
Heaven forbid
.
He shu
d
dered
on that thought
.

“You’ve known me for quite some time, Finley and I value your opinion greatly.” 
Declan
k
new he was an attractive man, but he took great j
oy in flustering his valet.
“Do I look old to you?” 
He glanced to the
left and
to the
right in the mirror, furrowing his brow.

“
Your G
race
?” 
Finley’s eyes widened with surprise
at
his
master’s
line of questioning.

“No apparent reason
,
mind you, I’m jus
t curious
.
”
H
e continued
to glance
back and forth. “I have not grown
fat
,
have I?”
He turned around and peered over his right shoulder at his r
e
flection
of his backside
in the cheval mirror.

Offended at this line of questioning
, Finle
y’s shoulders went rigid.  “
I beg your pardon, Your G
race
, I
would nev
er allow you to let yourself go.
”

“And I appreciate your diligence,
”
Declan
remarked easily
but finding it very difficult to repress a smile
.

Finley’s chin lifted with pride.

“I think I
’m still quite attractive.
  I mean
,
I have not had any complaints.”  Fishing for compliments, he watched Finley out of the corner of his eye.    “
However,
I
have
been out o
f s
o
cie
ty for some time
now, the tastes of marriageable ladies could have changed
considerably since my last foray into Society
.
”

“
Your G
race
,
I would never indulge in idle gossip
, especially pertaining to you.
”
 

“I appreciate your discretion,” Declan interjected.

“
H
owever, since you are showing such concern over your person I would be happy to r
e
lay
what I have heard below stairs.” 
He looked
around as if he would be overheard. 

Declan’s brow lifted. 
“
I would never think so little of you
to believe you spend your i
m
mensely valuable time gossiping over something as trivial as my appearance
, Finley.”

“It has been bandied about that you are a well sought after bachelor per the marriage minded
ma
mas
,” Finley spoke with a conspiratorial undertone.

“That is only because I am a
d
uke now
,” Declan observed.
 
“
My looks are of little i
m
portance.  I could be
one hundred
years old with no teeth and never bathe for God’s sake and be popular with the marriage minded mama
s.
”  He snorted
inelegantly
.  “Why my character could be black as tar.  I could drown kittens in a burlap sack
twice daily and be popular with the marriage minded mam
a
s because I am a
d
uke
.
”

“Well then
,
”
Finley blinked
, “e
ven if you were not a
d
uke,
Your
G
race
,
”
h
e g
enuflec
ted
facetiously.
  “No doubt.”

“I think
it
is high time that I marry.” 
He s
crunched
up his face in the mirror.  
If he had to go down, it was going to be on his own terms. 
Squaring his shoulders he continued,
“I do have obligations as the
d
uke.  In fact, I have just decided to take a bride
,
” Declan voiced aloud.  “My time of mourning is over.  I
t is high time I started
filling my nursery
with squalling infants.”  H
u
mor lit his eyes as he fi
n
ished

Pleased at the news, Finley gushed
,
“Are congratulations in order,
m
y lord
?” 

“
Not yet,” he
murm
ured
.  A faint smile curved Declan’s mouth as
he adjusted his cr
a
vat.
 

***

Declan stopped as he descended towards the dining room
when he heard loud voices at the bottom of the stairs.  Quietly glanc
ing over the handrail, he noted a heated argument b
e
tween
Durham and Lady Shef
field
. 
Not meaning to intrude and not wanting to inte
r
rupt, he paused on his way to dinner
.

***

“Why do you delight in
vexing
me?” 
Freya demanded
, staring at him as if he had lost his senses. 

Durham winced. 
“I can
not
fathom
why you are so
cross
with me?” 
He
countered
.

“No inkling?” 
She crossed her arms over her chest.

He could tell by the flush on her cheeks that he had struck a sensitive nerve. 

“I daresay it meant
so little to you that you would be able to easily erase the insignif
i
cant moment from your mind.
”
Freya sniffed. 

Durham blanched, slowly dragging his hand
through his hair, but forced himself not
to respond rudely.  “I think you had best elaborate.”
He adopted a lazy smile. 

“
You kissed
me, remember?
”  Her eyes snapped.  “And yet you have the nerve to pr
e
tend that you do not understand my cool greeting.  You kissed someone else later that same night.  You are the one who behaved outrageously
.
  Of course
, you
would think that so uni
m
portant
.
  Your inability to see your actions in my anger astounds me
.
”

A
muscle worked in his jaw.  “Your naiveté is charming
,
”   Durham
drawled.
  “It was one simple kiss
.
  I had no idea that I had to report my every mov
e
ment to you anyway.”
  He studied his fingernails as if admiring a recent manicure.

Freya stiffened, aghast at his response.  “How are you able to say that to
me
?
”  With a suspicious hitch in her
voice,
she said weakly
,
“But of course you would say something so
a
b
horrent
.”  S
he shook
h
er head
in exasperation.
“You have no heart.”