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“Gretchen, what are you doing?” Emma demanded. “I have already told you of the danger of this. You are risking your reputation for this, and it is not something I can allow.”

“I am not asking you to allow it.”

“I do not care what you are asking of me. You do not understand what could happen. You are fortunate that I have no intention of ruining you, but had I been someone else it could have been very different indeed. You are playing with fire.”

“You do not have any idea of what you are talking about. I will not listen to the instruction of a glorified maid who could never find a match for herself. It is you who does not understand.”

“You say that because you are naive. You will one day thank me for this.”

“I will not!” she thundered. “I will never thank you for storming over to me and talking to me as though I am a child. You do not know a thing.”

“Gretchen–”

“You are not worth it,” Gretchen said coldly, straightening herself and walking away without another word.

Emma watched the girl leave, wondering just what she had been doing. It was foolish of her to think that the Duke had wanted anything to do with her other than–

She whipped around to face the Duke.

“And as foryou,” she scowled, “I cannot believe you would lie to me the way you did! I am the fool for believing you, but I won’t be making that mistake again.”

“Miss Kendall, I have already told you that I know what I am doing, and that my intentions are honorable.”

“Yes, how very honorable of you to hide away with a young lady, alone at that. You might think that every lady is a pretty little fool, but I am not. I know precisely what you are doing, and I will not stand for it.”

“Well, you are certainly pretty, but you are not little at all. You are, in fact, very tall. As for being a fool, I cannot claim whether you are or are not. It depends entirely on what you believe me to be doing.”

“You are going to ruin her,” she said, her voice shaking. “You are selfish, and you do not care for her at all. I should have known better than to trust a rake, and so in that respect you are right. I am a fool.”

She turned to leave, but he took her wrist. It was not a tight hold, but she felt trapped all the same.

“I am not lying to you,” he said firmly. “I am doing what is necessary for the moment. You must understand that I would not do this if I did not need to.”

“Of course, that is why you are as prolific as you are. You care only for the ladies in your vicinity, especially the unmarried ones. Truly, how chivalrous of you.”

He had not let go of her wrist, and after a moment of silence a smirk spread across his face.

“Miss Kendall,” he said slowly, “you are not jealous of her, are you?”

The words could have sent her into a fury, and they would have if she were not aware of the fact that others would have heard.

“Of course not,” she snapped. “There is nothing I want less than to chance ruin with you.”

“Is that so? In that case, why did you so readily take Miss Winston’s place?”

Emma wondered what he meant by that, but only for a minute as it quickly became apparent that she was now the unmarried lady with a known rake, and she was very close to him. Granted, that was partly because he was holding her there, a fact that would only compromise her all the more.

“If I were you, Miss Kendall,” he continued, “I would refrain from spending all this time chasing other young ladies and trying to keep them in line, and focus your attention on yourself. It is unwise to attract such advances. As you said, it is chancing ruin, playing with fire.”

He looked at her intensely for a moment before laughing slightly, brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear and leaning in close. She felt his breath on her neck, hot as if he were burning her, and smiled into her ear.

“Be careful,” he whispered. “Even spinsters are not immune from such dreadful scandal.”

As he pulled away, he took the liberty of kissing her cheek. With a final smirk, his head turned to one side, he left her standing there.

She felt positively scandalized, and she struggled to regain her composure. She tried to think about why he had changed so suddenly, but it quickly became all too clear to her.

This Duke, the one that had made her feel so infuriated, was the real one. The other, the kind man that was nice to her and treated her respectfully, was an act, one designed to wear her down so she wouldn’t dare question him. What made her feel worse than anything he had done, however, was how easily she had fallen for it. She was not wise, not as much as she thought at least, and he had won in an instant.