“You don’t mind?" he asked, looking up at her, his expression suddenly serious.
She smiled down at him, entwined her fingers with his, then brought their hands up to kiss his. “I don’t mind,” she whispered happily.
He grinned broadly and reached up to stroke her cheek with his free hand. Then he cupped the back of her head and brought her down for a slow, gentle, lingering kiss. “Now, Kate, how dare you,” Derek scolded against her lips. “You have entirely distracted me from napping.”
She giggled and touched her nose to his as his thumb brushed her cheek again. “How terribly rude of me.”
“Indeed.” He dropped his hand and snuggled in more comfortably against her, closing his eyes. “Now stop being so alluring and let a poor man sleep.”
“Yes, Derek,” she replied dutifully, resuming running her fingers through his hair.
After a moment, his breathing deepened, and he sighed, “You’re still alluring, Kate.”
“Sorry,” she whispered with a smile.
“Don’t be. I love it.” And with that, he drifted off into sleep, leaving Kate very contentedly alone with the man she loved laying in her lap. She leaned her head back against the tree, and allowed herself a private, unheard sigh of satisfaction.
Derek was staying.
The future was looking bright indeed.
As they reentered their home, fingers entwined, they went by unspoken agreement to the drawing room, exchanging shy smiles and flirtatious glances.
Kate bit her lip and squeezed Derek’s hand. “I want to give you something.”
He gave her a wry grin. “I would be happy to let you.”
She rolled her eyes and sat down on the sofa. “I mean, I want to give you something special. You’ve given me so much lately.”
He toyed with her fingers a little. “Kate, I don’t expect anything from you.”
She raised a brow. “Nor did I expect anything from you. But I don’t know what to give you, Derek. You don’t need anything.”
He smiled down at her. “I don’t particularly think that you needed a whole new garden, Kate. It doesn’t matter. Besides, you don’t have to give me anything.”
“But I want to.”
He sighed. “Then you are just going to have to get very creative, Kate. But I warn you, it takes a great deal to surprise me.”
“That was what I was afraid of,” she grumbled, tugging her hand away.
He snickered and took a seat next to her. “Come on, it cannot be that bad. Surely you can think of something.”
“Well,” she said slowly, “I have thought of something for you… a rather small thing, really… but it is not ready yet.”
“Ah ha!” he cried, rubbing his hands together. “I knew you were a clever girl. Do I get a hint?”
She considered for a moment how to reply, then said, “I have been working at it while you have been out.”
He frowned at her. “What sort of a hint is that? How am I to know what you have been doing when I’m out? I am out!”
She smirked rather proudly and tossed her hair a little. “Perhaps you ought to come home unexpectedly, then. You would be able to sneak up on me without my having the slightest knowledge of it.”
“Are you inviting me to surprise you, Kate?” he asked, looking suspicious. “I smell a trick.”
“No trick,” she laughed. “Surprise me all you like. I welcome the opportunity.”
Derek leaned back a little, his eyes unreadable, but his mouth curved in a warm smile.
Kate tried not to laugh, but really, it was delightful to toy with him. He would have no idea that the surprise would be far more on his side. Another day of work, perhaps, and it would be complete. She could not wait to play it for him and to reveal what she truly felt.
He suddenly laughed in a low voice. “Fair enough, you siren. If you don’t mind, I would like to hold my beautiful wife now.”
Suddenly shy, she bit her lip and leaned against him, laying her head on his chest. “Your wife will let you hold her any time you want.”
He wrapped his arms tightly around her, nuzzling his face into her hair. “Well, then I think she is going to have to adjust her daily routine because I find myself not wanting to do anything else of late.”
“That suits me just as well.”
Derek tipped her chin back and kissed her, his lips toying with hers in a warm, insistent manner that curled her fingers against his coat. She found herself more comfortably wrapped in his embrace, more open and receiving to his fervent onslaught, and she gave herself up to it. She slid one hand into his hair, sighing at the low growl of approval it elicited.
He suddenly broke off, releasing a sigh and shaking his head against her. “Kate…” he rasped, clamping one hand firmly on the side of her face. He nuzzled her gently and pressed a soft kiss at the very corner of her mouth. “Kate, I should have told you ages ago, but I…”
“Excuse me, my lord, my lady,” Harville interrupted.
“Yes, what is it?” Derek nearly barked, holding fast as Kate frantically tried to untangle herself and scoot away. “Stay right where you are,” he murmured to her, which she did.
“There is an urgent message from the Duke of Ashcombe, my lord.”
Derek sighed and reached for the note. “Thank you, Harville,” he said, but the butler had already wisely moved on.
“So help me, if someone hasn’t died…” he muttered as he broke the seal.
Kate smiled softly, but said nothing until Derek’s face tightened as he read. “What is it?” she asked.
“We are being requested,” he said, sneering at the word, “to attend the duke and duchess immediately upon receipt of this note.”
“Immediately?”
He nodded, frowning deeply. “It appears we have been summoned, my dear.” He groaned and touched his forehead to hers. “Do we have to go?”
