Free The Duke's Guide to Correct Behavior by Megan Frampton Page A

before.
    If that didn’t make him want to run away— Oh, wait, it did. But he would endure it, for his newfound propriety’s sake.
    S he couldn’t put it off any longer. She’d washed her face, brushed her hair, and tidied the already tidy room.
    It was already eleven o’clock. Her duties would begin as soon as Rose awoke, and she had to be prepared.
    She had to get undressed and put the nightshirt on.
    She’d laid it right in the middle of the predictably enormous bed, where it remained, not doing anything.
    Except to her peace of mind.
    Her previous experience with men was limited to dealing with the tradesmen who’d supplied the brothel, most of whom had been married; she’d always worked in one of the back rooms, far away from the clientele, so she’d never run into any of them , thank goodness.
    â€œIt’s only a piece of clothing,” she said to herself. “It is not as though putting it on will mean anything, and it would be even more improper to sleep with nothing on all together.” Put that way, it—well, it was still altogether too shocking.
    She reached behind herself to undo the buttons of her gown. Undoing buttons at the back was normally an awkward task, but being so aware of the impropriety of what she was about to do added another element of difficulty, and she was perspiring by the time she got the sleeves off and was stepping out of the wide skirts of her dress.
    She spared another glance at the nightshirt—it hadn’t moved—and began to undo her corset, then removed her shift, biting her lip as all the thoughts of the day rushed in.
    Meeting Rose, the duke, the agency’s potential for success, the foyer , for goodness’ sake, the doors, the pink room, and now this nightshirt?
    It was enough to overwhelm anyone, much less
a precise, prim, methodical person such as herself. Or as she tried to be.
    She picked up the nightshirt and put it on. There. She’d done it. As easy as donning the persona of a governess.
    Or a fortunate woman.

While it might seem unreasonable for a gentleman to be expected to be dressed suitably at all times, it is nonetheless incumbent upon a gentleman who is also a duke to be dressed impeccably. If he is somehow caught being less than impeccably dressed, he should behave as though it is comme il faut (even though he should not be speaking in a foreign language, especially French) .
    â€”T HE D UKE ’ S G UIDE TO C ORRECT B EHAVIOR

Chapter 8
    â€œD on’t wanna go.” Rose lifted her face, with its peeved expression, to Lily.
    â€œI do not want to go,” she corrected her, then caught herself at Rose’s satisfied look. “That is, I am not saying you can stay here, but the proper way to say what you just said is ‘I do not want to go.’”
    â€œI do not want to go,” Rose repeated, raising her chin in an unmistakable look of defiance. Lily tried not to laugh at how much her charge resembled her father at that moment. “I want to stay here with Mr. Snuffles and Maggie. We’re having a tea party. With scones!” she added, as though that should be enough to convince Lily of the wisdom of her plans.
    It did sound like fun. Much less disturbing, at least, than heading out on a shopping expedition with the duke to purchase clothing for both the new females in his household. And with more scones.
    Rose must have seen how she was on the verge of relenting, since she put her sweetest smile on as
she blinked her enormous eyes. “Please?” she said in a pleading voice.
    â€œWe shall consult the duke.”
    â€œHe’ll say yes,” Rose said confidently. And likely he would, since he’d already said he had no experience with young children, and the prospect of taking a reluctant child out for several hours was enough to make even experienced caregivers blanch.
    â€œWe will see,” is all Lily replied.
    When he was presented with the