Tonight was every bit as mortifying as the time her drawers fell to the ground as she entered the drawing room filled with nosegay-bearing suitors. Annie still shuddered at the memory.

Even then, though, she’d been dressed prettily with perfectly coiffed hair—not that any of those jaw-dropping men would have noticed. All eyes had been on those drawers littering the Aubusson carpet like an ink splotch on a white ball gown.

How she wished she had insisted on having Eliza finish her hair. How she wished she were wearing her amethyst bracelet that so beautifully complimented her lavender gown. How she wished she could have looked her best when she met the Duke of Axminster for the first time.

Annie suddenly found herself wishing he were not so fine looking. Then, perhaps, Fanny wouldn’t have set her cap for him—as she’d so obviously done. One look at the duke, and Annie had known why he did not attend assemblies. He would be mobbed by females vying to be duchess to the incredibly handsome Duke of Axminster.

Annie herself—never one to ogle over a man—hadn’t been able to remove her gaze from his tall, lithe body. Its long limbs were sheathed in gray breeches, and his broad shoulders were encased in a black velvet frockcoat. He eschewed the practice of wearing a wig and merely lightly powdered his dark hair that was bound into a queue that trailed down his back.

In spite of the finery of his clothing, there was a ruggedness about him. Perhaps it was his piercing black eyes beneath the hood of dark brows. Or was it the square cut of his powerful jaw? Whatever it was, the man was compelling.

All the newspaper articles she’d read about his supposedly radical beliefs came rushing back. When he started speaking—speaking of topics upon which she agreed wholeheartedly—she would have felt this man was her destiny, were it not for the fact he was a duke. How could a tall, bony girl like her ever hope to capture the affections of a duke?

There was also the matter of his handsomeness. A handsome duke could easily merit the most beautiful, exalted lady in the land. And that most assuredly was not she. Even if she had been at her best. Which she most certainly was not tonight.