“I’m afraid so,” she said sadly, stroking the back of his neck. “With David gone, it cannot be so bad, can it?”
Again he nodded. “It can, and it will.” He winced and kissed her. “I just want to stay here with you,” he whispered.
“I know. Let’s go and see what they want, and then it will be over, and we can come back here.” She kissed him in return, promising him the prospect of later, then hugged herself close.
“Very well, only if you promise it will be brief.”
She pulled back and gave him a look. “We will make it brief.”
“Oh, yes, we will,” he insisted quickly.
Kate offered a dazzling smile and murmured, “Let me go change, and we can be off.” She kissed him lightly and disengaged herself from him, taking all of the warmth and pleasure of the moment with her.
Derek released a heaving sigh and leaned back against the sofa, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. Kate was going to be the death of him. A beautiful, glorious, spectacular death that he would enjoy every minute of, but a death all the same. He had been so close to telling her he loved her, to confessing the deepest feelings of his heart.
This meeting with his parents had better be the shortest meeting ever created in the history of meetings.
He had other plans to attend to this evening.
Chapter Eighteen
Hand in hand, they entered the grand home of the duke and duchess and they were immediately shown into one of the four drawing rooms to wait for their hosts. When Wooster, who had rather boldly winked at Kate, had left, cackling to himself, Derek had whirled to his wife.
“You would think they could be here already, if they wanted us to come so very quickly!” he hissed.
“Shh!” Kate scolded with a smile. “Perhaps they didn’t think we would come as soon as we did.”
“I fail to see how anybody might misinterpret the word ‘immediately’,” he grumbled, sitting down on the sofa next to her. “They wanted us to come, we have come. Where the devil are they?”
“Patience is not your strong suit, is it?” she asked, pla
cing a hand on his knee.
He smiled at last and put his hand over hers. “No, it’s not.” He leaned over and whispered, “You see, I would much rather be at home with my wife. She is a good deal prettier and far better suited to my personality than either of my parents.”
She blushed as he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek and shook her head. “Don’t embarrass me before the duke and duchess, Derek.”
“I have no intention of embarrassing you. Embarrassing them, however…”
“Derek,” she scolded with a warning look.
“Oh, very well,” he sighed, pulling away from her. “I will be perfectly behaved.”
“Thank you.”
“For now.”
She rolled her eyes and rapped his knee sharply, which made him chuckle. But before he could say anything else, the door opened and the duke and duchess entered. Derek and Kate rose as one and greeted them with a bow and a curtsey, respectively. “Your Grace,” they murmured, again in unison.
They received the accompanying nods, and then polite smiles, though the duchess wore one that was a good deal warmer. “Hello, Katherine, how are you?” she asked, coming over to take the seat next to her.
“Very well, thank you, Your Grace,” Kate replied, sitting back down after the duchess had done so.
“Whitlock, thank you for coming so promptly,” the duke said, taking Derek’s hand.
“Your request did say immediately,” Derek reminded him as they both sat as well. “Kate and I saw fit to comply.”
The duke stiffened ever so slightly at Derek’s light use of Kate’s name, or perhaps just the version of it, but regardless, Kate caught it. “We hope there is nothing amiss, Your Grace,” she said softly, looking over at the stern face of Derek’s father.
His dark eyes rested on her, and the tension seemed to abate just a little. “No, my dear Lady Whitlock, nothing is amiss. Not now that David has gone up to Scotland. No, we just felt a little chat was in order.”
“And that had to be done immediately?” Derek asked in surprise, though Kate could see his knuckles starting to whiten where his hand rested next to his leg.
Slowly, she slid her hand over and covered his. “Derek,” she said softly.
He glanced over and gave her the barest hint of a nod. “Forgive me, Your Grace,” he said, turning back to his father. “I meant no offense.”
The duke nodded, seeming to regard Kate with a warmer interest now. “We, that is, the duchess and I, wanted to discuss something of the future with you.”
“The future,” Derek repeated, still tensing.
Kate did her best to soothe him, rubbing his hand, though she really didn’t know why he was so upset. It was a viable thing to discuss, though perhaps not in the haste that it was being done. But they could bear with it for a little while, surely.
“Indeed,” the duke said with a firm nod, leaning forward just a bit. “Now that your sister is expecting, I think we should look very seriously towards the continuation of the title line.”
Now it was Kate who tensed, though she prided herself that only Derek could tell. Instantly, it was his hand on hers. “Indeed?” he asked slowly.
“Yes. It is important that we do not let Diana overshadow the dukedom.”
“I hardly think that she’s doing that,” Derek commented, not bothering to keep the irritation out of his tone.
“Oh, but she is!” the duke protested, ignoring Derek’s tone. “You two have been married longer than Lord Beckham and Diana have, and yet you have not produced any children at all, let alone an heir. Do you not wonder that people are beginning to talk?”
Kate felt her cheeks start to warm, and now it would be impossible to say who was holding whose hand, as both were gripping the other so tightly it hardly mattered.
“People will talk,” Derek said tightly. “They always do.”
“Not about us!” the duke cried, looking far more earnest than Kate had ever seen him. “People are saying that your wife here cannot even bear children.”
