“That would still be within the bounds of propriety,” Samantha agreed.
Victoria gave her sisters a doubtful look. “This morning you said my reputation would be ruined if I let him touch me.”
Angelica waved her hand in dismissal. “Only in general terms.”
“Rudolf touched me before we married,” Samantha said.
“Rudolf made you pregnant before you married.” Victoria looked at her oldest sister. “Robert made you pregnant before you married, too. I don’t think you are the best people to advise me.”
“Don’t be so prudish,” Angelica said.
“A little groping never hurt anyone,” Samantha added. “If God didn’t want men and women to touch, He would never have given us skin or hands.”
“Did Alexander say anything to you?” Angelica asked.
“He invited me to the opera next week,” Victoria answered. “I doubt His Grace will give me permission, though. How should I behave toward him at dinner?”
Before her sisters could reply, a knock sounded on the door. Then it opened to reveal their aunt.
“Hello, my darlings,” Aunt Roxie called, walking into the chamber. Her smile slipped when she turned her gaze on Victoria. “Tory, His Grace wants to speak with you in his study. Now.”
Victoria felt an inkling of fear. Apparently, the duke had caught her in some infraction of his rules, but she could not recall what she had done.
Descending one flight of stairs, Victoria walked the length of the corridor to her uncle’s study. She paused outside the door and wondered what she had done this time. It seemed she never did anything right, and her uncle’s scrutiny had grown since her sisters married and now were considered their husbands’ concerns.
She hoped His Grace wouldn’t reprimand her in front of Alexander. That would be too humiliating to endure.
Summoning her courage, Victoria knocked on the door. Almost instantly, she heard the duke’s voice.
“Enter,” he growled.
Victoria hesitated when she heard the anger in his voice, thinking whatever she had done must be terrible. Should she make a run for it? If she bolted, her uncle would catch up with her at the dinner table, and then Alexander would witness her humiliation.
Striving for an innocent look, Victoria wet her lips and pasted a smile on her face. She opened the door, stepped inside, and stopped short. His Grace stood behind his desk. Prince Rudolf and Alexander stood nearby.
Relief surged through her at this unexpected reprieve. The duke was in the midst of a business meeting.
“I’m sorry for interrupting,” Victoria said, her smile sunny. “I’ll come back later.”
“Come in, Victoria.” Duke Magnus gestured to her. “Sit down.”
“I don’t mind waiting.” Victoria started to close the door again.
“I said to sit down here,” Duke Magnus ordered, sounding irritated. “Close the door behind you.”
Victoria glanced at Alexander and Rudolf. Their expressions were grim. Had Alexander told His Grace that she let him put his tongue in her mouth? Was her brother-in-law there as a witness to confirm they had been alone in the woodland?
Victoria knew she should have bolted. She glanced at the door and wondered how far she could get before one of them caught her.
“Close the door and sit down,” Alexander ordered in a voice that brooked no disobedience.
Victoria took more time than necessary to close the door. She decided to brazen out the oncoming conflict. And deny, deny, deny.
After crossing the study like a woman going to meet the executioner, Victoria sat in the chair in front of the duke’s desk and wasted several moments arranging the skirt of her gown to buy herself time to gather her wits for battle. Looking up, she faltered at the duke’s expression of disapproval.
Long moments passed. Victoria began to squirm as the three men stared at her.
Duke Magnus spoke finally. “Have you gone out in the evening without my permission or knowledge?”
Victoria put a finger across her lips in a gesture of trying to remember. Then she raised enormous blue eyes to him. “I can’t recall going out without your permission or knowledge.”
Duke Magnus banged his fist on his desk. “I will not countenance your lies.”
“I am not lying,” Victoria said, her tone affronted. “I had considered going out but changed my mind.”
Duke Magnus looked doubtful. “Where had you planned to go and with whom?”
Victoria leveled an accusing glare on Alexander. He had betrayed her trust.
“I am waiting for your answer.” The duke’s voice mirrored his irritation.
