The Scandalous Love of a Duke (26 page)

“It was just my family, Katherine. You know them, and Mary would have been there.”
But you were not
–
he saw the answer in her eyes.

He sat upright and slid back up the bed to sit against the pillows beside her. “I was remiss to leave you alone, Katherine, I know, but my business meeting dragged on for much longer than I expected, I’m sorry.”

She said nothing.

“It was midnight when I came home. I presumed you’d be asleep. I thought it best not to disturb you, but Mama indicated it was probably a poor choice. You did not sleep, did you? You were waiting for me.”

She put the plate down and then reached for the tea and sipped it. He’d had them put sugar in it already so he needn’t fuss with pouring and so on.

Her back was to him as she drank, giving a non-verbal answer to his questions.

John folded his arms over his chest and looked up at the bed’s canopy. “My mother has arranged for a modiste to call in a while. She will sort out a new wardrobe for you. I know you did not bring your clothes, but even if you had they would not befit a duchess and I will be damned glad to see the last of your blue spencer.”

“Still trying to buy me, John?” she answered, sitting back against the pillows with her toast again.

“It worked with the bonnet,” he said humorously. “And the dress.”

“But now we are married and you have no need for further coercion.”

“Yes, but I still want you willing,” he teased. Then he sobered his expression. “I honestly thought I was being considerate last night. I’m sorry. In future, sleep in my bed, then there need be no decisions about whether I come to you or not.”

“And I am to simply forget we did not share a bed on our wedding night?” Ah, he had really hurt her then.

“And here was I thinking you’d refused my offer yesterday when you had a choice. It implied you did not want me in your bed, Katherine.”

“I did not say no to marrying you
.
I said no to marrying this…” One hand lifted, indicating the room. “And because I did not want a man who did not really want me.”

He shifted at that, turning to lift her plate from her hands. Then he leant across her and put it back onto the chest before cupping her cheek.

His gaze met hers; azure seas. “I want you. I love you. Will you believe me?”

“No.” Her eyes burned blue fire.

“God, woman. What have I married?” His gaze fell to her lips a moment before he bent and kissed them, soft and warm.

It took her a few moments to respond, but she did, her lips brushing against his as his fingers cradled her jaw.

Desire, love, a strong protective instinct, respect and lust warred inside him, overwhelming his senses. He let his tongue sweep across her lips, and she parted them, turning into him, her fingers reaching to his hair and his waist.

Her touch was intoxicating and for a while he let them both enjoy the moment, but it was not the time for this, not with the doctor about to arrive and her stomach still delicate.

Pulling away, he smiled and removed her hand from his waist and instead pressed it against his groin. “I want you.”

She made a face at him and pulled her hand away.

“I only wish there was time, darling. But there is not, not with the doctor coming and the modiste, and then I’m afraid the rest of my family will descend on mass. I’ve written to everyone to inform them of the wedding so they will all call. I have also changed my mind and decided to put
something
in the paper. Just to say I have taken a wife quietly due to my mourning, I shall not mention the date but I hope it will reduce rumours. However, when society hears, Katherine, they will also all descend on our door, probably tomorrow, or perhaps the day after.”

She’d paled, so he reached for the sweetened tea and handed it to her.

“So soon,” she whispered.

“I’m afraid so, darling.”

“I have nothing to wear.”

“You will have by this afternoon. There are some positives to being a duchess which outweigh the bowing and scraping. The modiste will have some dresses sorted for you in hours and I will take you to your first ball tonight and show you off.”

“You think I am worth showing.” Her pitch was self-mocking.

“I do.”

A knock struck the door. “Your Grace.” It was Esther. “The doctor is here.”

John smiled as much as his scabbed lip would allow as he glanced at Katherine. “Do you want my mother to attend you?”

She nodded and at last smiled in return.

He hoped he’d won some ground back. He just needed to be consistent now and keep it.

“I’ll send her up.”

~

After an overwhelming day, Katherine found herself sitting in John’s plush state carriage in the evening with her fingers woven through his as their joined hands lay on his thigh.

