Free An Unsuitable Duchess by Laurie Benson Page A

Lyonsdale.’
    ‘At the moment that fact does not seem to be to my advantage with her.’
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘Miss Vandenberg is a little cross with me at the moment, due to my title.’ He knew it was absurd, and saying it out loud made it appear more so.
    ‘I do not understand. Does she not realise the significance of your station?’
    ‘She does. However, I do not believe she cares.’
    ‘Because she is an American?’
    ‘Because she is Miss Vandenberg. In truth, I find at times that she baffles me with her logic.’ And his reaction to her mere presence baffled him more.
    His grandmother tilted her head and he realised he’d said too much. Miss Vandenberg wasn’t a woman he was courting, or even a woman he should be thinking of courting. And yet he’d told his grandmother more about her than he had about any other woman.
    Knowing that she was annoyingly perceptive, he knew he needed to place distance between them before she started asking a litany of questions. He pushed himself off the chair and walked to the window overlooking Grosvenor Square.
    ‘Would you take me to Almack’s tonight?’ she called to him.
    Dear God, he should have just left the room . The last place he ever wanted to go was Almack’s. He might as well place a notice in the Morning Chronicle , stating that he was shopping for a wife.
    ‘Why in the world would you want me to do that?’ he asked, trying to think of an excuse as to why he could not take her. ‘You’ve been going there for years without me.’
    ‘Yes, and it is about time you used those vouchers of yours. Each year you pay for them, and each year you never use them.’
    He wasn’t giving in. Her reasoning wasn’t good enough.
    She rubbed her knees and sighed. ‘If I don’t move these bones they may stiffen permanently.’
    Crossing his arms, he arched a sceptical brow. If the woman hadn’t been born into the aristocracy, she might have made a fine living on the stage.
    ‘I do not have many years left,’ she continued. ‘Is it so wrong for me to wish to spend time with my grandson? I rarely see you any more, with all the time you are spending with Lord Kenyon’s committee and other Parliamentary affairs.’
    She blinked a few times, and Julian wasn’t certain if he saw tears in her eyes.
    Should he remind her that they saw each other most mornings over the breakfast table? He searched the frescoed ceiling for an answer, but the cherubs just laughed down at him. He allowed her to live with him in London during the Season because he cared about her, and knew they probably didn’t have many more years left together. Perhaps it was time he hired her a companion and rented her a townhouse.
    Letting out a deep breath, Julian knew he was going to regret agreeing to go with her. And yet he was unable to say no.

Chapter Eight
    A s Julian stepped into the cavernous assembly room at Almack’s the large mirrors magnified the many women and men who turned to look. Heads poked around the gilt columns to his right, and some people even had the impudence to raise their quizzers at him. This was why he avoided mixing with the likes of the marriage mart. Their unabashed interest in him was tiresome.
    He walked further into the room, with his grandmother on his arm and his mother at his other side. They left a buzz of voices in their wake.
    ‘This is a testament to how much I care for you,’ he whispered down to his grandmother. ‘Do not expect me to escort you here again.’
    She blinked up at him innocently and readjusted her hand on his arm. ‘Evenings such as these have a way of turning unexpectedly. You may change your mind.’
    ‘There is nothing in Christendom that would make me enjoy myself tonight,’ Julian replied through a polite smile, knowing the people around them were trying to listen to their conversation.
    His mother nodded regally at the Duchess of Skeffington and Lady Harlow. Julian knew his mother was not fond of the gossipy pair. He wasn’t either, and