“When I asked him,” she answered, “Prince Stepan offered to take me to Drury Lane.”
Victoria heard her brother-in-law cursing in Russian, but she refused to look at him. She fixed her gaze on the duke. “Becoming upset never helps, Your Grace.”
“You arrogant chit, do not speak to me in that condescending tone,” Duke Magnus shouted, frightening her. “I ought to take you across my knee and give you the spanking of your life.” He flicked a glance at the earl and said, “I will, however, leave that satisfying task to a younger man.”
Victoria panicked and turned enormous blue eyes on Alexander Emerson. Was the earl going to spank her? Oh, God, how humiliating.
“How could you leave the house without detection?” Duke Magnus asked. Then, “Victoria, I am speaking to you.”
She shifted her gaze from the earl to her uncle. “I had planned to climb out the window and shimmy down the tree.”
“You could have been killed,” Duke Magnus said. “Have Prince Stepan and you been intimate?”
Victoria dropped her mouth open in surprise. She couldn’t imagine how the duke could even ask her such a question.
“Tell me if Stepan touched you,” the duke demanded.
“Stepan wouldn’t do that,” Victoria answered, her face flaming. “He is my friend.” She sensed the three men relax but could not understand why they were so tense about one aborted escapade.
“Stepan is no friend of yours if he places your reputation, your virtue, and your life in jeopardy,” Duke Magnus told her. “Why did you want to go there?”
“I was curious about those women.” Victoria realized how idiotic she sounded.
“Did you consider that your curiosity could cause you trouble?” the duke asked. “Did you consider that no decent man would want to marry you? Did you consider that you would need to become one of those women if you ruined your reputation?”
Victoria didn’t know whether his questions were rhetorical or not. She bent her head in a gesture of submissive remorse.
Duke Magnus banged his fist on the desk, startling her. “Answer me when I speak to you.”
Victoria had never seen the duke so angry. “I did not consider any of those things,” she said in a voice no louder than a whisper. “I was wrong to do what I did.”
“Do you have even one ounce of common sense?”
“I apologize for my foolishness.” Victoria hoped her words would placate him but did not understand the need to apologize for something that never happened. “My behavior was inexcusable.”
“Your behavior would scandalize your parents if they were alive to see it.”
Victoria felt her heart wrenching at the mention of her parents. She had known her mother for five years only, and for as long as she could remember, her father had been lost in drink. Unshed tears glistened in her eyes, and her bottom lip quivered with her effort to control her emotions.
“I’ll speak to Stepan,” Rudolf said, looking at the earl. “I guarantee it will never happen again.”
Victoria felt confused. Why was Rudolf reassuring Alexander?
“Are you absolutely truthful when you say that nothing sexual has passed between Stepan and you?” Duke Magnus asked.
“I never even kissed a man until today.” Victoria gave the earl a disgruntled look.
“Lord Emerson wants to s
peak with you privately,” the duke told her. “Good God, Rudolf, I need a swig of your vodka.”
The two men started for the door, intending to leave her alone with the earl. Alexander stood with his arms folded across his chest and the grim expression on his face had not eased.
“Your Grace, I have other crimes to confess,” Victoria called, not wanting to be left alone with the earl.
Duke Magnus turned around and stared at her. She flicked a glance at the prince, who appeared to be steeling himself for whatever she said.
“I went into the woods and waded in the stream today.”
Duke Magnus looked at her as if she had turned purple. Prince Rudolf was fighting a smile.
Victoria wet her lips, and summoning self-righteous indignation, pointed at the earl. “That man is a rake,” she cried. “The earl accosted me at the stream. He kissed me and pushed his tongue into my mouth. And—and I believe he is plotting to ruin me before this weekend is over. You should call him out for trifling with me.”
Prince Rudolf burst out laughing. Duke Magnus seemed at a loss for words.
Victoria watched her uncle shift his gaze to the earl, who shook his head. “Don’t believe his denial. He’s guilty.”
