Page 106 of A Bluestocking for the Wicked Duke

“Yes, although it remains the small matter of the man accepting the other guy. But I think he will, once he gets over his daughter’s failed courtship,” William replied.

“Are you sure?”

William thought about the pained look on Esther’s father’s face at the end of her harangue.

The man was hurt, surely. He will yield now.

“Yes, he will,” William said.

Joane laid her arm over William’s chest, drawing herself closer to him. Her bosom pushed against his chest. The contact with her skin sent small tingling vibes across his nude body. William moved his mind away from the leading of his thoughtless pleasure centre. He ran his hand through Joane’s hair.

“Your hair is so much like mine,” William said.

Joane lifted her eyes to his hair. She held a clump behind his head and ran her fingers through slowly.

“Yes, it actually is. They have the same tone of yellow in fact,” she commented.

William smiled.

A history lesson is coming on.

“The Marlow blood has a particular set of traits. I am not totally blotting out the possibility but I am yet to meet a Marlow without these particular traits. We have a golden blond hair,”

Joane smiled. Her lips cracked slightly, giving William a glimpse of white teeth that glistened in the little light that illumed the room. William lost his concentration in the view for a few seconds, only Joane shaking his shoulder brought him back.

Her features are angelic.

“Where did your mind run off to? You were saying something,” Joane said.

William grinned.

“You would be surprised if I told you where. Yes, about the Marlow blood, right?” William asked.

Joane nodded. Her lips had sealed again. William was grateful, the former sight had him lost in her beauty and returned a sweet stirring below his abdomen.

“Marlows always have blond hair, a top heavy mouth – just like mine –, a quick brain, the males have a quick temper and we are just a beautiful lot, either male or female,” William said.

Joane turned up her nose, presumably at his last statement.

“So are you saying all of you have blond hair?”

“All of us in my immediate family are blond except my mother who is not a Marlow by birth but the Marlow traits are really strong. They impose themselves on any other traits. I’ve seen father’s relations tool, trust that they also have the full dose of the Marlow trait.”

Joane smiled.

“Isn’t Emma going to be looking for you by now? We’ve been gone quite a while.” William said.

“No, she isn’t even around. Lately I haven’t been spending a whole lot of time with her, she’s hardly around anymore,” Joane replied.

“Likewise I with James, he is hardly around anymore,” William replied.

Joane looked at his eyes in a funny way that made William laugh.

“Are you trying to act innocent? I know you know of their recent romance,” she said.

William blushed outright. He covered his mouth to hide it and reduce the volume of the bubbling laughter that was building.

“I just found out last night,” William said.