Some Like to Shock (Mills & Boon Historical) (Daring Duchesses - Book 2) (2 page)

She studied him for several long seconds. ‘It is a little … intrusive,’ she finally conceded abruptly.

‘Exactly.’ Benedict’s gaze continued to meet hers as he pulled down the last of the blinds. ‘This is much cosier,’ he murmured appreciatively.

‘Much.’ The coolness of her smile was belied
by the telltale rapid beating of her pulse in the slenderness of her throat. ‘Tell me, were you as surprised by today’s wedding as I?’

‘No,’ he answered unhelpfully; the confidences of the bridegroom were exactly that, confidences, and they would remain so.

‘Do you think—?’

‘No.’

Genevieve Forster arched red-gold brows. ‘You have not heard my question as yet.’

Benedict gave a hard smile. ‘It is not necessary when I have no intention of discussing the private business of today’s bride or groom.’ His gaze moved to the firm swell of her breasts as she drew in a deep breath. ‘That is a very pretty … necklace you are wearing.’

‘I—Thank you.’ Her gloved fingers instinctively moved to touch the sapphire as large as a robin’s egg nestling between her breasts. ‘It was a wedding gift,’ she added stiffly.

‘Obviously your husband was a gentleman of discerning tastes,’ Benedict murmured softly. ‘Both in his wife and the jewellery he bestowed upon her.’

‘You may choose to think that if you wish, Lucas.’ Genevieve’s voice had hardened to ice.

The sharpness of Benedict’s narrowed gaze returned to her face, easily noting the
twin spots of colour that had appeared in her cheeks and the angry sparkle in those beautiful blue eyes. ‘The duke was not a gentleman of discerning tastes …?’ he said slowly.

‘He was not a gentleman at all!’ she snapped scathingly. ‘And, might I say, Lucas, that if you invited me into your carriage with any intention of furthering our acquaintance, then I believe I must tell you that, by introducing the subject of my late husband into our conversation, you have failed utterly!’

Benedict’s brows rose at the directness of her statement. ‘Your marriage was not a happy one?’

‘Obviously not.’

Genevieve Forster was proving more of a distraction than Benedict would ever have guessed before engaging in conversation with her.

‘You did not find becoming a duchess suitable … compensation, for the duke’s deficiencies as a husband?’

‘I did not.’ Genevieve’s mood was not in the least lightened by the glint of humour she was sure she could now see in the darkness of Benedict Lucas’s eyes. ‘A word of caution, perhaps, for the next time you find yourself
alone with a lady, might be not to mention the woman’s dead husband!’

‘If I have offended—’

‘I am not offended, my lord, I am merely bored by this conversation.’ She turned to raise the blind beside her before looking out at the street below.

Benedict sat back in stunned silence for several long seconds, as he acknowledged he had never encountered a woman quite like Genevieve Forster before. For all that he was always discreet, Benedict had known a number of women intimately this past twelve years. Women he had desired physically, but had no interest in knowing in any other way, let alone any of the private details of the lives they had led before he met them.

His intentions towards Genevieve Forster had been equally dispassionate, in that it had been his intention to use a friendship with her, as he had others in the past, as a shield to his appearance in society. Benedict usually made a point of avoiding attending any of society’s balls and parties, and it was only when it was required, in his role as agent for the crown, that he deigned to accept any of those invitations.

For Genevieve Forster to so firmly express
her own lack of interest in continuing their acquaintance was galling, and yet somehow intriguing, at the same time. ‘Is there not some way in which I might redeem myself?’ he cajoled softly.

An irritated frown still creased her creamy brow as she turned to look at him. ‘I should tell you that I was married for six unhappy years and have spent the last year in mourning for a husband I thoroughly detested. As such I seek only adventure and fun in my life in future.’

Benedict had known of the huge difference in ages between the duke and his wife, but until now he had not been aware of the circumstances of Genevieve’s marriage to Josiah Forster. Now that he did, he could not help but wonder in what manner that marriage had been so unhappy. ‘And you believe me to be incapable of providing that adventure and fun?’ He arched dark brows.

‘Adventure of a kind, perhaps,’ she acknowledged in measured tones. ‘After all, you are known as the dangerous and elusive Lucifer.’

