Free A Family Affair by Jennifer Wenn Page B

found they had the best source of information about Devlin they possibly could find: the man himself.
    “I heard your father died last year, and I’m so sorry for your loss.”
    “Don’t be.” He smiled at Fanny. “I’m not.”
    “Are you not sad about your father’s demise, Your Grace?”
    Penelope, who hadn’t the best connection with her own father, found the subject fascinating.
    “No.”
    Devlin’s curt answers weren’t as fascinating to hear, though, and Penelope had no choice but to change the subject. Fanny gave her friend a sympathetic smile, as she too had wanted to know more than he was willing to share.
    “Have you any other family staying with you in town, Your Grace?”
    “I don’t have any close relatives, so I am all by myself.”
    “I’m so sorry,” Fanny breathed, horrified over such a predicament as not having any relatives. She would have missed hers immensely if she had not had them.
    “Don’t be,” he repeated softly. “You can’t miss what you never had. My mother died when I was a small child, and I have no memories of her. I am an only child, just as my parents each were. I have no aunts, uncles, or cousins, therefore, either.”
    “Oh,” Fanny sighed, devastated over what seemed a fate worse than death, and she saw the other two share an amused look, but she decided wisely enough to let it pass.
    Penelope, who didn’t want to waste this opportunity to delve deep into the secret world of men, quickly changed the subject. “Is it true there are bets placed in a book in one of the clubs? Bets about silly things like when someone will propose, who will ask who for a dance, and so on?”
    Devlin arched an eyebrow, and Penelope looked back with too-innocent eyes, trying to hide her curiosity.
    “How is it possible you know about the bets?”
    “I have ears.” Penelope gave him a fast smile, encouraging him to tell them more about these all-man secrets. Fanny couldn’t help but admire her friend’s bluntness; Penelope on a mission was unstoppable.
    “Why should I tell you?”
    “Why not? There is no harm in telling us. We won’t tell anyone else. Right, Penny?” Fanny interceded, and Penelope nodded in agreement, garnering them another amused look.
    “What if I don’t want to?”
    “Oh, come on.” Without thinking, Fanny tightened her grip of his arm, and he sent her one of those hot wicked grins, which silently challenged her to do something more than just touch his arm. Blushing, she loosened her grip again, and he made a disappointed face. “Coward,” he mouthed.
    “Just tell us about the last placed bet you heard about.” Penelope flashed him another encouraging smile, and he couldn’t stop himself from laughing.
    “If I tell you all about the last bet, will you please change the subject, and stop behaving like two annoying flies?”
    Both young women nodded solemnly, and he had a sinking feeling they wouldn’t let anything go.
    “It will be embarrassing for you, though, Pup.”
    Fanny blushed with pleasure at his use of her childhood nickname and tried to ignore Penelope’s knowing smile.
    “For me?” she asked surprised. “I am in the book of bets?”
    “Yes, you are.”
    “I wonder about what,” she said, and chewed her lower lip, effectively drawing Devlin’s eyes to her mouth. The heat of his eyes made her tremble, and his eyes darkened even more when he felt her response to him.
    For the first time ever, Fanny wished Penelope would just disappear and take the chaperoning maid with her. She wanted desperately to be alone with her duke, to find out what the burning promise she could see in his eyes was all about.
    However, as Penelope wouldn’t leave, Fanny took a deep breath to strengthen herself. She had to stop acting like this every time they met. If she continued with this fluttering around him whenever he was near, soon he would think she was in love with him, and nothing could be farther from the truth than her having warm feelings for