The Duke's Men [1] What the Duke Desires by Sabrina Jeffries

Lisette was rivaling Mrs.
     Greasley for feminine distress beside him. How the blazes had it come to this? Women
     were not supposed to cry over such things. Were they?
    Even though he knew it was just her pretense, it was beginning to upset him. It smacked too much of the
     strange fits of tears that had often followed the demented accusations Father had
     flung at poor Mother, tears that had always kept Maximilian off balance.
    He didn’t like being off balance. And how could Lisette really be crying, anyway?
    My mother was an actress, you know.
    Confound the woman. He should have given that statement more credence. Clearly she
     had mastered the finer points of acting.
    With her little ploy, the minx had effectively backed him into a corner, and there
     wasn’t a confounded thing he could do about it without alerting the Greasleys to their
     masquerade.
    He was half tempted to do so. She wasn’t playing fair and deserved to suffer the consequences.
     He could certainly make her do so. After all, she’d said she didn’t care if people
     thought the worst of her. She’d even offered to masquerade as his mistress.
    Yet she’d backed away from the door to keep her neighbors from seeing her in her night
     rail. And blushed as she did so.
    Despite all her bold assertions, she wasn’t as immune to public opinion as she pretended.
     And the gentleman in him couldn’t let her be shamed in front of the Greasleys.
    As Greasley continued to profess his great affection for Mrs. Greasley, Maximilian
     bent to whisper in Lisette’s ear, “Very well, you win. For now. You can stop the tears.
     I won’t ask them any more questions about your brother.”
    With one last sniffle, she dabbed at her eyes, which really were red, and flashed
     him the smallest smile of triumph he’d ever seen.
    Then it vanished, and she stared up at him with a teary-eyed glance that would do
     her actress mother proud. “Oh, my dearest Max, that is the sweetest apology. I forgive
     you.”
    As he fought to suppress a snort, she tucked her hand about his arm, then laid her
     head against his shoulder. “And now I confess I’m very tired. I believe I shall sleep
     a bit.”
    The woman then actually proceeded to sleep. Or feign sleep. He wasn’t sure which.
     But as Greasley managed to assuage his wife’s temper, and intimate whispers became
     the only sounds in the carriage, Maximilian realized he had vastly underestimated
     Miss Bonnaud’s determination to protect her brother.
    Not to mention her ability to pull the wool over people’s eyes.
    His eyes narrowed. She was indeed a more talented actress than he’d given her credit
     for. Had he been too hasty in assuming she wasn’t in league with Bonnaud? Could she
     be part of the man’s fraudulent scheme?
    No, the servant he’d sent to Bow Street earlier would surely have uncovered some connection
     between her and her brother. Though she’d managed this contretemps well, she’d been flummoxed at the Golden Cross when confronted by Mrs.
     Greasley. And there was no way she or Bonnaud could have anticipated that he would
     show up at Manton’s this morning.
    Something she’d said earlier leapt into his mind. I could be one of Dom’s men.
    Ah, yes. She was feeling her oats, trying out her prowess at pretense. And doing it
     rather effectively.
    Well, she’d got the best of him this time, but it wouldn’t happen again, not if he
     could help it. He didn’t like being made a fool of, and he damned well didn’t like
     not being sure what she was up to.
    From now on, there would need to be an understanding between them. She could pull
     her tricks on anyone else they needed to fool. But she wasn’t going to pull them on
     him. There would be truth between them at least.
    A smile crept over his face. And he had a way to ensure that, too. Miss Bonnaud was
     about to find out that two could play her game.

5

    L ISETTE HAD SERIOUS trouble feigning sleep once Mrs. Greasley started talking