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The Duke of Villiers’s eyes were a chilly blackish-gray, the color of the evening sky when it threatened snow He didn’t look like a man with a sense of hu to me? Aren’t you--" She turned "Oh!"

Chapter Two

The Duchess of Beau to suppress her laughter "Good evening, Lady Eleanor And Lady Anne, though I reallyeverywhere for the two of you May I present to you His Grace, the Duke of Villiers"

"Your Grace," Eleanor said, sinking into a deep curtsy before the duchess Anne gave soa "And Your Grace" Eleanor curtsied again, this time before the Duke of Villiers

Like herself, the duke had eschewed the coa, presumably with the sa Instead he earing a coat of heavy, brandy-colored silk The cut was simple, but the e his buttons and around the henificence

"Lady Eleanor," Villiers said He looked at her fro for a moment on the curls next to her ears A blaze of humiliation went down her spine, but she raised her chin If the duke wanted nobility, she had it Elegance, no Blood, yes

When Eleanor had fixed on the idea of insisting that shea potential suitor She had intended her proclamation to reach the ears of one duke--a h he had been untrue to her, she would hold true to hiy that had hurt no one but herself, obviously

The Duke of Villiers was altogether a different order of duke from Gideon She had not knoould never have been able to iance and carelessness It wasn’t the silk embroidery, or the sword stick, or the careless power about hiined the pure rawlook in his eyes, the jaded lines around his mouth, the width of his chest

If Gideon looked like a prince in a fairy tale, Villiers was the tired, cynical villain ould try to usurp the throne

"I gather that you heardme about ize if you felt your consequence reduced by comparison to Mr Hendicker’s sow"

"Oh, Villiers never experiences such aard e

"I wasstupider than an oyster," Villiers said He had a deep voice, the kind that made Eleanor instinctively wary It wasn’t the voice of a man who could be led; he would always lead "How does one deterence of such a silent creature?"

"Oyster is Eleanor’s puppy," Anne put in

"In that case, it would depend on Oyster’s breed," Villiers said "Unless you have a pet poodle, I am fairly sure that I exceed expectations on both counts"

"I can also assure Lady Eleanor that you never sh to overlook that in a spouse," the duchess said with a giggle "Now if you’ll forgive hter; the poor dear hardly knows a soul in London And you e and the wonderfully successful season you’ve had…" She drew Anne’s ar her aithout further farewell

"It appears that we are both looking for the sa," Villiers observed