Page 9 of Trapped with the Beastly Duke

Rose could not remember her uncle, for he had died when she was still very young, and her father did not often talk about him.

“But now this is our life, and I know that you value the opinion of the ton greatly and hold the position of our family dear. You want the world to see that you and Father are worthy of your title. Yet, why must I be punished for your own imprudence?” She whispered the words, hating herself as she said them. “Why is it always women who must pay for the folly of men?”

She sighed and rested her hand against the cool stone of the statue. “I do not want to let you down. But I do not know what to do.” She felt the last remnants of her anger ebb away.

The statue remained unmoving, its expression unchanged.

Rose sighed. “And now, here I am, talking to a statue as though it were a person.”

It feels good though, to have said it. And at least Mother will never know how truly selfish and wanting I am.

She laughed bitterly, glancing up at the stars in the sky. A cloud was passing over the moon, casting long shadows on the hedges. For a moment, she contemplated remaining in the garden. Yet, even as the thought crossed her mind, she dismissed it.

I am the Diamond of the Season, and I will not let my family down. I must fix my mistakes.

She took a steadying breath and rolled her shoulders back. She stood straight and looked once more at the statue, before turning around and walking straight into a figure who had just emerged into the maze.

She gasped, and she heard an answering grunt from the man she had just collided with.

“My most sincere apologies!” Rose said once she caught her breath.

I am pressed up against a stranger, so close that I can barely see his face. I am sure he must feel my heart racing.

Rose did not know where to look, settling for turning her head to the side and peering down at the floor. Her mind seemed to be moving sluggishly. She needed to step away, to put some distance between them.

Why won’t my legs move? What is wrong with me?

“There is no need for you to apologize, it is my own fault. I was so consumed by my thoughts that I paid no heed to my surroundings.” The answering voice was a gentle baritone that seemed to vibrate through the man’s chest. “In truth, I heard a woman’s voice and did not want to intrude.”

Rose felt a flush rise to her cheeks, the rumble of his voice a reminder of how close they were.

The scandal. If anyone finds us… But nothing untoward has happened. Oh! Oh, no! He heard my voice? I hope he did not hear what I said.

She tried to decide whether being discovered with this stranger or him thinking she was some kind of lunatic was worse. “Well, I would say this is an interesting way of not intruding.”

The man laughed, and the vibration of the sound through her chest seemed to jerk her legs into motion. Hastily, she tried to take a step away from him, only to find that she could not. The prongs of her necklace that had been catching in her gown all evening were now entangled in his cravat.

Nerves made her fingers clumsy as she tried to free herself. Without thinking, Rose found herself saying, “You know, when my mother said I should use this necklace to capture the attention of a man, I do not think she meant it quite so literally.”

Where on earth did that come from?

“Ah, and here I was thinking that this was perhaps some new fashion I had missed in the years since I was last at a ball.” She could hear a smile in his voice. “I thought it a natural escalation of the need to ensnare a man.”

“I think we are perhaps more entangled than ensnared. I believe ensnaring would be far too forward for such an occasion.” Rose laughed softly, her nerves at odds with the sound.

How is it that I have managed to disentangle the necklace all evening, but now, when I need these skills most, I am utterly useless? If anything, I think I am making the situation worse.

Her rising nerves threatened to overcome her. She inhaled deeply to try and calm her emotions, breathing in the scent of the night air.

It reminded her of the clean, crisp smell of the first frost of winter. Like frozen earth and gently swaying trees. There was something calming about it that made her relax, until she realized that what she was smelling could only be the scent of the stranger before her.

Heat rose through her, and her hands began to shake. She was alone, in the dark, entangled with a man she didn’t know. And some strange part of her mind was enjoying his scent?

The man reached towards her hands. “Perhaps I might be of assistance. I would not have you trapped in the cold with me for the remainder of the night.”

“Are you quite adept at disentanglement?” Rose asked, smiling in spite of herself.

“I have some practice.” He paused, and then, as if sensing the impropriety of his words, quickly added, “My sister has often got herself in tangles when playing. And I have had to help others in my family when they have had jewelry or a toy or some such thing catch in one thing or another.”