Chapter Ten

H e'd almost kissed her, Lexi thought. She'd seen his hungry eyes, the tension on his forehead. If only Wendy hadn't barged in to retrieve the book, Lexi could have had a fairy tale moment of her own. Instead, as if in a bad dream, Lexi had taken her family's carriage to return home for dinner with her potential husband, the one she'd needed to ensure her future but didn't want anymore. How much nicer it would have been to speak to the prince-dentist and to remain secluded in his little kitchen where the pressures of London's elite couldn't reach her. Yet, the farther she got from 87 Harley Street and the mysterious prince-doctor behind, the stronger her urge to return.

By the time Lexi entered through the front door and handed her pelisse to the butler, she was shuffling her footsteps and letting her shoulders hang. Devoid of a home for her future, the only part of what lay before her that she felt ready for was to withdraw into her room and cry onto her pillow.

Lexi made for the stairs leading to her chambers. What had felt like a grand stage when she descended in the latest fashions for the season's balls was now no more than a steep climb to her room. There, she'd be readied for the dinner she'd wanted before meeting Nick, but now wanted to avoid. The glamour of being an earl's daughter eluded her, for all she wanted was to be the common class girl the prince-dentist could love.

"Woo-hoo!" came a voice from the hall. "Lexi? Mother?"

Melissa.

Lexi turned to the door and saw her parents emerging from the dining room and Melissa, standing in the foyer, dressed in a bright red pelisse with white kitten gloves and shoes with matching bows.

"Mother, oh, how I've missed you!" When Melissa hugged Mother, Lexi shot her a sharp look.

"Darling, what brings you home?" Mother purred.

Melissa winked at Lexi before she kissed their father on the cheek. "Let's just say I'm back for a while."

"Back where?" Lexi asked. If Melissa had already been sent home, her family's doom was so near that even dinner with a potential candidate for marriage might come too late to safeguard her from ruination.

"Home," Melissa said as if it were understood that she'd gone on holiday from being Prinny's mistress. She didn't seem concerned, and Lexi couldn't decide whether to take heart or feel sorry for her sister, for she surely miscalculated what a "holiday" from being Prinny's mistress might entail. Again, it seemed that the circumstances of Lexi's life were stifling, taking every chance for happiness and choices for her own fate away from her. Being an earl's second daughter sometimes felt as though she had as much control to steer her own path as a feather blowing in the wind—none.

Truth be told, it didn't matter to Lexi why her older sister was back and where she'd been, as long as she was here. Melissa's arrival had caused quite a tumult, and the house was a flurry of activity. With Melissa back to take half of their parents' attention, Lexi could enjoy the calm she would have to think about her prince-dentist. Would it be cheating on her future husband if she kept the memory of the prince-dentist in her mind?

What was less than an hour ago seemed so far removed, but Lexi held the memory close in her heart. She might have imagined it, but there'd been a moment when he pulled the towel and her along when she thought he might kiss her. Like in Princess Leela's stories, time had slowed.

Another hour passed and the evening of the dinner arrived with the important guest, the potential husband that Mrs. Dove-Lyon had found. Father had played his part and sent a messenger with an official dinner invitation to the address Mrs. Dove-Lyon had provided. Lexi had informed her parents of the basics of her meeting with Mrs. Dove-Lyon, but not everything. Still, given their risqué position among the ton, both of her parents agreed that time was of the essence and dinner had been prepared to welcome the candidate who, if all went well, would officially court Lexi for a few days and then schedule a swift wedding. Hopefully, it would happen before Melissa returned to court.

Lexi donned her finest dress; her lady's maid curled her hair with the latest hot iron Melissa had brought and adorned her with the strand of plain pearls borrowed from Mother. When her maid left and Lexi found herself alone in her room, she considered herself a bride unsuitable for a duke. Because of her teeth, she'd been touched, marked, and treated as far as her father was concerned. Yet for that, she was still unblemished and pure.

Still, she couldn't deny that the doctor's golden touch had changed something deep in her heart. It was her secret, and when she opened her mouth wide and looked deep into her mirror to see the flecks of gold, she was sure no one else would notice. It was her secret to keep, and the prince-dentist had promised to keep it, too. He'd not only made her pain go away and restored her smile, but he'd also healed something inside of her that she hadn't even known was broken. Beyond that, he'd spoken to her as if she were a treasure. His expectant gaze when he made her the spiced chai and the boyish timid glance when he'd served her the delicious rice were more earnest and kinder than any of the luxury of the fake smiles among the ton. Among the aristocrats in Town, she was no more than chattel to be traded with her prized dowry, exchanged from her father to a titled husband.