His mother, father and Mary sat opposite.

John was looking out the window, watching the dark streets dashing past. He looked outrageously handsome, dressed in his formal black and white evening clothes. They suited his complexion, a perfect foil for his jet-black hair and pale skin.

He’d been solicitous all day, hovering by her as the modiste had measured and suggested colours and patterns, making suggestions if he had a preference. He’d also spoken to the doctor privately.

Even in the afternoon John had stayed by her side when all his aunts, uncles and cousins had called.

In large, his family had been kind, greeting her with congratulations, although she’d heard John challenged by some of his uncles.

They said he’d taken a high risk.

The rest of that conversation she’d missed because John had deliberately moved away, taking his uncles with him into a huddle across the room. She’d watched them whispering in urgent tones which she couldn’t hear, but John had said nothing about it to her.

When Phillip had called amidst the large family gathering, she’d had little chance to speak to him, but on leaving he’d kissed her cheek and whispered, “I take it he is looking after you. Are you happy?”

She’d nodded. She was, but it was a tentative happiness. She felt as though the ivory tower she was living in would shatter at any moment.

Phillip then whispered reassurances to her, telling her John could love her, before he promised to call again tomorrow.

After dinner, in her room, she’d found the dress which the modiste had altered to fit for the evening. It was a shimmering yellow satin and it fitted tightly to her waist, with a low bodice. The short sleeves draped from her shoulders and the heavy material in the skirts hung flat across her stomach and flowed like water as she walked, caressing her thighs, while the bodice embellished her figure, defining it. Small seed pearls were sewn in patterns over it, and it was edged with gold embroidery.

The dress made Katherine feel like a goddess. After Esther had dressed Katherine, and put up her hair, leaving occasional spirals loose, the image in the mirror had been a beautiful stranger’s.

When John had entered her room, his eyebrows had arched upwards and his smile had lifted in approval. Then he’d given her a pearl necklace consisting of three strands. Now it lay heavily about her neck in a constant caress. He’d also taken her fingers and removed his loose ring, before replacing it with a simple gold band and another ring with a single large diamond.

“That is more appropriate,” he’d stated, but she’d refused to let him keep his signet ring because it was her wedding ring. She’d tucked it into her bodice to stop him taking it.

He’d laughed.

Her own gaze turned to the dark window and she saw her reflection. The light from a single lantern burning inside the carriage glistened on her blonde hair.

She felt like Cinderella tonight, her childhood dreams felt as though they’d come true.

When the carriage halted before the Earl of Derwent’s townhouse and the carriage door opened, she saw it was raining. The pavement glistened in the streetlight, turning it gold.

John’s father climbed down first and helped Mary and John’s mother descend. Then John turned to her and drew up the hood of her new cloak, carefully protecting her hair.

“How are you faring?” he whispered with the air of a conspirator. “It has been a long day. If you feel as though you are flagging let me know.”

“I’m well, just terrified,” she whispered back.

“You will be fine. If you can manage those children in Ashford, you can manage the aristocracy. We are not much different. Bear up, girl.” At the last, he gripped her hand and pulled her with him as he stepped out of the carriage.

“I’m sure they are not like children,” she answered as her foot touched the carriage step, although she remembered thinking it of his servants yesterday. She held his hand more firmly.

“If I recall, you told me I was spoilt…” he said to her ear as she stepped down.

“You
are,”
she stated. Then she smiled. “But now I am, too.”

He laughed. “If not already, you will be. I intend spoiling you rotten for the rest of your life. Come.”

She laid her ivory silk glove on the sleeve of his ebony evening coat.

Chalk and cheese, that was herself and John – Duke and dairymaid’s daughter. Or perhaps it ought to be diamonds in comparison to cheese – he with his hard exterior and she with her soft, susceptible heart.

They climbed the stairs but as they did the muscle in his arm beneath her fingers tightened and he straightened marginally, dressing himself in his ducal armour.

