Free The Lady’s Torn Heart (Faces of Love Series #2) by Jessie Bennett

brother’s townhouse.
    I had spent very few holidays with him over my lifetime. I looked him over as I continued to pick at my food. He was in his late thirties and already starting to grey at his temples, though the rest of his hair was richly black like mine. In a lot of ways, we looked very similar for half siblings. We both had ebony hair, fair skin, and blue eyes.
    His personality, on the other hand, couldn’t be farther from mine. He was always so starch and serious. I don’t think I had ever actually seen him smile. Granted, by the time I knew him he had lost his father, his mother had remarried, and he was left the duke of a vast estate. I’m sure that was something that would certainly sober even the jolliest of persons.
    I was carefree and, in many opinions, wild. I didn’t care, though. I didn’t have the ton looking down on me and expecting me to behave a certain way. I wasn’t entirely sure that I even wanted to snag myself a duke, as my mother so often put it. I would rather enjoy the freedom that came with being a commoner.
    “So, Scarlett, tell me how your ride into town was,” my sister-in-law said to break the silence.
    “It was fine enough, Your Grace. I can’t say many eventful things happen when you are riding alone in a carriage.”
    The Duchess of Bellingham was a beautiful woman. She was also just as quiet and reserved as my brother. She certainly did act the way I thought a duchess should. What I liked most about her was her rounded face, almost childlike, with soft dimples in her cheeks. I am sure they were quite prominent if she ever happened to smile.
    “The duke here tells me you are planning to spend the whole season with us,” she continued conversationally.
    “Yes. I think my mother was hoping that I might make connections.”
    She nodded thoughtfully. “Your mother was a daughter of a marquis and then married to a duke, so I can understand why she would want to immerse you in the peerage. Are you quite sure you will comfortable in such situations?” the duchess asked.
    “I’m not entirely sure of your meaning, Your Grace.”
    The duchess looked over at her husband with worried eyes and then back at me, like you would a child you pitied. I was suddenly liking her a little less already.
    “I would just hate if you embarrassed yourself at a social function. I wanted to offer my services to you, to help you.”
    “That is very kind of you, darling,” my brother chimed in cheerfully.
    “That is very kind,” I agreed, “but it won’t be necessary. I can assure you that I am quite well versed in society. We have often hosted balls and dinners at my family estate growing up. Lord and Lady Kensington are very close friends to both my mother and father.”
    “Yes, I’m sure. It’s just that things in the country are always a little bit more relaxed than they can be in town. I must insist upon chaperoning you, at least at first. That way you can make all the right connections, and stay away from any that might be less desirable.”
    I knew what they were both hinting. It was a polite way of saying they thought I would embarrass them. I was a guest here and didn’t know either well, so I did my best to bite my tongue. “I am grateful for your concern, Your Grace. I will happily stay by your side for as long as you wish. Since I am obviously so new here, it will be nice to have a companion already when being set upon a new society.”
    I tried my best to sound as civil as possible. I think I did a relatively good job of hiding the disgust I felt in her underlying connotations.
    However, with that matter apparently settled, the Duchess of Bellingham perked up entirely. She spent the remainder of the evening telling me who was and wasn’t appropriate to be seen with currently. She also informed me of all the future social outings we would be attending.
    “Yes, well, we all know the real reason for Mother sending you here,” the duke interrupted his wife. “It is so that you