Free The Duke's Daughter by Sasha Cottman Page B

expect to learn all of these and have it as second nature in a matter of days. It will take time,’ Clarice offered.
    She was laid up on a long daybed under the window, having refused to remain in bed nursing her morning sickness. The dowager countess Lady Alice sat in another chair, embroidering small blue birds onto a white linen baby smock.
    ‘Thank you, Clarice, your encouragement is precious,’ Avery replied.
    Lucy took his hand once more and they began the intricate dance that was the waltz. For all of Eve’s good-natured ribbing, he and Lucy had actually come a long way with their dance lessons.
    His quadrille was passable, and he was able to get through a whole set while holding a conversation. His skill at the waltz, however, was less than acceptable.
    ‘I would suggest if you are at a party and think you cannot manage a dance without stepping on the toes of your partner that you cry off. We wouldn’t want you to get a reputation as a country clod,’ Lady Alice offered.
    Avery was about to correct the dowager and remind her that he was indeed a country clod, but something in her look stopped him. After their first misstep, Lady Alice had made every undertaking to make Avery feel welcome in his new home. In the dowager, he sensed a kindred spirit. She was warm, but there was a definite strength about her which he admired.
    ‘Sound advice,’ he replied.
    Coming from a life of living rough and scrounging for the next meal, the change in his circumstances since Waterloo still left him scratching his head. Never in his wildest dreams would he have ever imagined living in a place like Langham House, or dancing with such a beauty as Lucy Radley.
    ‘Place your hand in the small of my back,’ Lucy instructed once more.
    Avery nodded.
    At the first twirl, he stepped clumsily on the edge of Lucy’s skirt. A curse was halfway to his lips when she shifted slightly to the left and he regained his foothold. The warm smile she wore did not falter.
    You really are a skilled dancer.
    ‘Keep going,’ she whispered.
    He saw her make a sideways glance in the direction of her cousin Eve as they passed the piano. He gripped Lucy’s right hand and swung her into a strong, confident turn.
    ‘Better!’ Lady Alice cried.
    Lucy’s blue eyes sparkled with delight. Since their discussion in the library he had surmised that Lucy had been chosen to assist him in the ways of the
ton.
If it were true and she found him a burden, she hid it well. For his own part, being this close to her was a pleasurable torture.
    If only you were not a duke’s daughter and I were not a man without honour. What a pair we could make.
    He pushed the impossible thought away. They were who they were and no number of dance lessons could change that fact.
    ‘Excellent progress, Mr Fox. But for our few remaining lessons, I suggest we stick to the quadrille. It’s better to be a master of one dance than an apprentice of them all,’ she said.
    He frowned. Was she cutting him off from her assistance?
    ‘Only a few more?’ he replied.
    ‘Yes, my family are leaving London for our estate in Scotland at the end of next week; the season is nearly over. My younger brother Stephen will be arriving from Eton tomorrow to accompany us. We won’t be back in town for months.’
    The peculiarities of upper-class society still escaped Avery. Why would people leave their perfectly comfortable homes in London to venture all the way to a chilly, windswept castle in Scotland? After winters spent in the mountains of Portugal and Spain, snow was the last thing he ever wished to see again.
    Fortunately Lord Langham’s estate was in the mild climes of Norfolk. He was more than grateful for that blessing.
    As the music stopped and Lucy took a seat next to Eve at the piano, Lady Alice held out her hand to him.
    ‘Come, take me for a turn about the room, Avery,’ she commanded, snapping her fingers at him.
    He assisted her from her chair and as she stood the dowager countess