The Duke Conspiracy (25 page)

“What are you doing?” Anne asked in a low but
urgent voice.

“I am looking for your happiness. Lord
Anthony is a kind, delightful young viscount who strikes me as a
likely candidate to make any lady a wonderful husband. And in any
case, it looks to me that he is a good dancer. If you do not think
he is a good choice for husband, you can at least enjoy being on
the dance floor.”

Anne looked a little confused over Rose's
managing ways, but could not argue with her logic. Rose felt her
amusement rise as she watched Anne muster up a welcoming smile when
the kind viscount arrived, looking at the two ladies
questioningly.

“Is everything all right with you two?” he
asked solicitously.

“All is well, thank you so much for asking,
my lord,” Rose replied briskly. “We just needed you to settle a
dilemma Lady Anne and I were having.”

Rose watched with delight as Anne looked at
her askance, but Lord Anthony bowed slightly. “I would be happy to
help in any way that I can,” he answered gallantly.

“I am rather embarrassed to admit to you that
we were discussing your dance skills, my lord.” Rose struggled to
contain her blush at this bold statement, but was amused to see the
stain creeping into the viscount's cheeks as well.

“My dance skills,” he repeated with surprise.
“Whatever for, Miss?”

“Because you are a delightful dance partner.
I was telling Lady Anne that I think you are better at the waltz,
but she was insisting that she thinks you are more skilled at the
country dances.” Rose paused, while her two companions looked
between her and each other. At the perfect moment she could hear
the orchestra striking up the next number. “How lucky is that? It
seems to me that they are about to play a waltz. Why don't you be a
dear and prove me right, my lord? Show Lady Anne what a marvelous
waltzer you are.”

Rose nearly giggled over the look of
incredulity that crossed Lord Edgecombe's face.
He is looking at
me as though I have lost my mind
, she thought, controlling her
expression with effort.
He might not be that far off from the
truth
, she answered herself as she watched him pull himself
together and reply diplomatically.

“I do not think I need to prove anything to
either of you ladies, but I would be happy to dance the waltz with
you, Lady Anne, if you would do me the honor of being my
partner.”

Blushing, Anne accepted before shooting Rose
a dubious look of censure which Rose chose to ignore, merely
grinning at the departing pair. At that moment, Lord Dunbar
appeared at her elbow.

“You look decidedly pleased with yourself,
Miss Rose. What have you been up to?”

Batting her lashes vigorously, Rose tried to
put a confused look onto her face. “I have no idea what you are
talking about, my lord.”

“That I sincerely doubt, my dear. But would
you do me the honor of dancing this waltz with me?”

“That would be a delight, my lord, thank
you,” Rose grinned at Wesley with pleasure.

As the strains of the waltz swept them into
the rhythms of the dance Rose happily followed the viscount's lead
while trying to ignore his searching glance.

“Is that your strategy then, Miss?”

With a soft sigh, Rose saw that the man would
not be put off, although she tried once more. “Whatever do you
mean, my lord?” she asked, with as much innocence as she could
muster.

Now Wesley could not prevent his chuckle but
he managed to contain it so as to not cause a scene. “You really
are a minx, aren't you? I can see now why Wrentham cannot get
himself to cut his ties with you despite the convoluted family
history.” Seeing the stricken look upon Rose's face, the viscount
hastened to make his apology. “Forgive me, my dear, that was
inexcusably crass.”

Rose managed to maintain her composure and
with impatience she waved away his apology and returned to the
subject she had previously been trying to avoid. Now it seemed like
a welcome diversion. “You were asking me about my strategy, my
lord?” she reminded him.

Grateful for the change of subject, Wesley
was quick to jump in. “Yes, it would appear that your plan is to
save the duke by means of diverting the lady's attentions
elsewhere.”

