Page 11 of The Odyssean Duke

“I will escort you,” Stephan said at once.

Evelina cast him a vexed look. “I have already told you that is unnecessary.”

“I insist.”

“It is improper,” Evelina said. “You are a stranger.”

Stephan laughed at the absurdity of the remark. The lady had already engaged in far more disreputable behavior that same night, but she insisted that allowing him to escort her home was improper! “I have told you who I am,” he pointed out, “andwe have spoken for some time. You cannot say that we are strangers.”

“I can,” she argued. “I know that your name is Stephan, and you allege to be a duke.”

“Just as you allege to be a lady,” he said.

Stephan suspected that Evelinawasa lady, but teasing her was proving to be a most enjoyable pastime.

“You should introduce yourself first,” Evelina said. “Properly.”

Stephan smiled and bowed. “I am Stephan Burke, the Duke of Rothbury.”

Evelina furrowed her brow and seemed to consider him for a long moment. “Are you unmarried?”

“Why do you ask?”

Perhaps Evelina had come to the same conclusion that he had. She could not know his situation, but it did seem too perfect that they were both in the tavern at the same time and each with their own problem to be resolved.

“I wondered if you have abandoned your duchess to be in the tavern tonight,” Evelina said stiffly.

“There is no duchess. Are you interested in being one?”

He spoke only half-facetiously, waiting to see how she might respond. Evelina only smiled politely. “I rather enjoy being a widow,” she said.

“Yes,” he persisted. “The dazzling widow, the…baroness? Countess?”

“The Dowager Countess of Thornwall.”

“Charmed,” Stephan said. “I know where Thornwall House is and will see you safely there.”

Evelina frowned, something like accusation in her eyes. Stephan surmised that she did not appreciate his insistence on taking her home.

“You see, my lady,” Stephan said. “I have an invitation of another kind which you might consider.”

CHAPTER 5

The night was quiet in Mayfair, as Evelina slipped through the door. Already, her staff had gone to bed, but her pulse still jumped as the Duke of Rothbury entered behind her. She tried to soothe the uneasy energy that shot through her veins by silently reminding herself that she was the Dowager Countess of Thornwall, beholden to no husband’s mastery. Why should it matter if she was alone with an unmarried man? Or wearing another man’s clothing?

Evelina’s face grew warm. It seemed as if her disguise had not been nearly as effective as she had presumed, given that His Grace had recognized her as a woman at first glance.

The duke chuckled, and Evelina cast him a questioning glance. “Your house is quite lovely,” His Grace said. “It is not what I would have expected of you, the woman who sits in taverns and seeks out men for dalliances.”

“You knew that I was a lady,” Evelina said.

“I know.”

She waited for him to clarify his remark, but he did not. Evelina glanced at her lovely foyer with vases of flowers on every surface and the pale pink wallpaper. After the earl died, she had decorated the townhouse to suit her own tastes.

“I could say the same of you,” Evelina mused.

“Fair enough.”