Scandal And The Duchess by Jennifer Ashley Page B

look surprised or concerned.
    “Oh dear,” Rose said when the man closed his mouth and switched his unnerving focus to her. “Has there been a general declaration?”
    “I read seven newspapers today,” Lord Ian said, still staring at Rose. “All say the same thing. But the engagement can’t be real until there is an official announcement, so the newspapers are making it up.” He switched his gaze to Steven. “Why are they?”
    Steven did not look alarmed. “Let us adjourn to a box upstairs, Ian, my friend.” He reached to put a hand on Ian’s shoulder then pulled back before touching him, as though thinking better of it. “And I’ll explain everything.”

Chapter Nine
    Beth was delighted with the ruse. In an elegant box that belonged to the Duke of Kilmorgan, she clasped her hands and laughed at Steven’s tale of meeting Rose and his decision to begin the pretense. Rose listened with some trepidation, but Beth appeared to find nothing wrong with their behavior.
    “Marvelous,” Beth said. “That stopped a few wagging tongues, I imagine.”
    “Now they’re wagging about this betrothal,” Rose said. “Wagging very hard, it seems. Steven wouldn’t bring a newspaper upstairs today.”
    “I didn’t want you worrying, Rosie.” Steven laced his fingers through Rose’s. “You have enough to think on already.”
    Beth watched him kiss Rose’s fingers and raised her brows. “Are you certain it’s only a ruse?”
    Steven winked at her. “For now.” Rose tried to pretend it was all part of the game, but her face went hot.
    Ian appeared to have lost interest in the entire conversation. His attention was fixed now on a silk ribbon attached to Beth’s sleeve, which he’d untied from its ornamental bow. Now he wrapped one end around his large finger, rubbed his thumb over it, unwound it, and started the process over again. He sat very close to Beth, his thigh overlapping into her chair as he continued to caress her ribbon.
    He was an unusual man, certainly. Odd, even. But watching him, Rose saw how gentle he was with Beth, and how he couldn’t stay far from her. He liked watching her too, his gaze softening when she smiled at him, while with Steven and Rose he was still a bit stiff. Shy, Rose thought, though this seemed more than simple shyness.
    Beth possessed an openness her husband lacked. She engaged Rose in conversation without stiltedness, neither awed by the fact that Rose was a duchess or put off by the rumors about her. Beth spoke to Rose as though they were already friends, and Rose, for the first time in years, had an enjoyable evening.
    Rose now understood Steven’s insistence that they watch the play with the Mackenzies from this box. Plenty of lorgnettes and opera glasses trained on them from other boxes and the stalls below, and plenty of heads moved together to discuss it. No one paid much attention to the play. But this box belonged to Hart Mackenzie, Duke of Kilmorgan, Lord Ian’s brother. None of the staring people would accost them here.
    When the drama onstage was over, and they all rose to leave, Steven suggested they all go to the Albion for a light meal before they retired. Ian said absolutely nothing, but annoyance flickered in his eyes.
    He wanted to be alone with his wife, Rose saw. Sitting with a stranger and even with Steven had difficult for him, she understood. In any other man, Rose might take this for rudeness, but having watched him all evening, Rose saw that Ian’s oddities made him different, and he knew it. He tried to blend in, but he knew.
    Rose saw too that Beth loved him. The little glances she’d given her husband to make sure he was all right and the secret looks they exchanged told Rose that theirs was a special bond indeed.
    She couldn’t help wishing for one exactly like it.
    “Perhaps not,” Rose said, while Steven waited for Beth’s answer. “I am rather tired. It’s been a wonderful evening, but we had a long day, and I’m weary.”
    Steven took