“You are only very partially correct, my
lord,” Rose replied primly before breaking into a smile. She could
not hold onto her offense with the pleasant viscount. “For one
thing, I am quite convinced that Alex is fully capable of saving
himself if the need should arise. But in this instance, I do not
actually believe that merely redirecting the lady's attention would
save him. It strikes me that there is more afoot than entrapping a
wealthy mate for Lady Anne, and I do believe she is as much a
potential victim as the duke. And I think she is a sweet young
woman who will be in need of a suitable mate if this situation goes
sideways, as it is sure to. I think Lord Edgecombe is a lovely
young man, who would treat her well. I merely thought to ensure
that the two of them have an opportunity to look at one another in
a different light. There is nothing quite like taking a turn on the
dance floor to the tune of a waltz to put one in a suitable frame
of mind.”

Now Rose could see the light of teasing enter
into Wesley's eyes. “Oh good, so does this mean that if I were to
approach your father, you would be amenable to my suit?”

Rose rolled her eyes drolly. “If you had been
trying to engage my interest, surely you would have seen fit to
direct the conversation into more appropriate avenues than
censuring me for my managing ways.”

Wesley was quick to protest. “I did not call
you managing.”

“It was surely implied by your questions, my
lord.”

Rose giggled at the look of confusion
covering the viscount's face and quickly gave way. “Never mind, my
lord, we are co-conspirators at the moment and that pushes all
other thoughts from our minds. You are perfectly safe dancing the
waltz with me, I shall not be misconstruing your intentions, have
no fear.”

Blissfully unaware of Wesley's conflicted
feelings, Rose was happy to finish the dance and return to the
sidelines. There she was handed off to another gentleman waiting
for her hand for the next song.

Feeling bemused, Wesley went off in search of
Alex.

“That chit is a menace, Wrentham,” he
declared without preamble after ascertaining that they were not
within easy earshot of anyone else.

“Who might you be speaking of?” Alex asked
absently.

“Surely you know full well of whom I speak.
Miss Rosamund Smythe,” Wesley declared with fervor, causing Alex to
look at him rather askance.

“What has happened?” Alex's concern was
clearly evident. “From where I am standing it looks as though she
is having a good time, dancing and visiting with her friends.”

“She has absolutely no idea of the power she
wields!” Wesley declared with conviction. “She thinks that because
we are conspiring there is no way I could possibly view her in an
amorous light.”

Alex could feel his features tightening and
tried to keep his tone unthreatening as he demanded, “Do you see
her in an amorous light?”

“No! Yes! That is hardly the point,” Wesley
replied hotly.

“Then what is the point, because I do not see
one clearly evident, my lord.”

Wesley must have realized the error of his
ways as he quickly backpedaled. “Do not get up in your high ropes,
Wrentham. I am not about to poach on your territory. I am merely
concerned for the both of you in this situation. She is a highly
attractive girl and she has no idea of that. I think that puts you
both in grave danger. Her heart is too tender for one thing. She is
feeling sorry for the Austen chit and wants to ensure she is well
matched before this situation blows up in our faces. Can you
imagine? She has no care for her own wellbeing, but she feels badly
that she is interfering with the lady's plans for you. She wants to
ensure the girl has a second option in place. She was playing
matchmaker just before I asked her to dance.”

Alex looked at his friend with confusion
clearly evident on his face. “And how does that make her a
menace?”

“She told me that she thinks the waltz is the
most romantic dance. That is why she wanted Edgecombe to dance with
Lady Anne for the waltz. But she thought neither she nor I were at
risk of warmer feelings because we are too involved in the
conspiracy to be so distracted. If that is how innocent she is, she
is at grave risk of getting hurt in all of this. Despite your
families' feud, the two of you are going to fall in love, and it is
going to be a big mess.” Wesley ended this statement with rather
melodramatic flare, which brought a reluctant smile to Alex's
face.

“It is a big mess already, so there is naught
we can do about that. But you are right, Rose is an innocent and
that does need to be kept in mind. I hold no ill will toward her as
a person, but her parents are another matter altogether. The words
that were exchanged when my brother died cannot be overlooked. For
Rose's sake I have resisted pursuing justice for my family, but
there is no way I can allow our names to be bandied about. I am
most certain she feels similarly on the subject, so I believe your
fears are not well founded. Was there anything else you wished to
tell me?”

Wesley looked at Alex, studying him to verify
the sincerity of his words. “I am just surprised to find that I
quite like the chit. From what I know of her parents, I didn't
think to like her.”