“For once in your life, be quiet,” Duke Magnus said in a long-suffering voice.
The duke left the study, muttering about how grateful he was that she was the last. The prince followed him out, and the door clicked shut behind them.
“Excuse me, my lord.” Victoria stood to leave.
“I want to speak with you.”
“You betrayed my confidence.”
“I was protecting you from yourself.”
“Who appointed you my guardian?” Victoria countered, defiant.
Alexander perched on the edge of the desk. “Come here, Tory. I want to explain myself.”
Victoria was instantly suspicious. “Are you planning to molest me again?”
The earl’s lips quirked into a smile, and his hazel eyes lit with amusement. “You look pretty tonight,” Alexander said, “and I love the riot of red curls against your alabaster skin.” Then he amended himself, “That is, your alabaster skin with the rosy hue of a blush.”
“Thank you.” Victoria stepped closer until she was inches from him.
Alexander lifted her hand to his lips. The warmth in his hazel eyes was impossible to resist. He drew her closer until his thighs teased her yellow gown.
Victoria felt his closeness with every fiber of her being. She felt the heat from his body and inhaled his fresh bay scent.
“I wanted His Grace to impress upon you the danger in what you had planned,” Alexander told her. “I knew you wouldn’t necessarily listen to me. I like you very much, Tory, and admire your joie de vivre.”
“My joy of life?” Victoria echoed, feeling smart.
Alexander inclined his head. “Do you still want to accompany me to the opera?”
“His Grace doesn’t trust me,”
“His Grace trusts me.” Alexander drew her into his arms and stared at her upturned face, his gaze drifting from her enormous blue eyes to her alabaster skin to her full lips. His mouth covered hers, and when she responded, he deepened the kiss until she allowed him entrance to her mouth.
Victoria made a little whimpering sound in her throat and leaned into the kiss. She loved the warmth of his mouth on hers, the power of his arms holding her close. She wanted more, something he hadn’t offered her, something only he could give her.
“You are everything a man could want,” Alexander whispered against her lips. “Am I forgiven?”
Cradled against his chest, Victoria raised her gaze to his, and a smile turned the corners of her lips up. “At the moment, I would forgive you anything.”
“You are so artlessly innocent,” Alexander said, hugging her close.
Victoria decided she was glad to be artlessly innocent, whatever that meant.
* * *
Everyone was already seated at the table when they walked into the dining room. Duke Magnus and Aunt Roxie sat at either end of the table. On the duke’s left sat Rudolf, Samantha, and Robert. Angelica sat on her aunt’s left, leaving the two empty seats for Alexander and Victoria. Her family watched them in silence as they slipped into the chairs.
Victoria glanced at her aunt, whose attention was fixed on Alexander. Almost imperceptively, the earl shook his head, and Victoria wondered what that meant. The same signal had passed between the earl and her uncle. She would ask Alex about it later when they retired to the drawing room.
Tinker, the duke’s majordomo, stood at attention near the sideboard, and the footmen began serving dinner. A delicate spring soup with vivid green vegetables arrived first.
Still smarting over her dressing-down by the duke, Victoria remained silent and listened to the men discussing politics while her aunt and sisters threw in comments about the children. She suspected that everyone at the table knew what had happened in the study, her sisters’ furtive looks of sympathy tipping her off.
When a lull developed in the conversation, Victoria spoke up for the first time, addressing herself to Alexander. “I read that Napoleon was banished to Elbow. Do you think he’s finished?”
Everyone at the table stopped eating and stared in obvious surprise at her. Even one of the footmen, in the act of clearing a plate, froze with his hand in mid-air.
“Where did they banish Napoleon?” Alexander asked her.
Hoping to sound sophisticated, Victoria drawled in a good imitation of her aunt, “Darling, Napoleon was banished to the Island of Elbow.”
