Page 35 of Wedded to the Cruel Duke

“Actually eat dinner withme.”

Huxley’s lips twitched suspiciously. “That is precisely what he said, milady. Lord Wentworth will be joining you in the dining hall for dinner at the usual hour.”

“That would be seven, correct?”

“Yes, milady.”

Even after Huxley left, Phoebe could scarcely believe that Charles had actually sent someone to inform her that he would be having dinner with her that night.

On the one hand, it was a brilliant opportunity for her to try her recently developed skills at flirtation.

On the other hand, she could actually be setting herself up for a massive failure.

And if that happens, then he might be even more disgusted with me!Phoebe felt her stomach clench uneasily.

“This has to stop!” she muttered fretfully to herself as she paced the length of her bedchamber. In a few more minutes, Amelia would be coming in to help her dress for dinner. She could either take her chance this evening or forever resign herself to her solitary fate.

Phoebe decided that she was not about to just accept the lot she had been dealt without at leasttryingsomething.

“Milady…”

“Oh, Amelia!” she burst out. “Thank goodness you are here!”

The maid blinked at her in stupefaction. “Where else should I be at this hour, milady?”

“Oh, never mind that!” Phoebe shook her head and dragged the maid to her armoire. She flung the doors open and gestured to the dresses neatly hung inside. “I need you to help me choose!”

“Choose what, milady?”

“A dress,” Phoebe enunciated as she flipped through the rack almost frantically. “I need to find a dress for dinner tonight that will catch the Marquess’s eye—”

“Oh! Oh my! I have been waiting for just this day, milady!”

She watched as realization dawned on her maid’s face and she smiled brilliantly. “Precisely, Amelia! I need something that will astound him. Something that will catch his eye!”

Amelia clapped her hands happily before diving into the armoire herself. Phoebe watched as her maid rifled through the many gowns that she had brought with her when she first came to Wentworth Park. Moments later, she emerged with an emerald dress with a low-cut neckline and capped sleeves.

“This one, milady!” the maid announced excitedly, holding up the dress. “You will look absolutely ravishing in this!”

It was a dress her mother had once convinced her she was going to need and one that Phoebe had long forgotten herself. It was precisely the kind of dress that one wore to attract attention. However, in her days as a debutante, there was nothing shewanted more than to avoid drawing as much unnecessary attention to herself.

She already towered over her peers by a head, at least. She could not bear the mocking stares she knew she would attract if she so much as wore such an eye-catching dress.

Tonight was different, however. Tonight, she was going to do the exact opposite and do her best to charm her husband.

Still, old habits tended to linger past their welcome and she surveyed the dress hesitantly.

“Are you sure, Amelia? I do not think I have ever worn something so—”

“Milady, trust me!” In her excitement, Amelia had quite forgotten herself and cut into her mistress’s ambivalence. “When His Lordship sees you in this dress, I assure you that he will forget himself!”

Phoebe smiled weakly. “And isn’t that what we intend to do after all?”

Amelia nodded enthusiastically. Laughing, she laid the dress aside and steered Phoebe towards the vanity.

“I shall make it so that His Lordship will be unable to take his eyes off of you tonight!” she vowed.

“In that case,” Phoebe smiled warily at their reflection in the mirror. “I shall entrust myself to your care.”