The Heart of a Duke by Samantha Grace

slap, he tucked them
into his pocket decisively. "Men such as myself do not require love
when forming a match. Once cannot fall in love with every pretty
face he sees. If that were the case, he might end up married to his
mistress. Marriage for a duke is pure business, cousin, you know
this. I've no time for love."
    "That's the most pompous, asinine
thing I've ever heard come tumbling from your lips, Langley, and
that's saying something." Jacob jerked to his feet and stalked to
the sideboard to pour himself a brandy. He removed the stopper from
the bottle, then slammed the bottle back on the wooden surface, his
glass still empty. Rage on Elle's behalf burned in his chest. "She
deserves more than cool civility from you. And she sure as hell
doesn’t deserve the embarrassment of you traipsing about Town with
a mistress. Don't you see the disservice you do to her, and
yourself, by not allowing yourself to truly see her?"
    "Do not tell me how to conduct my affairs.
You, who has never managed to even come close to properly courting
a woman," Langley retorted, his gaze furious.
    If only his cousin knew the reason
Jacob had never flirted with the idea of marriage was because the
one woman he wanted was already promised to him .
    "At least, I'm honest about my
intentions."
    He wasn't, not really. He was a blasted
coward, and she would never know how he felt about her, not if he
had anything to say about it.
    "I'm honest!" Langley's face grew red as his
large hands fisted at his sides. "I've never claimed to love Lady
Eleanore, nor will I, but I will take care of her and see that
she's as happy as I can make her."
    "Without love and faithfulness,
how happy can you
make her, cousin?"
    He must stop baiting Langley, but the
selfishness of his cousin's words ricocheted around in Jacob's
brain, wrecking havoc on his self control. He knew the wedding
plans had frustrated his cousin, but he hadn't dreamed of the
callous depths of disregard the man had for his own
bride.
    Langley stiffened, drawing himself
up regally, and looked down his nose at Jacob. "I believe we've
exhausted the limits of this conversation for the moment. The Earl
of Worthington is waiting for me in the billiards room, and we
have important matters to discuss. I will see you at supper."
    Jacob said nothing as his cousin strode from
the room, boot heels clicking in precision on the marble floor. He
was getting good at watching people flee his presence from that
particular door. One might even call it his newest hobby. Christ
knew he could use a distraction from brooding over the situation
with Elle and fighting with Langley.
    He was so damned tired of feeling guilty all
the time, of burying his feelings, and doing what was expected of
him. It was part of being an adult, he supposed, but it was
wearying. He was tired of pretending that he had nothing to
hide.
    Even the best of men broke sometimes, and he
could hardly be counted in their number. He was fair to middling,
when it came down to the grit of it, it seemed.
    Jacob thought of Elle's mischievous blue gaze
as she had struggled not to laugh after nearly taking off Langley's
head with the pall mall ball earlier. His own lips curved as he
lifted the decanter and poured himself a drink.
    Perhaps he wasn't even as good a man as
middling, but with the memory of Elle in the sunshine warming him,
he found he didn't care in the least.

Chapter Five
    Elle knew the moment she pushed open Langley's
study door that he wasn't there. The place behind his desk was
empty, the piles of papers from the other day gone, and his pen
neatly lined up on the blotter. She stepped inside the room anyway,
and dropped down on the settee near the fireplace with a defeated
sigh.
    She had decided to give her experiment with
the duke one last shot, since the house party ended in just two
days. Perhaps, if he would just kiss her already, then she could
see if there was hope for them. But he had vanished after their
pall mall game, and she feared he