She glanced at him as they crossed the threshold and saw his jaw had set and his expression was unreadable. His eyes had lost the laughter they’d only just shared and become hard. It was the Duke of Pembroke beside her, not John Harding. Not the man she’d married and not the man she loved.

Her heart raced.

If she must do this in isolation, she didn’t know that she could. John had been so solicitous throughout the day she’d felt capable, but she wouldn’t feel so without him.

As if he sensed her hesitation, his fingers pressed over hers for a moment.

They entered the hall. He carefully lifted the hood from her hair and untied the ribbons of her cloak then took it from her shoulders before passing it to a footman.

“Your Grace.” Another footman bowed low and then they were led across the black and white marble floor to the open doors, from which an orchestra’s music spilled, along with the sound of many voices.

“Brace yourself,” John whispered as she caught the first glimpse of the swirling colours of many dancers and the bright shine of huge chandeliers, throwing sparkling light about the gigantic room. She’d never seen anything like it. Nothing could be as grand and beautiful as this. It
was
a scene from her fairy tale.

“The Duke and Duchess of Pembroke!” a man in royal blue uniform called beside them.

As they walked into the room, Katherine could see many heads turning and then the sound of voices seemed to merge in a wave of whispers.

The room was suddenly airless.

Ignoring the attention, John faced the Earl and his wife, their hosts, who greeted John and then Katherine, once John had made the introductions. Katherine saw the Countess glance at the bruise on John’s cheek and then her gaze skimmed over Katherine from head to toe, as if to say, who is she?

When they walked further into the room, the conversation grew louder, and again numerous people glanced their way.

“Are they talking about us?” she breathed.

His fingers settled over hers on his arm again. “Ignore it. They’ll be bored of the topic in a week or two.”

The room was packed, but people seemed to move aside for John.

It only served to point out that John had not only been significantly senior to her in Ashford society, he was also senior to many of these people.

John did not stop but carried on until they reached his mother and father who stood at the edge of the room in the far corner.

“Mary, is already dancing,” his father stated.

John’s gaze spun to the dancers. “With Framlington, he’s an out-and-out rake and a fortune hunter. He’s made no secret of it in the clubs. I’d warn her off.”

His father’s gaze swung to John. “You’re certain.”

John just lifted his eyebrows.

“You are going to have to write that list you promised me, of everyone I need to keep her from.”

John laughed.

“
Pembroke?
”

John turned, and still holding his arm, Katherine turned with him. She faced a gentleman bearing a woman on his arm. “Katherine, let me introduce you to the Duke and Duchess of Leinster.”

The procession of introductions from this moment forward was constant, Dukes, Earls, Marquesses, Barons. Over half the room approached them. Her head was spinning with names and faces when it finally ceased.

“You’re popular.”

Katherine jumped as John’s Uncle Robert leant between them from behind.

They both turned and John’s arm fell from beneath her fingers. Instead, she gripped his elbow.

“But then this is a novelty,” his uncle continued. “A duke setting up his nursery before he is even thirty. My God, it’s a miracle.”

“Stop teasing them,” Robert’s wife, Jane, interjected, holding his arm with both hands.

“You were the one who said it was a crime to marry her in secret so we couldn’t make a fuss.”

Jane laughed. “You were not supposed to tell them that.”

John smiled, but it looked forced because he maintained his ducal façade. “I apologise for depriving you, Aunt Jane.”

She struck his shoulder with her closed fan, “You are not sorry at all—”

“Of course he is not,” Robert interjected. “He is the hottest topic in the room. Everyone has been trying to prise the details of who Katherine is from us. How are you enjoying life as society’s latest curio, Katherine?”

“I’ve barely had a chance to breathe.”

“Or dance, I suppose. Come along then, let me get you started, if you’ll allow it, John?”

John nodded. But Katherine hated leaving him.

His uncle was kind though. “Congratulations, Katherine. I think you are just what he needs,” he said as they joined a set. “However, I do not doubt it will be difficult.”