Page 38 of The Courtship Dance

She could not repress a laugh at that. “You can be a trifle…overwhelming. You are a duke, after all, and when you get that look on your face—you know, as if a muddy pup had just put his paws on your best boots…”

“I beg your pardon. I am never unkind to puppies.” With an effort, he controlled the quiver at the corner of his mouth. “And I must say, I have never noticed that you seemed to be in the least in awe of my being a duke. Not even when you were fourteen.”

“It is difficult to be in awe of someone when you have seen him sliding down the roof of a barn into a haystack,” Francesca shot back.

Rochford let out a hoot of laughter. “When was that?”

“At Dancy Park, when I was eight and you were thirteen. You and Dom and I had been riding, and we stopped at Jamie Evans’ farm. The groom tried to stop us, but it was no use. There was a great pile of hay, and Dom jumped off a fence rail into it and dared me to jump into it, too.”

“And you said, ‘I’ll go off the roof!’ Of course. How could I have forgotten that? You were incorrigible.”

“Well, I only did it because you told Dom that I was much too small to do such a thing, so I had to prove to you that I wasn’t. And then you ordered me not to.”

“Ah, yes. Of course that would have set you to it immediately. I was less wise at thirteen.”

“Then you jumped off the roof, as well.”

“I could hardly refrain if you were daring enough to do it.”

“If that isn’t just like you!” Francesca exclaimed in mock exasperation. “Putting the blame on me.”

“That is precisely where it belonged most of the time. You were a mischievous imp.”

“And you were entirely too full of yourself.”

His smile broadened. “One has to wonder, then, why you chose to tag about after me.”

“I did not do any such thing,” Francesca retorted, adding with great dignity, “You and Dom simply happened to go where I wanted to.”

He chuckled, his dark eyes alight, and rose from his seat. “Another brandy?”

“I better not. I am feeling quite pleasant. Any more and I would be absolutely tiddly.” She took a last sip of her drink and stood up. “Would you like another?”

“No. I am fine.”

She took his glass and crossed over to the cabinet to set the snifters down beside the decanter. Not looking at him, she said casually, “Do you have a preference, then?”

“A preference? What do you mean?”

“For one of the girls.” She turned back. “Are you more in favor of one than another?”

He looked at her for a moment, then replied blandly, “Yes, I prefer one.”

“Who?” Francesca walked back to him. The question seemed suddenly very important. Which of the women had caught his eye? Did he plan to pursue her?

“Not Lady Caroline,” he told her dryly. He took a step closer to her. His voice was low as he went on, “Tell me, my dear, do you plan to oversee my courtship, as well?”

Standing this close to him, looking up into his face, stirred an odd feeling in Francesca, something warm and yet a trifle frightening, as well. She remembered that time on the roof of the barn, when she had stared down at the haystack below her, and her heart had hammered madly inside her ribs with fear, yet she’d been oddly drawn to jump, as well. She felt something like that now, as she gazed into his black eyes.

She pulled her gaze away, turning her head to the side as she said, her voice a little breathless, “I am sure that you will be able to handle that well enough on your own.”

“I would not be so sure, if I were you,” Rochford replied. “After all, look at my past attempts at wooing women. Obviously I have not been terribly successful.” He paused, then went on, “Perhaps you should give me instructions in wooing.”

“Indeed?” Francesca tilted her chin up challengingly. “I hardly think that is necessary. I am sure that you know well enough how to compliment a woman.”

Her breath was coming much too rapidly, she knew. It was absurd to feel this way—warm and loose, yet tingling with barely suppressed anticipation.

“Such as telling her that her hair shimmers like gold in the candlelight?” he asked, his eyes going to her hair. “Or that her eyes glow like sapphires?”