“Alexander, I am so relieved you are home!” the girl cried, her inquisitive gaze darting between him and Kitty.
He bent to drop a kiss on her cheek. Then he shook the hand of the young man, who did nothing to mask his curiosity and stared at her with uncomfortable frankness. Kitty scowled at him, and his gaze widened.
“Miss Danvers, may I introduce you to my sister, Lady Penelope, and my cousin, Mr. Eugene Collins?”
“Oh, Miss Danvers! I’ve longed to meet you,” the girl cried, clasping her hands before her with barely suppressed excitement. “Please do call me Penny; I truly cannot credit that you are here! Miss Danvers is Alexander’s fiancée,” she added with a ripple of mirth.
The girl’s pleasant warmth put Kitty at ease. “How delightful to make your acquaintance, Penny. And Mr. Collins, you, too.”
Mr. Collins drew an audible breath. “Fiancée?”
“Oh yes,” Penny drawled mischievously with an audacious wink in Kitty’s direction.
Mr. Collins looked startled and, at the same time, incredulous. Then he dipped into an elegant bow. “I am charmed, Miss Danvers. Quite charmed to meet my cousin’s intended.”
His shocked tone implied he was everything but charmed.
Another curious look of Mr. Collins’s volleyed from her to the duke. A few minutes of polite chitchat soon revealed he had a cheerful, matter-of-fact manner, while Lady Penny was incorrigible with her manners and quite impatient. She reminded Kitty of her youngest sister, Henrietta, who often needed a firm guiding hand.
“Miss Danvers, I do have so many questions about town and the season. I hope you’ll indulge me!”
Kitty smiled at Penny. “I believe I shall, though I am no authority on the town life and its varied frivolities.”
Alexander said, “Miss Danvers is weary from travel and will retire for a few hours.”
Penny considered this a moment, and then sighed and said, “Very well, please forgive my lack of consideration.”
They proceeded inside, the sweeping arch entrances filling Kitty with awe. She went mute with surprise when the duke introduced her to his butler and housekeeper. They in turn beamed at her, and it was quite evident they were happy for her to grace their home. How very unusual. Kitty was flummoxed and amused in equal measure.
Given the state of her déshabillé, Alexander promised his sister they would meet in a couple of hours in the drawing room. For now, he and Miss Danvers would tidy themselves to a presentable state. A maid escorted her along the prodigious hallway, and Kitty couldn’t help noting she was directed to a different wing from where Alexander had headed, his manservant accompanying him.
“Where does the duke go?”
The maid who had been introduced as Sarah happily replied, “To the west wing, Miss. Only the duke sleeps there.”
How fascinatingly curious. “I wonder, does he have enchanted rooms hidden there?”
The maid threw her a bemused look, and Kitty deduced she’d never heard the tale of “Beauty and the Beast.” Even with the terrible scars marring his handsome countenance, the duke was still no beast, nor did he seem to possess the disdainful arrogance so ingrained in most members of the aristocracy. Instead he was a wicked charmer.
And the most incredible kisser…
As they climbed the winding stairs, she couldn’t help noting that the castle seemed very lived-in, comfortable, and elegantly decorated. The windows on all the floors were framed by sweeping curtains in lavender silk brocade with the ducal shield displayed in gold embroidery on each of the tassel-festooned pelmets. The walls were hung with impressive ancestral portraits and celebrated works of art— She identified Rembrandt, Rubens, and Raphael.
Her assigned chamber was decorated with elegant furniture in Italian marble and carved mahogany. The four-poster bed with its draped pale blue damask curtains, tied back to the posts with tasseled ropes, seemed to dominate the room. Thick carpet patterned in shades of blue complementing the curtains covered stone floors, and the lower half of the walls had been paneled in rich, dark wood. The upper half boasted a pale wallpaper printed with a silvery filigree. The chairs and sofas were upholstered in silk in muted shades of silver and blue, and Kitty instinctively sensed all rooms would be designed with the same care, comfort, and beauty in mind.
“How many rooms does the castle boast?”
“One hundred and ten, miss,” the maid said with evident pride. “And the estate sits on more than two thousand acres.”
Kitty made her way to the armoire, pleased to see her valise had been unpacked and her dresses hung.
“A bath will be up shortly, miss, and you just ring for me when you’re ready.”
Kitty smiled her thanks, and Sarah bobbed and departed. The bath was delivered, and soon she was relaxed into the radiant heat of the rose-scented water. Kitty moaned at the decadent feel, and with a sigh, she lowered herself into the cavernous bath until the water stopped at her chin. Kitty willfully reminisced over each moment of her encounter with the duke in the cottage, recalling his delicious weight as he held her beneath him, the unique masculine scent, and kisses that would haunt her for the breadth of her life.
How could she walk away from the tender sensations rousing in her heart for Alexander? How could she ignore them, when she sensed such intensity of admiration and yearning for another happened perhaps once in a lifetime?
She had promised the duke a week at his castle. A week. Unexpectedly tears stung her lids, and she closed her eyes tightly. She liked him, so very much. And Kitty knew she would be unable to stop the headlong tumble into affection for this man. And he…he would break her bloody heart.