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ask and hope for. She wasn’t expecting love, she never had. Angela’s parents had never loved each other but they held a mutual respect. That was all she ever expected in a marriage and if she looked hard, real hard, she could see that possibility with the Earl.
    Of course Angela wanted love. What woman didn’t? But in the world of polite society all that mattered were appropriate and suitable matches; suitable for the family that is, not necessarily the woman. She knew this all too well. Angela had never expected love, not really, but of course she dreamt of it. And with the help of her men she had thought it a possibility.
    Now everything had changed. In this moment Angela realized what she had always known; her father the Baron was in charge and what he wanted would happen. So this was why she was now half listening to Lord Bankston, trying to settle her mind on spending a life with him. Carefully he reached down to her gloved hand and pulled it up to his mouth to kiss. She had a sudden memory of her earlier encounter with the servant, his enticing blue eyes locked with hers. Butterflies filled her belly…
    And then a scratching voice pierced her thoughts.
    “Please excuse me my lord, but I desire a few moments alone with the beautiful lady.” The Duke flashed his eyes at Angela and without waiting for a response he had maneuvered her, flabbergasted, to the other side of the room. She scanned the crowd and found her mother’s familiar eyes staring at her with excitement. It was clear who her mother wanted her to marry and Angela had a feeling she knew why. ‘My daughter the Duchess’ would be so much more ravishing, for her than ‘My daughter the Countess.’ Angela was repulsed.
    That look alone would have been enough for her to try to break this match, but the Duke himself was all it took to make her want to vomit. She would do everything in her power to deter him away from her. She would be rude and crude and downright unwomanly. If she had to marry someone it would not be this ancient pervert of a man.
    ***
    Twenty minutes later and she was running out of ideas. She had already stepped on his feet and responded with, “Bloody Hell!” to nearly everything he said. She even went as far as belching in his face when he tried to steal a kiss but he just continued to smile and so she was forced to continue to stare at his black and decayed teeth. Nothing was working. Perhaps she was a prize for him, a trophy to show off against all of his other accomplishments. Here is the beautiful Bennett female and she belongs to me. At this moment Angela was looking for an out, anything, and when she saw Mary step out of the main hall and into a poorly lit corner, she finally got her chance.
    What in the world might she be doing? Angela thought.
    She was fairly certain that Mary was not going off to have a brief tryst with a persistent suitor. Mary might be audacious but Angela was sure she would not do something so outrageous in public.
    Would she?
    Suddenly Angela was unsure.
    More than likely Mary was just with her years long friend and companion, Gregory, having a sparring of words (as usual), but Angela did love her cousin dearly and thought it best to check on her nonetheless. Besides, it would get her away from the Duke. Angela laughed quietly. If Mary was meeting Greg, or any man truth be told, she might actually thank him when this was through.
    “Excuse me, your grace. I see a kin of mine that I must speak with immediately.”
    Angela didn’t wait for him to respond and sped off across the ballroom. Skillfully, she wove her way through the crowd to avoid any other unwanted encounters. Lord Bankston almost snared her again but she feigned a coughing fit, grabbed some punch, and promptly exited the ballroom. She could see Mary quite clearly now and it was obvious that she was alone. Angela breathed a sigh of relief that her best friend was actually not with a man but now she was even more curious about what Mary was