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“Fortunately, there is a hunting lodge not too far from here,” he continued, pointedly ignoring her scowling countenance. “We can walk there and wait for the rain to stop.”

She shot up to her feet, clutching the very fortunate Snowdrop to her chest. “Well, why did you not say so in the first place? Lead the way, Your Grace!” she chirped.

How could a woman switch from desolate to haughty to cheerful so quickly? The speed by which she jumped from one emotion to the next had him almost reeling back.

He held up his cloak and motioned for her to get under it. “Come now. I shall take you there. You can even bring your little Snowflake?—”

“Snowdrop,” she corrected him.

“Snowdrop,” he amended. “With you.”

She smiled jauntily up at him. “Of course, he is coming with me. I would not go with you if you had suggested otherwise.”

To which the little puppy gave a high-pitched bark in agreement as Hudson narrowed his eyes at it.

Snowflake. Snowball. Snowdrop.

Whatever its name was, the little puppy was proving to be just as much of a handful as its rescuer was.

So, he did have some more admirable traits—other than his blatant virility, of course.

Scarlett ducked her head to hide the heat flooding her cheeks as she pressed closer to him. He was so warm, like a furnace, and she was so cold it seemed like the rain had seeped into her very bones.

Snowdrop let out a soft whimper, and she stroked his little head. “Do not be frightened, my love. His Grace might look frightful, but we are safe now.”

The Duke let out a scoff that sent tendrils of warmth to her toes and fingertips. “I do not know whether I should take that as a compliment or an insult.”

She bit back a smile. “Well, it is the truth.”

“And I should have known better than to expect a straight answer from you.”

“Being forthright was never a gift I pretended to have.”

“Oh, you do have a gift,” he replied with a slight quirk of his lips. “Quite the talent for it, actually.”

Scarlett rolled her eyes. “If you are going to saymischieformaking trouble, then there is no need to be so smug about it. That is hardly the most original thing anyone has thrown my way.”

“I was going to say you have the talent for words,” he clarified.

“Oh.” She bit her lip and looked down at the mud caking on the hem of her dress. “Thank you, I suppose.”

“You can take that as a compliment.”

So, he was capable of giving them.

She hazarded a look at him and found the hint of a smile hovering at the corners of his lips.

Dear Lord, was he teasing her?

The man was already sinfully attractive against her better judgment, and now that she knew he possessed wit and humor enough to tease her…

No, no,no. She must not fall for his tricks.

What she needed to do was focus more on placing one foot in front of the other and keep Snowdrop from slipping out of her grasp.

Just one foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other until we are out of this infernal rain.

After what seemed like an eternity of being scalded by the sheer heat he radiated, he pointed to what looked like a brick lodge before them.