Bronwyn Scott's Sexy Regency Bundle (268 page)

shiver ran down her spine.

'Are you sure you're not catching a cold? That's the second time tonight,' Valerian inquired.

smiled up at him, playing the flirt.

'Perhaps I am a little chilled, after all. Why don't you take me to your chambers and warm me?'

Valerian flirted back readily. 'I do know a clever trick they use in the Danubian provinces during the cold winters for warming up people.'

Scott

gasped in mock modesty. 'Do tell!'

'Well, they take off all of their clothes and crawl beneath a blanket and hold each

'It sounds scandalous.'

'Not scandalous,
scientific.
The belief is that the body of the warm individual is passed to the colder recipient. With clothes, so much heat is lost in the transfer.' Valerian made a great display of shaking his head. 'A shame for so much heat to go to waste.'

laughed for the first time since Lucien's awful letter had arrived. She put her arms about Valerian's waist. 'What are we waiting for? Do you by chance know a cure for lightheadedness?' she asked, teasing heavily.

'Why?' Valerian looked wary.

'Because I think I might swoon.'

passed

a dramatic hand over her brow and let Valerian take her full weight.

'Minx, you just want me to carry you to our room,' Valerian laughed at her theatrics.

With a quick sweep of his arm beneath her legs, he hefted her up,

it seem so easy.

rewarded him with a

'I hear

heal almost

anything .'

Valerian held her gaze, his eyes merry, but his voice soft. 'I've heard that about love, too.'

was glad he was holding her or she might have really swooned, so powerful was the effect of his simple words. He loved her. And the very edge of that held her fears at bay, like a night fire against the wolves.

Chapter

was in the music room overseeing the hanging of the wallpaper and new curtains when the summons came. The usually unflappable appeared to be slightly winded as he delivered his message.

thought it highly likely he had run

all the way from the front door.

'My lady, there is a woman here to see the viscount,' he puffed, trying to hide his rapid breathing.

began untying the apron she wore, her mind working quickly. The caller was unexpected.

If Valerian had had an appointment, he would not have agreed to ride out with Beldon to talk with the fuse inventor. The caller was also a stranger. If she'd been from the area,

would have recognised

her and have been less flustered.

'I shall see her, Steves. Did she have a card?'

said calmly. In spite of the spontaneous nature of the call, it was not beyond the realm of ac-

Scott

ceptability. There could be any number of reasons that a chance visitor had stopped at Roseland: a broken carriage part, a desire to see the gardens, or an old acquaintance passing through the area. Those things had happened often enough at Cambourne.

The Duke had had an enormous number of acquaintances and they had on several occasions dropped by.

But Valerian hadn't been home long enough for that, nor had he publicly announced his return. She'd sensed he was waiting to make his return official once the Season was under way in London.

'Where did you put her? Does she have a name?'

asked, smoothing her

and catching

a glimpse of herself in a mirror to make sure she didn't have a bit of plaster in her hair. It wouldn't do to meet the caller, whoever she was, looking like the housekeeper.

'I put her in the small receiving room downstairs.

She said her name was

Stefanov.'

Worry came to

for the first time. She

started to understand the source of Steves's unease.

The woman's name indicated she was foreign. Was she someone, then,

past? She fought

a sudden wave of nausea at the implications. Was this woman one of his reported lovers? Perhaps more than a reported lover? Surely they had shared some substantial connection if she felt she could call on him.

'Did she say what she wanted?'

shook his head and said quietly, 'No, your Grace. However, she does have a young son with her.'

198

The Viscount
Claims
His Bride
Philippa's stomach roiled again and she was doubly glad only toast and tea had appealed to her at breakfast. She chided herself. She was not acting like the Dowager Duchess of Cambourne. The Duchess would regally sweep down the stairs and take charge of the situation. She would not be standing in the music room letting nerves get the better of her.