His brows rose. ‘Am I?’

‘Oh, yes.’ She nodded derisively. ‘But fun?
No, I do not believe so, my lord.’ Her smile was coolly dismissive.

Benedict’s irritation increased at that easy dismissal. ‘How can you be so sure of that without having spent any time in my company?’

‘I have spent the time of this carriage ride in your company, my lord.’ She eyed him haughtily.

‘And?’

She shrugged. ‘And that has been quite long enough to assure me that the differences in our natures would not suit.’

Benedict’s frustration with this conversation, with this woman, grew by the minute. ‘Will you be attending Lady Hammond’s ball this evening?’

She gave an elegant shrug. ‘I am undecided as yet between attending the ball or enjoying a private supper with the Earl of Sandhurst.’

‘You are thinking of supping with Charlie Brooks?’ Benedict sat forwards on his seat.

Those blue eyes widened defensively at his obvious disdain. ‘The earl is not only charming and affable, but also as handsome as a Greek god.’

The Earl of Sandhurst was all of those things. He was also known to be one of the
biggest lechers in London. Which no doubt perfectly suited Genevieve’s immediate plans for indulging in ‘adventure and fun’, following marriage to a man so obviously lacking in those attributes, a man she had bluntly stated she despised.

Could it be that Benedict’s own chagrin towards Sandhurst was irritation at being told he ‘did not suit’? Maybe a little, he conceded irritably. But really, to be passed over for that lightweight Charlie Brooks, of all men!

‘I have an engagement earlier in the evening, but the two of us could have a private supper together later tonight if that is what you believe you would find adventurous and fun?’ he heard himself offering.

‘I think not, but thank you for asking,’ Genevieve refused coolly.

‘Why the hell not?’ Benedict snapped.

‘Well, for one thing, I do not appreciate being informed I would have to take second place to your other engagement earlier in the evening.’

‘It is a business appointment!’

She shrugged those delicate shoulders. ‘Then I wish you more success with it than you have had with me.’

Lucifer glared. ‘You are being unreasonable!’

Genevieve gave him a pitying glance. ‘I am sure that there are many women who would appreciate your interest, my lord, but following so soon after my unhappy marriage, I believe I require something a little more … romantic than you appear to be currently offering.’

‘Romantic!’ He stared at her as if she had completely lost her senses.

Genevieve glanced out of the window. ‘It would seem we are arrived at my home, Lucas.’ She gave him a vacuous smile as she collected up her reticule in preparation for leaving the carriage. ‘Thank you for the carriage ride, my lord, it has been most … enlightening.’

He scowled darkly. ‘There are many ways in which to have fun, Genevieve,’ he drawled softly. ‘And I believe, if you were to reflect, that you would realise that I have a much better … understanding of them than Sandhurst.’

She raised her brows. ‘Perhaps one day I might consider comparing that … understanding, and so decide for myself if that is so, but not today.’

Lucifer frowned darkly. ‘You are being extremely
naïve in believing you will only be asked to enjoy “adventure and fun” with one such as Charlie Brooks.’

Genevieve was having fun right now, if truth be told. She had been very young when she married Josiah, with little opportunity to flirt with other men before that marriage; but even so, she had absolutely no doubts that she had now piqued Benedict Lucas’s interest by refusing to be in the least attracted to his dark and brooding good looks.

She might indeed be as naïve as Benedict Lucas had just accused her of being in regard to the behaviour of the gentlemen of the
ton
, but she was not stupid, and a man such as he would obviously see no challenge whatsoever in the easy conquest he had so obviously believed Genevieve might be to his lazily arrogant charms. It was, she acknowledged with wonder, quite deliciously enticing to know that she had aroused the interest of such a dangerous and elusive gentleman …

She gave a shrug. ‘As I said, I wish to be wooed a little before I would ever consider taking any gentleman as my lover.’

‘Sandhurst—’

‘—sent me flowers and chocolates earlier
today. Accompanied by a beautifully worded card.’ She smiled at the memory.

‘Only because he is hoping to entice you into sharing his bed later this evening!’

‘I am aware of that, of course,’ Genevieve acknowledged with a cool inclination of her head. ‘But Sandhurst hoping for such an outcome to the evening will not make it so.’

