Page 20 of Song of the Caged Duchess

She had clearly been moving quickly, and as she came around the corner in the opposite direction, she bumped his arm, jostling him and making him spill his drink.

Hugh stood there, dripping with wine, staring into the most beautiful face he had ever seen.

Chapter 8

Hugh blinked. Here he stood, soaked in the drink he had just been holding, staring at an intensely lovely young lady. Her bright green eyes seemed to light up the night—that was what he noticed first about her. Though her height and build were unremarkable, her auburn hair framed her face fetchingly. Her high cheekbones made her look dignified.

She has the kind of face an artist would want to paint,he thought, taking her in.

“What in God’s name are you staring at?” she demanded.

Hugh blinked again. He was entirely unused to being spoken to that way

Any young lady here would move heaven and Earth to be stared at by me.

It wasn’t a fact he was proud of, but it was one that couldn’t be denied. He had years’ worth of evidence.

But she seems to find it annoying.

He couldn’t lie to himself—it was a little refreshing to be spoken to like this.

He also had to wonder whether the lady knew who he was. Surely no one would speak to the Duke of Hallowbinder so rudely.

“I apologize,” he said, bowing slightly. “I didn’t mean to stare, My Lady.”

“Well, youwerestaring,” she said. “And you’re the one who ran into me. You really ought to watch where you’re going.”

“Esther,” the young lady behind her hissed.

Hugh’s attention was now drawn to this second lady for the first time. She was a bit fuller of figure than the one he had run into, and from the way she hung back and didn’t look him in the eye, Hugh suspected that shehadrecognized him, and that she was aghast at the way her friend was behaving.

At least she wasn’t throwing herself at him, the way Lady Catherine had. Though he would have preferred not to be recognized at all, if he did have to be known for who he was and for the title he held, it was better to be recognized by someone like this lady, who wasn’t going to make a spectacle of herself.

Her friend—Esther, she had been called—shook her off. “Let me handle this, Eugenia,” she said.

Hugh smiled. “Lady Esther, is it?” he asked.

“It is,” Lady Esther agreed. “And no, I’m not interested in a dance.”

He blinked. “I don’t believe I asked for a dance.”

“Good,” Lady Esther said. “No offense to you, of course, My Lord, but my cousin and I came out to the garden in an attempt to rid ourselves of gentlemen who were all too eager to drag us onto the floor.”

“Esther!” The cousin—Eugenia—sounded utterly anguished.

Hugh thought he knew why. She had called himMy Lord. That could only mean that his first guess had been correct, and that she didn’t recognize him as the Duke of Hallowbinder.

But he wasn’t about to give her the information she lacked. For the first time all evening, someone was treating him normally instead of being obsequious. He wasn’t going to ruin that by telling her who he really was.

Instead, he said, “You needn’t worry. I came out here to avoid dancing myself. I certainly have no intention of dragging you back inside.”

“Oh.” Lady Esther looked a bit wrong-footed for a moment.

Then she recovered herself. “Well, as long as you’re out here,” she said, “you really ought to watch where you’re going. Charging around corners like that, you might knock somebody down.”

“You were moving rather quickly yourself, My Lady,” Hugh said, though he was more amused than troubled. “Tell me, is everything all right? I hope you weren’t running from anything unpleasant.”

The two ladies looked at one another.