Coughing and choking erupted at the table. Victoria looked at Rudolf, who sat across from her. The prince had covered his mouth with his hand, and his shoulders shook with silent laughter. She shifted her gaze to her sister. Samantha was smiling at her plate.
Victoria glanced at Alexander. He wore a broad grin, too.
“Being banished is no laughing matter,” Victoria told them.
Everyone at the table burst into laughter, which confused her. Victoria couldn’t imagine what was funny.
Alexander placed his arm on the back of her chair and leaned close. “Sweetheart, Napoleon was banished to the Island of Elba, not Elbow.”
Victoria felt the blood rushing to her face. Everyone resumed eating, except Victoria. Losing her appetite, she set her fork down and stared at her plate.
Trying to redeem herself, Victoria waited for another lull in the conversation. “I read in the Times the apprentices were peeled this week.”
Her brothers-in-law shouted with laughter. With smiles on their faces, everyone else stared at her.
“Tory, the Apprentice law was repealed,” Samantha corrected her.
“Repeeled?” Victoria echoed, glancing at the earl. When he nodded, she said, “I can’t imagine why they would peel those poor boys twice.”
Alexander laughed, joining her brothers-in-law’s mirth. Those two sophisticated aristocrats were laughing so hard that tears streamed down their faces.
Victoria blushed, realizing she’d blundered again. Now the earl would think her stupid.
“Tory, are you a bluestocking?” Alexander asked, leaning close.
“No one wears blue stockings,” Victoria answered in an appalled voice.
Everyone, including the duke and the duchess, burst into laughter. Even the servants wore smiles.
Victoria tossed her napkin down on the table. Unable to endure another moment, she leaped out of her chair and bolted from the dining room.
Alexander caught her in the corridor. He grabbed her wrist and gently but firmly prevented her flight.
“Let me go,” she ordered.
Alexander pulled her into his arms and kept her imprisoned against his body. She hid her face against his chest.
“I am sorry,” he apologized. “I never intended to hurt your feelings.”
“I don’t like people laughing at me,” Victoria told him. “It makes me feel stupid.”
“Yo
u are inexperienced, not stupid,” Alexander said, stroking her back in an effort to soothe her. “Anyone could have made those mistakes. I bet you read the newspaper without your spectacles.”
Victoria looked up at him, her complexion a vibrant scarlet. “I did read the paper without my specs,” she lied. “Thank you for trying to make me feel better.”
“Come back to the table.” Alexander guided her toward the door. “I live alone, and dining with a real family is special. I won’t enjoy myself if you leave.”
Victoria returned to the table but refused to look at anyone lest she see laughter in their eyes. Fearing her stupidity would surface again, she refrained from joining the conversation.
Alexander relaxed back in his chair as dinner ended and rested his arm across hers. Victoria glanced at him, sensing his gesture possessive, staking a claim on her. She’d seen her brothers-in-law make the same gesture with her sisters.
“I have invited Victoria to attend the opera next week,” Alexander said to the duke. “With your permission, of course.”
Expecting a refusal, Victoria peeked at her uncle. The duke was smiling at the earl.
“I’m certain Victoria will enjoy herself.” Duke Magnus glanced at her. “I am also certain she will appreciate a distinguished gentleman thinking so highly of her. Won’t you, Tory?”
The duke sounded threatening, probably expecting her to refuse. He couldn’t have been more wrong. She wanted to be with the earl. Preferably alone.
“I am very appreciative and looking forward to the evening.” Victoria smiled at the duke’s surprised expression.
“Come along, my darlings,” Aunt Roxie said to her nieces, rising from her chair. She looked at her husband. “Don’t delay too long. We’re going to play famous people charades.”
Duke Magnus smiled at his wife. “I can hardly wait, my dear.”
Victoria cast Alexander a smiling glance and then followed her aunt and sisters out of the dining room. When the men joined them a short time later, Alexander walked straight to the settee and sat beside Victoria. Her heart began to pound faster with excitement, and that was before he rested his arm on the settee behind her.
To Catch a Countess Page 3