One Dance with a Duke (Stud Club #1)

“No, don’t.” Amelia grabbed her brother’s arm. “Stay. Don’t you let him chase you from this house.”


“Damn, but the two of you are exhausting in your demands,” Jack said. “I’ll just go to bed. If I’m allowed.”

After his brother-in-law left the room, Spencer placed his hands on Amelia’s shoulders. In a belated attempt at tenderness, he stroked his thumb back and forth along her collarbone. “Amelia, I’ve made inquiries in recent weeks. Your brother owes a vast sum of money. Thousands. To a man far less forgiving than I.” He didn’t give the man’s name; she wouldn’t recognize it anyhow. But Jack’s creditor was the proprietor of several of London’s most infamous gaming halls, and he was a man known for his ruthlessness. It wasn’t a business a man rose to the top of without excelling at ruthlessness.

The tears began to spill from her eyes. “He looks so terrible, so haunted.”

“I don’t doubt it. He’s probably living in streets and taverns, unable to go to his own home for fear of endangering his safety. If he doesn’t make good on the debts soon …” He let the fear in her eyes complete the sentence for him. “I can’t countenance simply giving him the funds, but I will purchase this house. For you.”

“Why on earth would I want it for myself?”

A small spark of hope warmed him inside, to know that she’d so completely forgotten the terms of their original agreement. “I intended to buy it in case you were unhappy living with me. After a child is born.” He reached to wipe a tear from her cheek. “Of course, now I’m hoping it can be a summer retreat for us both.”

“Spencer, this place is a piece of d’Orsay history. Our house in Town is long gone, and you’ve seen the ruins of Beauvale Castle. This cottage is all we have left. Our family pride is the very mortar holding these stones together. I can’t believe you would so callously strip it from us.”

“Callously? Perhaps this place belongs to Beauvale in name, but you are the one who cares for it so deeply. And what of our family? Why can’t we begin a new chapter of this house’s history, together?”

“What sort of chapter begins with tossing my brother to the wolves?”

By the devil, he was tired of hearing about her brother. When he managed to speak, his voice vibrated with anger. “How long are you going to keep defending him? You heard Jack. He’s on the verge of clearing his debt, once this transaction is completed. And all he wants is to get right back at the gaming table and drown himself again. He’s on course to meet with true disaster, and he has no compunction about dragging you along with him. If he stays in this house, he will work on you, make you all manner of promises … and then just devastate you all the more when you wake up one morning to find he’s made off with your pearls.”

“He wouldn’t do that.” Her hand went to her throat as she shrugged away. “And if you truly thought I’d be so happy for you to purchase Briarbank, why didn’t you tell me? Instead you’ve gone behind my back, manipulating everyone to your own purpose. Even the first week of our marriage … you held my brother’s debt over my head, just to get me to the card table and get your hands on my—”

With a gasp, she pulled up short. She gestured toward the library and lowered her voice to an accusatory whisper. “That’s the entire reason for this house party, isn’t it? That little card game you’re about to play. You’ve arranged this whole holiday just to win those tokens and that dratted horse.”

He shrugged, unable to refute it.

Closing in on him, she jabbed a finger in his chest. “And you would lecture me on misplaced priorities. You led me to believe we were welcoming these people as friends and guests. I thought you wanted to be open and honest with them, gain their trust and cooperation. But no. Forget sincerity, we’re back to gamesmanship. All I ask is for you to give Jack a chance. Talk with him, help him see his errors, let him learn from your example. But you won’t hear of it—and no surprise, given the manner in which you treat your own kin. You never did speak with Claudia today, did you?”

“No.” He heaved a guilty sigh. No, he hadn’t. He could have offered some excuse, but it would have been a lie.

“I didn’t think so. My brother may have his problems, but you’re delusional if you present yourself as an exemplar of behavior. You’re so closed off and insular, it’s a wonder you can see beyond your own nose. The wealthy, intelligent duke who welcomes all manner of insidious gossip rather than admit to feeling uneasy in crowds? Who’d stand accused of murder rather than fall under suspicion of possessing a heart?”