Free UNCOMMON DUKE, AN by LAURIE BENSON Page B

well.’ Olivia’s voice rang out from across the room.
    Manning shifted his gaze from his subject to Gabriel. Then his brown eyes widen momentarily. At least the man was not a complete nodcock. ‘The light has shifted. I believe we are finished for the day,’ he said, turning away from the canvas.
    Olivia picked her head up and looked from the painter to Gabriel. ‘It was fine a few moments ago.’
    ‘It was shifting even then. I was only trying to finish the last few strokes.’
    ‘There will be no more strokes today,’ Gabriel said drily, strolling towards Olivia.
    She glared at him but allowed him to help her to stand. ‘What are you doing here?’ she whispered sharply, adjusting the skirt of that enticing gown.
    ‘I told you,’ he whispered back, handing her a glass of wine that had been placed on a table near her, ‘I have come to see you have some refreshment. Now go and change. I am taking you to Gunter’s for ice.’
    He expected her to argue, but she took a sip of wine and narrowed her eyes at him. He could tell she was up for a good row. He was starting to learn the signs.
    A short while later, they sent Colette home in Olivia’s carriage, and Gabriel helped his hesitant wife into his high-perch phaeton. When he climbed into the box from the other side, he looked over to find her eyeing his new equipage. It was an exceptional piece of craftsmanship, with its highly glossed black finish that reflected the London streets like a mirror.
    ‘Is your artist always such a washer-woman?’
    ‘If you are asking if he enjoys gossip, I suppose he does. Talking, as you are well aware, helps to make portrait sessions bearable.’
    ‘I would not think a man like that would be interested in the social life of someone like Prinny.’
    ‘Come now, are you truly that jaded? Most everyone is interested in what he does. Manning is like most aspiring portrait artists. He would love to have the cache to say the Prince Regent sat for him. To have his work displayed in a royal residence would be quite the accomplishment.’
    ‘You have introduced them?’
    ‘Not yet.’
    ‘But you plan to?’
    ‘If the opportunity should present itself, I do not see why I would not. Manning is extremely talented. Surely you can see that from the pieces displayed in his studio? He has even painted Nicholas for me.’
    ‘I will agree the man possesses talent, however did I not tell you that you were not to sit for him again?’
    ‘You did.’
    A scruffy dog darted out into the road, and Gabriel expertly manoeuvred the phaeton around it. The carriage rocked back and forth on its wheels. ‘If you heard my command, why were you in his studio today?’ He glanced over at Olivia, who was sitting with her hands gripped tightly together.
    ‘I never agreed to your request.’
    ‘It was not a request, and you knew that.’ Now he pulled abruptly to a stop as a newsboy ran across the road.
    Olivia made an odd sound. ‘I honour my commitments, and I told him I would sit for him.’
    ‘Now you must tell him you’ve changed your mind.’
    ‘I cannot do that.’
    ‘You mean you will not.’ He snapped the reins, making the phaeton go faster.
    Her hands moved to grip the seat.
    ‘Tell him I forbid it,’ he continued.
    ‘You forbid it?’ she ground out.
    Gabriel nodded, glanced down at her hands, and focused his attention back on the road. If she was not wearing gloves, he was certain her knuckles would be white. ‘Why are you so nervous?’
    ‘I find I do not like sitting this far above the ground.’
    He took the reins in one hand and pulled her closer to him. ‘Do you feel safer away from the edge?’
    Olivia nodded a fraction of an inch.
    ‘I will not let any harm come to you.’
    Her eyes searched his and everything fell away around them. Then she quickly turned away and watched the people strolling in and out of the shops. ‘You should be looking at the road,’ she advised him.
    ‘But the view next to me is infinitely more