“Why not?” Alex was incredulous. “Just
because her parents are intolerable does not mean she has to
be.”

“It most often follows that way, does it
not?”

“I would like to think that I am nothing like
my parents,” Alex huffed.

“With that very look on your face, I am sorry
to inform you that you quite put me in mind of your father,” Wesley
barely managed to suppress the laughter that wanted to pour from
him at the look of disbelief that crossed the duke's face.

“I am nothing like my father,” Alex insisted,
feeling the color rise in his cheeks in his fierceness. “I often
wonder if the duke even was my father, if you must know.”

Wesley rolled his eyes. “There are many
things that can be said about both of your parents, but surely,
when you look in the mirror you must realize that, despite either
of their reputations, you are most certainly a legitimate
Wrentham.”

“Sometimes I wish it was otherwise,” Alex
sighed, but then allowed the subject to drop. Looking back to the
dance floor he smiled. “So Rosie is playing matchmaker now, is she?
I wonder if that is why her earlier dance partner went to dance
with that Chadwick chit after speaking with her. It is dashed
difficult to know what goes through a girl's head.” Alex shook his
head and Wesley couldn't help agreeing with him. “I just hope she
is not distracted from our ultimate mission here. While I would not
want to see Lady Anne hurt either, it is far from uppermost in my
mind at this point.”

“It seems to me that ladies are able to keep
more than one thing in their mind at a time. It is an admirable
quality, I must say. One that I envy them often,” Wesley commented
while Alex looked at him strangely. “What, Your Grace? Do you not
think it would be helpful when playing whist with the likes of Lord
Ashcombe?”

“I do just fine, thank you very much. I
certainly do not need the mind of a woman to keep track of my
cards. Nor do I think it an asset to keep so many things uppermost
in mind. It makes one easily distracted,” was Alex's final comment
on the matter, before he shook his head at his companion and bade
him adieu. “I must be off. I promised I would look in at
Worthington's rout this evening. And speaking of Lord Ashcombe, I
do believe I shall stop in at the club and see if my feeble brain
can manage a hand or two.”

Lord Dunbar pulled a face at his highborn
friend. “Mayhap I shall meet up with you there myself. It would not
do to allow you to be plucked too cleanly, if your mind should be
distracted by thoughts of our fair maiden.”

Alex's ready sense of humor prompted him to
laugh at his friend's gentle ribbing. “Mayhap I shall see you
there,” was all he had to say as he turned and strode from the
room.

****

“Your daughter does not appear to be keeping
up to her end of the bargain, Austen,” Sir Broderick was snarling
in a low voice.

“These things take time, my lord,” whined
Lord Austen. “My Annie is a good girl.”

“She should be making an effort to catch the
duke's eye and dancing with him, rather than spending the evening
with every other young buck there is.”

“Young girls get these ideas in their heads,
my lord. It takes a steady hand. Besides, catching a duke's eye
takes time,” Lord Austen was plaintive.

“It doesn't take more than a minute to catch
the eye of a red-blooded man if you know what you're doing,” argued
Sir Broderick. “What kind of ideas are you talking about?” he
demanded in a rough voice.

“Naught but young girls' fairy tales, my
lord, nothing for you to trouble yourself with. I will talk to her
some more and forbid her from talking with those other girls.”

“Which other girls?” Broderick persisted.
“And what ideas? You do not tell me what to trouble myself with. I
will be kept informed of every development.”

“She was visiting with some young ladies
recently and they were talking about making a love match. The chit
thinks she might be made unhappy if her husband discovers he was
tricked into marriage,” Austen excused.

Broderick managed to keep in mind that they
were in the ballroom of a fashionable, high society home with all
the
ton
about them hungry for any tidbit of salacious
gossip. He did not let loose with the tirade he wished to unleash
upon the feckless lord before him. Taking a deep breath to stem the
flow of words and think of the most effective way of handling the
situation before him, Sir Jason finally responded. “How did you
allow such an idea to take root in her head, Austen? You are not
keeping up your end of the bargain from what I can see. Your only
responsibility was to ensure your daughter managed to catch
Wrentham. It should have been an easy task.”