Except the dentist's words swept back into her mind just as every thought circled back to him. How wonderful would it be to feel as Leela did in the books, held in the arms of a strong man whose blood boiled with passion when he kissed her? Lexi pressed her lips together. She wanted that passion; she didn't want just to be wed and be tucked away like most of Melissa's friends who'd made their debut and married.

The fact was that Lexi had never seen them again. Some were still in London but unable to attend balls because they were with children. Others had left Town because of husbands who preferred their wives to spend time in the country, to keep them out of sight, or for other obscure reasons. But to Lexi, none of the women seemed happy.

Lexi wanted to be happy, and she wanted the kind of kiss that would bring her blood to boil.

If nobody has kissed you…I'll do it.

Besides Prince Jai from her stories, Lexi never imagined a man who'd do such wicked things. What exactly went on to bring Princess Leela's blood to heat, she wasn't sure, but she wanted to find out. She'd imagined the canopy bed and the jasmine flowers, the princess's long black hair draping over the body of her prince. If it were she laying on that bed, Lexi thought, she'd wish to be kissed all over.

She felt her face heat that the wicked idea; the faceless man in her imagination had to be a nobleman, her husband. Except he actually had a face now—the impossible one of the prince-dentist. She imagined his clover-green eyes peeking at her as he kissed her belly. Her heart fluttered at the thought, and she felt that heat spread from her cheeks, all over her body.

Twenty minutes later, after proper introductions had been made, the cavalier candidate Mrs. Dove-Lyon had secured—for how else could her services be described—was led to the table at Lexi's family's townhouse. The room came alive with the sound of hushed conversations and the rustling of silk. A pink and yellow bouquet of freshly cut tulips, arranged meticulously in a silver centerpiece, adorned the center of the table. Delicately folded linen napkins rested atop each porcelain plate, held together by the silver rings that matched the vase and the wine carafe. While the servants brought the second course under a brightly polished cloche, Father glowered from the sidelines as Mother all but accepted Stonebridge into the family. She also apparently ignored that Lexi's potential husband was the same man Father had been investigating for months. Lexi thought that if Melissa hadn't become Prinny's mistress and caused a need for Lexi to be married quickly and suitably, Father wouldn't have accepted him as a suitor. More importantly, she would have had her pick of the bachelors and wouldn't have to resort to the matchmaker's services to secure a husband.

Picking on the seams of the cotton napkin in her lap, Lexi sat across from Stonebridge, the Duke of Duncan, and wondered what she'd gotten herself into. He was tall. His ashy-blond hair was too short to be fashionable but probably was rather more sensible. Although his physique seemed athletic, in his blue velvet coat, complemented by his neatly tied, creamy white cravat, he seemed to be a man who pored over ledgers for hours just like Father. He was well-groomed with clean and short fingernails. When he turned to her, his teeth seemed clean, and his gaze was friendly but—Lexi couldn't quite figure out the exact right term—perhaps it was detached .

He was neatly presented, and his manners were flawless; he was the perfect husband in an ideal package, and he was all gentleman. He bowed to Mother but ignored the servants. He behaved normally, as any man of the ton would, especially one befitting his station as a duke. And with a little luck, Lexi would manage to become his duchess. She'd wanted that so badly that she'd paid Mrs. Dove-Lyon a quarter of her annual stipend to get to this point. But now that he was here, she'd lost her interest in such perfection. It was all right to be flawed and she wanted to be loved despite her flaws. Perfection was a utopia, an elusive goal without a destination.

"I have to say, my lord, I didn't expect to be courting your daughter," their elegant guest told her father. "He's been investigating my lineage for a while, you should know." He spoke in Lexi's direction with a friendly tone but with an undercurrent that made her curdle on the inside like milk left out on a hot day. As lovely and bright as the warming sun was, like his smile, Lexi feared he'd burn her.

"It is a great honor to welcome you, Your Grace," Mother said.

