Daring To Love The Duke's Heir. Janice Preston

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СКАЧАТЬ and allow your brother to be his own man.’

      Her lips parted as she inhaled. Her breasts rose, drawing Dominic’s gaze like a lodestone. His pulse quickened and his cravat suddenly felt too tight. The room too warm. He swallowed down his reaction even as he acknowledged that Liberty Lovejoy’s natural, curvaceous femininity was more attractive to him than any of the painstakingly elegant ladies of the ton. He could never act upon such attraction, however—as the sister of an earl and a lady, she was off limits other than for marriage. And she was definitely not marriageable material. Not for him.

      He had sworn at his mother’s death, when he was eight years old, that he would do his duty and make her proud of him.

       Never forget, Avon—you will be the Duke one day. You must never bring your heritage into disrepute. Make me proud, my Son.

      He’d spent his life striving to fulfil her expectations. He had never felt good enough for her while she was alive—other than that one hint of affection he had glimpsed from her, on the day she died—but now, this Season, he would finally prove to her that he was worthy. Besides, it was what was expected of a man in his position, and he owed his father that much, too. His bride must be perfect in every way: bloodlines, upbringing, behaviour.

      And Liberty Lovejoy fitted none of those requirements. Not one.

      Unsettled and irritated by his visceral reaction to this woman Dominic lowered his gaze to where her hands were gripped together in her lap, her kid gloves stretched taut over her knuckles. He choked back his exasperation. It was not Liberty’s fault he found her so...enticing. Her distress at her brother’s behaviour was tangible and the urge to comfort her took him by surprise. He softened his tone.

      ‘What your brother is doing is not so very unusual, Miss Lovejoy. Most young men on the town for the first time behave somewhat recklessly. But they soon settle down and I am convinced your brother will, too.’

      ‘But I must stop him before he squanders his entire inheritance.’

      ‘Are his debts so very ruinous?’ He would have thought Wendover’s estates were wealthy enough, even after the disaster of last year’s harvest.

      Liberty’s lips pursed.

      ‘I am certain you are right, my lord.’ Hope smiled at Dominic and fluttered her lashes. ‘As you might guess, my sister does have an unfortunate tendency to imagine the worst. We do not know the scale of his debts as Gideon, quite rightly—’ she cast a quelling look at her sister ‘—refuses to discuss—’

      ‘He is out until all hours and sometimes he does not come home at all.’

      The words burst from Miss Lovejoy as she swept her hand through her hair, scattering hairpins and leaving bits of hair the hue of dark honey sticking out sideways from her scalp. Two locks unwound to drape unnoticed over her shoulder.

      ‘And when he does, he is so...so distant. So secretive.’ Her voice rang with despair. ‘We have always shared everything, but he will not confide in me...the tradesmen haven’t been paid...there is a stack of bills awaiting his attention, yet when I begged him to pay them, all he would say is that he must pay his gambling debts first as a matter of honour. He lost two hundred pounds at hazard last night. Two hundred!’

      Her horror at such a loss was clear, but her words convinced Dominic that she was worrying over nothing. Her lack of understanding of the ways of the aristocracy was hardly surprising when she had not been raised in such circles.

      ‘That does not sound so very bad to me.’

      ‘Not so very bad? Two hundred pounds?’

      He’d intended to reassure her. Instead she was looking at him as though he’d suddenly sprouted a second head.

      ‘Well, no. The Earldom of Wendover is a wealthy one with properties in Buckinghamshire and Suffolk, if I remember rightly. It can stand a few losses at the gaming tables. I am convinced you are worrying over nothing, Miss Lovejoy. You will see. Your brother will eventually settle down.’

      ‘But...the tradesmen. Gideon flatly refuses to pay them. He says they can wait. He never used to be so...so careless of other people, but whenever I remonstrate with him, all he will say is that is how everyone in society carries on.’

      Dominic shrugged. ‘Many do.’

      He did not do that himself. Neither did his father. But he could not deny that many gentlemen considered tradesmen to be at the bottom of the list of debtors to be paid.

      ‘It is your brother’s prerogative to pay the tradesmen who supply your household as and when he chooses, just as it is the tradesmen’s prerogative to cease supplying such late-paying customers if they choose. In my experience, most tradesmen elect to continue enjoying the patronage of their aristocratic clients for the prestige it brings them.’

      ‘That is appalling.’

      He agreed. It was one of the many habits of the higher echelons of society that he disliked, but he would not admit as much to Miss Liberty Lovejoy as she sat on his father’s sofa passing judgement. She seemed determined to believe the worst of his world, including blaming his brother for her brother’s misbehaviour.

      ‘Can you not ask your brother to stop encouraging Gideon? Please, my lord.’

      Dominic passed one hand around the back of his head, massaging the tight muscles at the top of his neck. ‘Even if I were inclined to speak to him on this, I can assure you Alex would likely do the exact opposite of what I asked of him.’

      And, now he came to think of it, that was no doubt the exact reason Gideon was behaving as Miss Lovejoy had described.

      ‘Perhaps if you trusted your brother to make his own decisions instead of—how did you put it?—remonstrating with him, he would mend his ways that much sooner.’

      Liberty surged to her feet.

      ‘So it is my fault, is it, Lord Avon?’

      Dominic didn’t answer, distracted by her curvaceous figure as she paced the room, her skirts swishing. She really was magnificent.

      ‘If you would do me the courtesy of replying to my point?’

      Her voice dripped sarcasm. Furious with himself for ogling her in such an ill-bred manner, Dominic blanked his expression and calmly met her glare. If looks could kill, or even maim, then he would be prostrate on the floor even now. The impulse to prod her further was irresistible. He raised one brow in deliberate provocation.

      ‘You may have noticed, my dear Miss Lovejoy, that calmness, elegance and poise are three of the qualities most desired in the young ladies of our world. There is a very good reason for that and I would advise you to nurture such traits in your own behaviour.’

      Her eyes narrowed. ‘What do you mean?’

      ‘Only that too much vigour and...er...passion are not the done thing, you know.’

      He smiled kindly at her as she continued to look daggers at him.

      ‘You, sir, are no gentleman.’

      ‘I am merely trying СКАЧАТЬ