Chapter 4
Joanna stared up at the strange man who towered over her now that they were standing. His face was still arranged in a scowl while his cold blue eyes bored into her. His anger had been rising throughout the date, she was certain of that.
He rose to her provocations and even threatened her at the end. How else was she to interpret it when he said he could be a menace? Everyone knew he was a menace after everything that had happened with the baker and baron, even if his motives were more admirable than the ton realized.
What she would certainly not think about was how sensual the threat sounded from him, and how it sent a thrill of excitement down her spine.
“My lady? Did you hear me? Will you be available next week?”
Certainly, she misheard the words that just left him. “I beg your pardon?” she managed to say weakly.
“May I see you again next week, Lady Penelope?” he said smoothly.
The scandal sheets mentioned the Duke of Ice to be cold-blooded and ruthless when it came to business. But they never mentioned he might be completely devoid of common sense. “Why?” She asked.
“You intrigue me,” he said. “I admit, I was not looking forward to today. I thought your company would be tedious and dull. Instead, I am pleasantly surprised.”
Of course. She was entertainment for him. Most likely, he wanted to toy with her for fun until he decided to get serious about finding a proper wife. Perhaps it would even entertain him to humiliate her further in front of the ton.
Joanna finally recovered her senses enough to wipe the stunned look off her face.
She drew herself up to her full height and glared at him.
“Is that how you attempt to flatter a lady? To imply you thought her tedious and dull? I am glad I managed to exceed your high expectations of this date, but you have failed to meet my very low expectations. I do not wish to have another date with you. Good afternoon.”
As she turned to leave, he caught her wrist and spun her around to look at him. Joanna’s eyes widened. His firm grip on her wrist sent a frisson of excitement through her. His hand was incredibly warm and gentle. She snatched her hand back before she could think further on the feeling.
“How dare you!” she hissed as she looked around. Thankfully, everyone else in the shop was absorbed in their own conversations, and no one noticed his improper touch.
The duke did not look phased in the slightest. Instead, his gaze was unyielding as he watched her, as if he were a hunter tracking his prey. “In what ways have I failed to meet your low expectations?”
She felt frozen to the spot, and her breath caught in her throat. Even though he was no longer holding onto her wrist, he had effectively trapped her all the same. His look was enough to keep her still. “You remind me of a hawk,” she finally managed to say.
“A hawk? A Beast then?”
“The worst kind!”
“Oh, but ladies love Beasts. They’re the only ones who can make you scream,” he said with a slow smile.
“Well, that may be so…But they still don’t meet with them for second dates.”
She reached out her right hand, searching for Lydia’s hand or arm, just to ground herself at the moment before she drowned in his blue eyes. Lydia understood. She grasped Joanna’s hand and quietly steered her to the exit.
Joanna breathed a sigh of relief as soon as they were out the door. “Did I hallucinate?” she whispered to the older lady. “I must have come down with a horrible fever that causes grotesque delusions. That’s the only way to explain what just happened.”
“If you are referring to His Grace desiring to see you again, then I am afraid you did not hallucinate that, my lady.” Lydia was no longer trying to hide her smile.
“Perhaps he is the one having delusions, then.”
Penelope’s carriage came around the corner just then and stopped in front of them. The two women were quick to get inside, where the young lady was eagerly waiting.
“How did it go?” Penelope asked. “Was he properly disgusted?”
“Not in the slightest,” Joanna said.
She groaned. “What are you talking about, Joanna? Oh, I should have known you could not pretend to be wicked even if you tried. I would have been better off going on the date myself. I know how to act horribly much better than you, after all.”
“I was wicked!” Joanna exclaimed. “I spilled tea on him and talked about Mary Wollstonecraft. I talked with my mouth full and did everything I could to insult him, including telling him that he looks like a hawk!”
“Does he?” Penelope asked.
“Oh yes,” Joanna said, remembering the way the duke looked at her. Goosebumps rose on her skin as she remembered his icy gaze boring into her. “Indeed, he does.”
The young lady looked at Lydia. “Was she truly awful?”
The older woman nodded. “If this date wasn’t a charade, I would have scolded her myself for her behavior. However, His Grace was amused by her. He wishes to see her—well, you—next week.”
Penelope looked intrigued. “He was amused? I didn’t think a man like him could be amused by anything.”
“He isn’t exactly what the scandal sheets say he is,” Joanna said. “The former Baron of Boxton slapped his stableboy and that baker attacked one of his maids. That’s why he ruined them.”
Penelope sniffed. “If you can believe him.”
Joanna did believe him. It was probably the one sincere moment they shared for the entire date.
“Of course, he is still quite frightening. I made him angry very effectively, but I never phased him.” She couldn’t help but smile about how quickly he started spouting off nonsense to match her own.
“He says he kicks puppies and kills flowers in his free time.”
Penelope looked at Lydia with a quizzical expression on her face.
The maid covered her mouth and chuckled. “The conversation did get quite fantastical. If it’s not too bold of me to say, the duke is a formidable man to be sure. But I do not think he was angry as much as bewildered and amused.”
“He looked quite angry to me,” Joanna said.
“He scowled the entire time and he threatened me at the end. That’s when I knew to fall silent.
I wouldn’t want him to cause trouble for you, after all.
” There were moments where she almost saw his lips twitch into a smile, but she must have imagined it.
“However, perhaps he prefers being angry to being bored. I should have bored him instead of provoked him. Then he wouldn’t have asked to see you again. ”
Penelope groaned and covered her face with her hands. “This will not do. If he sends a note to the house, then my parents will simply accept on my behalf no matter how much I plead for mercy. If another date is arranged, you must see him again.”
The thought filled Joanna with a spark of excitement.
As frightening as the duke was, conversing with him was thrilling.
Perhaps it was because she no longer spoke to many people who she was not related to, or maybe it was because for once she could say what she pleased and she didn’t have her father’s reputation hanging over her head.
But despite the trouble it would bring, she secretly hoped he did call again so she could go on another date.
She certainly couldn’t say that out loud to Penelope, who would have to endure the consequences of whatever Joanna did during her time with the duke.
“Perhaps he will come to his senses,” Joanna said.
“The gossip columns declare him cold, but not irrational. There is no rational reason why he would want to see me again after today. I am sure, despite what he said after tea, that we have seen the last of him.”