"The Duke of Duncan, oh my!" Melissa chuckled behind her napkin. Lexi wished to know whatever Melissa knew.

Lexi thought it best not to mention she'd paid London's most notorious matchmaker for the match with a duke. "I was aware Father had investigated your lineage, but he didn't tell me why, exactly."

The duke flinched and Lexi never received a response. Indeed, though the rest of the conversation passed rather well, Lexi felt she'd walked into the wrong opera. A drama was unfolding, and she couldn't leave, for it was her life. Melissa and the duke's eyes met a few times, and Lexi could swear their gazes to one another lingered longer than was appropriate.

"What exactly do you wish for in a wife, Your Grace?" Lexi asked when the soup was served.

"Darling, what a nuisance of a question." Her mother's cheeks twitched as she addressed the duke. "Pardon my daughter, Your Grace, she's still so young and inexperienced—"

"Not at all, it's a fair point. May I answer?" He spoke smoothly as if he'd rehearsed the answer and perhaps the cold man had.

A nervous laugh escaped her mother.

"I'm hoping for a female to help guide my son. Since his mother passed away, he has refused to return to Eton, and I find myself unable to handle him, along with the estate."

"So, you need a governess?" Lexi asked.

"Alexis!" Her mother drew back, her eyes wide in shock.

"It sounds like the advertisement for a governess position rather than the request for my hand in marriage."

The duke was cold as a dog's snout. He even had an heir already. Whyever did Mrs. Dove-Lyon point him toward her family? If she were such a notorious and omniscient matchmaker, Lexi feared there was more to the Duke of Duncan than she'd been privy to, and she already didn't like him.

Melissa, however, laughed at his jokes, sighed when he mentioned the illness that had befallen his first wife, and—Lexi convulsed—she'd even stirred his tea after she'd dropped two pieces of rock sugar in it and handed him the saucer with the cup as if it were a gift from a fairy.

As the evening grew to an end, Lexi became more and more eager to seek out Mrs. Dove-Lyon and rescind her agreement.

Even though the duke was well-spoken and his manners as impeccable as his appearance, Lexi's mind wandered to her prince-dentist. He'd shaken her core and affected her even in the most awkward situations. His dashing eyes had distracted her from the scratching sounds caused by his scraping tool during her treatment, but his Indian chai had bewitched her. Or was it his light touch when he'd rested his hand on her cheek? Whatever he'd stirred within her, the whirlwind of emotion hadn't settled over the last days; it had gotten stronger.

After dinner, the duke requested a moment alone with her father.

In a fruitless effort to eavesdrop, Lexi remained close to Father's door and sorted through the post, finding another letter from her friend Ashley. The voices in Father's room were mere murmurs and she couldn't make anything out. Surely, they were speaking about her and her dowry.

Lexi tasted acid. She'd been a diamond of the first water and now it felt as though Father had to pay a doubtful widowered duke to accept her as his second wife.

A few moments later, the duke emerged from Father's study. "Thank you, milord." He bowed to her father. Lexi's heart sank with the realization that he most likely had Father's permission to do whatever was necessary to marry her. The butler brought him his top hat, and Lexi was relieved he was departing. He couldn't be gone quickly enough so that she could run to her room and cry herself to sleep, dreaming the impossible dream that she was Princess Leela and the prince-dentist her Jai.

"So soon?" she asked with a sideways glance, still holding the other envelopes on the pewter tray in the foyer that had caught her eye before their guest had come from Father's study. The duke came to stand before her. She smelled the liquor on his breath and couldn't help but cover her face with the envelopes. He squinted at them and then, as if hit by a bullet, he jerked his head back. "Why are you showing me this?"

Lexi dropped the letter from her face and pretended to use it as a fan. "Oh, this? It's nothing, just a bill." She looked at the information written on the inside corner.

Dr. Dustin Fitzwater, 87 Harley Street

"A bill?" His tone was strict, and the initial feeling she had about his calm demeanor turned out to be a vast underestimation. Even hell couldn't melt his icy stare. "Explain yourself."

"I don't need to explain to you, Your Grace."

"As my betrothed, you do."

Lexi's heart hit the floor faster than a hot potato slipping from one's hand. It had been one thing to suspect her fate, even to ask for it, but hearing it from him made the abstract idea real.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I'll see you soon, Lady Alexis. Good night."