No Dukes Need Apply
Gemma Blackwood
Copyright © by Gemma Blackwood
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Standalones
The Duke’s Defiant Debutante
Destiny’s Duchess
Redeeming the Rakes
The Duke Suggests a Scandal
Taming the Wild Captain
Let the Lady Decide
Make Me a Marchioness
Scandals of Scarcliffe Hall
The Earl’s Secret Passion
The Duke’s Hidden Desire
The Lady He Longed For
The Baron’s Inconvenient Bride
The Impossible Balfours
A Duke She Can’t Refuse
The Last Earl Standing
A Viscount is a Girl’s Best Friend
No Dukes Need Apply
What an Heiress Wants - Coming Soon
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
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1
If there was one thing Lady Selina Balfour could do, it was manage a crisis.
The preparations for the ball in honour of the Austrian ambassador had been painstakingly put together over the course of many weeks. And, like all carefully laid plans, they went awry at the worst possible moment.
It started that morning, with the news that the delivery of three hundred beeswax candles was delayed until the evening – mere minutes before the guests were due to arrive. From there, matters only got worse.
The butler trapped his fingers in a door halfway through polishing the silver. The cook left the cinnamon out of the ambassador’s favourite dessert. A footman took to bed with a stomach complaint. The flowers to decorate the ballroom were only half-open. Selina’s sister-in-law, the Duchess of Loxwell and official hostess of the ball, had returned from Austria in such a delicate condition that none of her ball gowns fit.
And now, just as Selina had finished sending for a doctor, comforting the cook, coaxing the flowers open with a hot fire, and assuring the duchess that she didn’t look at all like an Indian elephant in her new dress, the worst of the crises finally broke.
“I can’t bear to see him!” cried Edith, Selina’s youngest sister. “Please, Selina, if you love me, you’ll tell everyone I’m sick and let me stay upstairs tonight.”
Edith had been crossed in love by a certain Lord Rotherham, and, being her first heartbreak, it was deeply felt.
Selina gathered Edith into her arms and kissed her golden hair. “Now, where’s my brave sister? No man is worth these tears. And he must be a very poor sort of man if he has managed to lose you.” When the girl let out a broken sob in response, Selina placed a loving finger under Edith’s chin, raising her tearstained face to the light. “You are a proud Balfour lady, and nobody has the right to stop you enjoying yourself.” And if Lord Rotherham did not propose to Edith before the evening was through, Selina would be astonished.
Edith nodded, dabbing at her eyes with her sleeve, and regained a little of her usual confidence. “You are right. The worst thing I could do is let him see how unhappy I am. He is the one who deserves to be unhappy, after all.”
“Quite right.” Selina smiled, glad she was not in Lord Rotherham’s shoes. Edith would doubtless make him grovel to win her back. “Now, go and take a long, hot bath, and no more tears over Lord Rotherham. It will soon be time to start dressing for the ball.”
As Edith left, the housekeeper entered, hands clasped together respectfully.
“Yes, Mrs Franklin?” Selina asked calmly, wondering what fresh disaster awaited her.
“The candles have arrived at last, my lady. But with so much still to do before the guests arrive, I can’t say that we’ll have them ready in time.”
“Not to worry. I sent a note to Lady Northmere and asked her to lend us as many footmen as she could spare. They should arrive within the hour.”
The housekeeper breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, my lady.”
“Has the second batch of apfelstrudel come out properly?”
“I believe so, my lady.”
“And have you told the maids to place basins of water beside the flowers? The humidity will help them open.”
“I’ll do that at once, my lady.”
“Very good, Mrs Franklin. Try not to look so unhappy. I’m sure everything will come together in the end.”
Mrs Franklin laid a hand to her chest and said solemnly, “I’ll breathe again when the last guest has gone home, my lady. Not before.”
Selina watched the prim little housekeeper hurry off, privately glad that she did not share Mrs Franklin’s finicky temperament. Life was difficult enough without taking fright at every passing storm.
The clock chimed, reminding Selina that it was time she went upstairs to change. On the way to her chambers, she stopped and knocked at the door of the duchess’s private rooms.
“Come in!” called Daisy cheerfully. Selina found her sitting on the sofa with her feet up, one hand resting lightly on her beautifully round stomach, and a sleepy mist in her eyes.
“I’d thought I’d let you know that everything is nicely underway. We’re all set for a wonderful evening.”
“Perfect! Have the candles arrived?”
“Didn’t Mrs Franklin tell you?”
Daisy gave a rueful smile. “She has never forgiven me for marrying your brother and usurping your place as mistress of the house, you know. Everybody knows you were born to be a duchess. I, on the other hand…” She patted her stomach. “I am nothing but a dumpling!”
“Nonsense. You look radiant.” Selina frowned. “Shall I speak to Mrs Franklin? She mustn’t disrespect you.”
“Oh,
