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“Then the matter is settled. The two of you may go and enjoy yourselves. In the meantime, Frenton, you might wish to remember that a duke is a powerful ally before you attempt to make such statements of yours. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Your Grace,” he grumbled, leaving to join her father.

Her father would be furious the following day, scolding them profusely for what they had done. Emma knew that she would bear the brunt of it, as she was the eldest and expected to keepher sister in line, but she could not bring herself to care. Like her sister, she was simply excited to enjoy an evening without thinking of what would come the morning after it. She wanted to be happy, no matter the repercussions.

“Dance with me, Miss Kendall.”

She looked up to find the Duke’s green eyes firmly on hers.

“I– I cannot, Your Grace. There are enough rumors about the two of us as it is.”

“Let them talk. In fact, I propose that we give them something to talk about, a great finale to this event. It would be quite excellent, wouldn’t you agree?”

Emma wanted to reject him. She wanted to return to Cecilia and continue to watch her sister enjoy her final night as her own person, but there was an intensity in the Duke’s gaze that she could not refuse.

“One moment,” she said quickly, moving quickly to her friend.

The glass that Cecilia was holding had a much darker drink inside this time, but that did not matter. Emma drank it in one, enjoying how it burned more than ever.

“Emma, what are you doing?”

“Having some liquid courage. Wish me luck.”

She ignored her friend’s calls, returning to the duke and placing her hand on his arm.

“Does this mean you wish to dance with me?”

“It does. One dance, and nothing more.”

They took to the floor, and the whispers began. Sarah smiled in satisfaction at her, and Emma knew it was because her sister had been waiting for this dance with this partner since the moment she had met him. The music began, and they danced wordlessly for a while. She wondered if the Duke might say something to her, and part of her hoped he would, but he did not, and she tried not to mind.

Then, he cleared his throat.

“I must apologize for what I did,” he said softly.

“There is no need. Thank you for all that you have done for me.”

She looked up at him, and his eyes stopped her in her tracks. She knew how to dance, and the feeling of his hand on her waist was exquisite, but all thoughts of that ceased and all she could do was move as well as she could and look into his eyes.

“Miss Kendall, I do not want you to hate me.”

“I do not. I do not think I could.”

“Then why have you been avoiding me?”

At last, she tore her eyes from his, only to be met with Gretchen’s. She was standing in the crowd, glaring at her. At once, she regretted looking away and looked back at him, his gaze piercing.

“I do not owe you an explanation, Your Grace.”

“You do not, but I would appreciate one nonetheless.”

Her heart pounded, as in truth she did not know why she had avoided him, aside from the fact that he made her feel unlike any other person ever had.

“Your Grace, you and I are even, so to speak. I saved you from scandal, and you have helped my sister enjoy her evening. We have helped one another, and now we can go our separate ways and forget any of this ever happened.”

“Is that truly what you want?”

“It has never mattered what I want,” she whispered.