Amanda Mccabe - The Shy Duchess

Emily pressed herself even closer to him, wanting to be ever nearer and nearer. Wanting she knew not what. But her sudden movement sent him off balance, and he stumbled backward into the bank of potted palms.

She landed hard on top of him, and the impact, along with the crash of plants to the floor, shocked her awake. It was like a cold rain suddenly falling over her head.

Your Grace? someone said in a hushed, shocked voice.

Emily, still lying prone on Nicholass chest, peered up through the loosened skein of her hair. At least ten people stared back.

This was a nightmare. It simply had to be. It couldnt be real, couldnt be happening to her. Not to the Ice Princess, the most proper lady in all London.

Nicholas lifted her off and rose to his feet in one smooth movement. He held on to her hand and kept her firmly by his side.

I am sorry to disrupt the ball. Lady Emily and I were going to announce our betrothal at a small family dinner, but I see we should do so now. Lady Emily has made me the happiest man in England by agreeing to be my wife.

There would be no escape for either of them. Not now.

The Shy Duchess

Harlequin Historical #1032March 2011

Praise for Amanda McCabe

The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor

Three delightful authors pen a trilogy of stories about the Fitzmannings, Englands most scandalous family. The enchanting characters and their tender, sensual, warmhearted romances and atypical antics make for a sprightly, engaging anthology.

RT Book Reviews

To Kiss a Count

Author Amanda McCabe uses danger, humor, witty repartee, charismatic and compelling characters, a passionately suspense-filled plot and steamy love scenes to make this story a winner.

Romance Junkies

To Kiss a Count is a stand-alone book, but readers will want to read the two previous stories of the series already mentioned. Author Amanda McCabe provides readers with a very different and refreshing aspect to the Regency period.

Romance Reviews Today

To Deceive a Duke

Another well-paced story with fresh descriptions set amidst a romantic setting on the Sicilian coast, To Deceive a Duke gives us a strong sense of place, history and people as well as smooth character arcs and clever plot twists to supply a fun and satisfying page-turner.

Theseasonforromance.com

A Notorious Woman

Court intrigue, poison and murders fill this Renaissance romance. The setting is beautiful.

RT Book Reviews

The Shy Duchess

AMANDA M C CABE

Available from Harlequin Historical and AMANDA M C CABE

A Notorious Woman #861

A Sinful Alliance #893

High Seas Stowaway #930

The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor #943

Charlotte and the Wicked Lord

The Winter Queen #970

To Catch a Rogue #989

To Deceive a Duke #993

To Kiss a Count #997

Regency Christmas Proposals #1015

Snowbound and Seduced

The Shy Duchess #1032

Other works include:

Harlequin Historical Undone ebooks

Shipwrecked and Seduced

The Maids Lover

To Bed a Libertine

To Court, Capture and Conquer

Many thanks to two of my best writing friends,
Deb Marlowe and Diane Gaston,
for creating the Fitzmanning family with me!
Its been such a wonderful, fun journey.

Contents

Chapter One

L ady Emily Carroll wished with all her might that the polished parquet floor beneath her satin slippers would open up and pull her down into the fiery pits of hell.

It would be far preferable to Lady Ormans ball.

Emily hid behind a bank of towering potted palms, the silk-papered wall at her back as she peered between the green fronds at the crowd. Lady Ormans rout was the invitation of the Season. Everyone who was anyone at alland a few nobodies who managed to slip by the footmenwas gathered in the sparkling ballroom. Thousands of candles cast their light over the sheen of fine silk, the glitter of sapphires and rubies, and the snap of lace fans.

It was quite the dreadful crush that every London hostess longed for. The dance floor was swirling with the patterns of a country dance, while thickets of people packed around its edges to laugh and chatter and stare. Their voices blurred into a high-pitched, echoing cacophony where no words could be made out at all.

Not that it mattered, Emily thought. No one came to such a gathering for rational conversation. They came to be seen, to have everyone know they were important enough to be invited to Lady Ormans ball. They paid a great deal of money to the modiste and the hairdresser in order to pack themselves into a ballroom like a tight row of salted fish. To have their hems trod on, their ringlets wilted in the heat, their throats made raw from shouting at one another.

And for what? For the dubious pleasure of having their names in the papers? Mr and Mrs Whos-it were seen attending Lady Ormans ball

Emily sighed. There were surely many more useful, not to say more pleasant, things to do with ones time. But her parents and her brother Robert seemed to enjoy it.

She stood on tiptoe, peering through the palms to see her brother dancing with his new wife, Amy. They were laughing as they spun around, their faces alight with pleasure. Well, Amy did love society; she was good at being sociable, and that was all the better for Robs fledgling political career. They were surely well matched, even if Amys ancient-named family had not much money.

That was what Emilys parents, the Earl and Countess of Moreby, said anyway. Amys family name, as old as their own, and her outgoing personality were fine assets, and a good excuse for letting Rob marry where he chose.

Besides , they would add, with sidelong glances at Emily herself, Emily will make our fortune. She is bound to marry very well!

Except that Emily had been a terrible disappointment to them thus far. She had not come close to marrying a title or a fortune. Or marrying anyone at all. And now the Season was almost over.

She instinctively raised her hand to nervously chew at her thumbnail, before she remembered she wore silk gloves. Her hand fell back to her side, tucked into the folds of her silver-embroidered white silk skirts. When, oh, when would that floor open up already?

The whole evening, the noise, the heat, the smell of melting candles and a hundred perfumes, bore down on her like an anvil. Soon, she would have to leave her little palmy sanctuary and join her parents. They would want to find her a partner for the next dance. That was what she did at every ball, let them match her up with rich lordsboth young, spotty ones and old, portly ones let them extol her beauty and goodness while she stood there with her cheeks on fire.

It was the least she could do, after she disappointed them so greatly last summer. They had gone to the house party at the notorious Welbourne Manor with the intention of matching up Emily with the new Duke of Manning, Nicholas.

Oh, they did not say so explicitly, of course, but it was obvious in their nervous preparations for the party. In all their words to her about how handsome Nicholas was, how great a friend his father had been to the Carrolls.

And she not only had been unable to attach the duke, she had scarcely been able to talk to him. She was always shy around men, of course, but there was something about him that terrified her. He was always most kind and polite, yet every time she looked into his beautiful sky-blue eyes her throat closed, and she felt that ridiculous burning blush spread over her whole body.

And then she saw his affable smile turn puzzled, and felt him withdraw from her. That was a relief of sorts. He and his family were so very exuberant, so full of fun and frivolity, while she was so quiet and serious. They would not be a good match at all, if only her parents could see that! Such a mouse as her would never fit into such a dashing family, and it was better not to even try.