Page 60 of Her Ruse with the Rakish Duke

Daphne had chosen a dark red gown tonight. She wasn’t accustomed to wearing such a bright color, but she hoped Victor would be unable to take his eyes off her. And hopefully his hands too, by the end of the night.

If her family had noticed her bolder choice of wardrobe as she walked down the castle halls, they said nothing. Still, when she caught her mother’s eye, she would wink at Daphne.

“She wanted to talk about her son,” she whispered to Amelia. “She has promised childhood stories. I am quite excited.”

“I wonder if the duke ran around naked as a baby.”

“Wouldn’t that have been a funny sight?”

They laughed and separated, each going their way having pre-dinner plans.

She was in a light mood as she strolled down the corridor when a hand suddenly shot out of a room and pulled her in.

She wanted to scream but a hand clasped over her mouth.

“Relax, Daphne. It’s me.”

She calmed a little when she saw it was Percy.

“Percy? What are you doing?” she asked, trying to step out of the room but he blocked her path. “We cannot be here.”

“If I were the duke, you wouldn’t mind so much,” he spat.

“What do you mean by that?” She glared at him. “Do not insult me, Percy.”

“I am calling it as I see it.”

As Daphne took a good look at him, she noticed his eyes were red-rimmed. He swayed where he stood. His cravat was skewed and his shirt rumpled. She wondered what had possessed him to behave so uncouthly. He was a far cry from the man she had known him to be before the proposal.

“What do you want?” she asked.

The faster she answered him, the sooner she could get away from him.

“I want you to admit that you are not really courting him.”

Daphne folded her arms across her chest.

“What good would that do you?” she asked as anger brimmed inside her.

“I would just know that the girl I have called my friend for the past twenty years isn’t a fool!”

She flinched back at his tone.

“What has gotten into you, Percy?” she asked, surprised at this dark side to him. “You have become this bitter creature. Are you drunk? I hope you have not taken to drinking.”

“You are what is wrong with me, Daphne.”

“Me?” she asked, taken aback. “What did I do to you?”

“You turned down my offer of marriage and threw yourself into the arms of that reprobate, not even a day after! Is it because he is a duke? Is that it? Is my station not high enough for you?”

“Do not insult me, Percy,” she spat. “I will bear many a thing for the sake of our friendship but do not insult my integrity.”

“What am I to think when I see him all over you, not merely a day after you turn me down?”

“I have found a man I like who…”

“Do not even say it.”