Had Benedict ever felt such frustration and anger with a woman before? He could not remember doing so. Indeed, he rarely if ever allowed himself to express strong emotions of any kind. Which was not to say he did not feel them, only that he chose not to reveal those emotions to others. ‘I fail to see anything in the least romantic in Sandhurst plying you with flowers and chocolates, and prettily worded cards …’ his top lip curled up with distaste ‘… for the sole purpose of expecting you to go to bed with him immediately after the two of you have dined privately together.’

Genevieve eyed him mockingly. ‘And would you not have expected the same from me, without benefit of flowers and chocolates and prettily worded cards, if I had agreed to meet you at Lady Hammond’s ball later this evening?’

He snorted his impatience. ‘If that is so,
then at least I have been honest in my intentions.’

She gave him a pitying glance. ‘Perhaps too much so …?’

His nostrils flared. ‘You are an extremely aggravating woman, Genevieve!’

She gave a surprised laugh. ‘Now that truly is honest, Benedict.’

Those black eyes glowered across the carriage at her. He gave an impatient shake of his head. ‘You will find me at Lady Hammond’s ball later this evening if that should be your choice.’

She gave another cool inclination of her head. ‘I will keep your gracious offer in mind. Now, if you would not mind …?’ She glanced pointedly towards the carriage door, leaving Benedict with no other choice but to alight from the carriage before turning to offer Genevieve his hand as she stepped down beside him. She gave him another cool nod before turning to gracefully climb the steps to the front door of her home, which opened immediately for her entrance before closing firmly behind her.

All, Benedict noted broodingly, without so much as a backwards glance in his direction …

‘H
as Sandhurst displeased you in some way?’

Benedict turned to raise dark, questioning brows at the short and rotund gentleman who had joined him as he stood beside the crowded dance floor in Lady Hammond’s ballroom. ‘And why should you think he has displeased me?’ He spoke loudly to be heard over the noisy chatter and laughter of the three hundred or so members of the
ton
squeezed into the candlelit ballroom, the bell-like laughter of one person in particular catching his ear.

‘Possibly because you have been glowering at him for the past several minutes?’ Lord Eric Cargill, the Earl of Dartmouth and Benedict’s godfather, chuckled wryly.

Benedict deliberately turned his back upon the couples dancing. ‘I was merely trying to understand in what way Sandhurst might possibly be perceived as resembling a Greek god,’ he drawled dismissively.

‘Oh?’ The earl’s surprised grey brows shot up into his thinning hairline.

Benedict gave a self-derisive smile. ‘Not for my own edification, you understand.’

‘Ah.’ The older man nodded in obvious relief, before then giving a slow shake of his head. ‘No, I am afraid I do not understand in the least?’

‘No reason why you should,’ Benedict dismissed briskly, having no intention of confiding that the reason for his own interest was currently dancing in the other man’s arms!

The earl eyed him piercingly for several minutes before obviously dismissing the subject as being unimportant. ‘If I had known you were to be here this evening, then I would not have bothered to come myself.’ He grimaced. He had served as a colonel in the army for many years, and was now spymaster for the Crown under the guise of a minor ministerial post, but was no more a lover of society balls than Benedict.

‘And in doing so you would have also have
deprived my Aunt Cynthia the pleasure of attending, too,’ he drawled mockingly. The earl and countess had become his aunt and uncle by long association, the couple having adopted him as their own since the death of his parents, their own long marriage sadly childless.

‘There is that to consider.’ The earl chuckled, brown eyes twinkling merrily. ‘But, much as I intend to enjoy her expression of gratitude later this evening, I am not sure even that is worth the tedious hours I have already suffered tonight in the line of duty!’ His eyes narrowed as he turned to look at the couples still dancing. ‘Who is the beautiful young woman currently dancing with Sandhurst?’

‘I believe it to be the Duchess of Woollerton.’ Benedict had no need to turn and look across the room to know the identity of that ‘beautiful young woman’.

Eric Cargill gave him a cursory glance. ‘I was not aware that Forster had taken a wife?’

‘Perhaps I should have said the widowed Duchess,’ Benedict corrected lightly.

The earl’s brows rose again. ‘That young beauty is the child-bride Josiah Forster’s kept shut away in the country from the moment he had married and bedded her?’