Now Kate new her cheeks were flaming, and she was profoundly grateful when Derek said, “You go too far, sir!”
The duke, apparently unruffled, turned to Kate. “My apologies, Lady Whitlock. That is merely what they are saying, not my own opinion.”
Kate nodded, but did not feel any better. This was a side to her father-in-law that she had only heard of, and now she was beginning to understand what his children had been talking about.
“So we must do all that we can to prove them wrong,” the duke continued, as if he had not affronted anyone. “Time is of the essence. When can we expect an heir?”
“Kate and I,” Derek ground out, his teeth clenched, “will have children when we are ready for them, and not a moment before.”
Kate’s heart thrilled at how valiantly he was defending her, and she squeezed his hand in gratitude. He returned the pressure, and she resisted the urge to sigh. She loved him for standing up to his father in her behalf; he was the obedient child, who always did as his father thought he should. Now he was his own man, freely expressing his opinions, knowing full well they would be vastly different from what was expected.
The duke, however, was far from pleased. His jaw tightened, his eyes narrowed and he stood quickly. “Whitlock, I would speak to you privately. Now.” Without waiting for a reply, he turned from the room and out of sight.
Derek sighed and looked over at his mother, who sat still and unmoving, her eyes locked with his. She tilted her head in the direction of the door ever so slightly, and he groaned. “I will be back soon,” he murmured to Kate, kissing her hand as he stood. Then he, too, turned and left, letting go of Kate’s hand at the very last possible moment.
“Oh dear,” the duchess said softly, still looking after them in apprehension.
“Is it going to be very bad?” Kate asked in a small voice.
She nodded. “I am afraid so. Ashcombe is very determined about the continuation of the title.” She turned her green eyes to Kate and offered a smile. “I tried to suggest that now might not be the best time to discuss this, but he refused to listen. You see, I am in frequent correspondence with my daughter, and she indicated that things might be changing between you and my son at this time.”
Kate ducked her head shyly. “I think they are, Your Grace.”
“You may call me Lydia,” the duchess insisted, still smiling. “I think titles are so formal, but Ashcombe does insist upon them. So do you love my son?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Kate replied promptly, forgetting about her insistence of given names, not entirely sure she could be comfortable with that.
“Good. I approve of love, though my husband thinks it unnecessary. But I will warn you now, Katherine, if you do anything to jeopardize him, his future, or this family, I will see you ruined.”
Kate’s mouth dropped open slightly, but she had no reason to doubt the woman’s words. Her expression was deadly serious, and there was no hint of humor in her eyes. “I understand,” she managed, swallowing.
“Good. Would you care for a biscuit?”
“What is the meaning of this, sir?” came the unmistakable sound of the duke, bellowing from his study.
Lydia froze as she reached for the plate. “Oh dear,” she murmured again. “I think we had better go for a walk, my dear.” She stood and held out a hand for her.
“I do not appreciate you putting yourself in our bedchamber, sir,” came Derek’s voice, no less angry or loud.
“Yes, I think you are right,” Kate said, standing herself and taking Lydia’s hand, allowing her to lead her from the room.
“Someone needs to be in there, as neither of you seem to be!”
“Faster, faster,” Lydia muttered to no one in particular as she sped up and took Kate down the hall and towards the back of the house.
“MY bedchamber, MY wife, MY children!”
“MY heirs!”
Kate closed her eyes, wishing she could close her ears as well. She had never mea
nt for Derek to fight with his father, or to put any strain on the relationship that was already so stressful for him. She bit her lip, worrying about the state of affairs in that room, and how either man would come out of it unscathed.
“Here we are,” Lydia said with a sigh, stepping out into the garden.
Kate opened her eyes, though tears had begun to form, and tried to appear as relieved as Lydia seemed to be.
But Lydia was far too intuitive, much like her daughter. She looped her arm through Kate’s and pulled her close to her side. “Do not let it trouble you so much, Katherine. Ashcombe and Derek have only a few things in common; loyalty to family, knowledge of duty, and temper. Beyond that, they are as different as night and day. This will all blow over soon enough, though it is rather ugly now.”
Slowly the two women meandered around the garden, arms linked, though the formal tension was prevalent. Kate felt uneasy about what was occurring within the house, despite the duchess’s assurance, and glanced back in apprehension.
“I used to be like you, Katherine,” Lydia said rather abruptly. “So young and driven and in love with the idea of being the wife of a powerful and handsome man.”
Kate stiffened and chanced a look at the older woman. “That is not why I love Derek.”
“I can see that, and I credit you for it. But not all of us are so fortunate.” A strange, sad light filled her eyes and Kate found herself suddenly captivated by this woman, whom she knew so very little about. “Ashcombe and I were thrown together by our parents, rather like the two of you were. I never minded, for I never expected to love anybody at all. I am not the romantic sort. I am very practical minded, and it has served me well. But the prospect of being powerful and respected, even as nothing more than a wife, was very alluring. Then I saw Ashcombe, and I was all the more pleased, for attractive people are always well-favored in Society.” She tried for a smile, but it faltered. “I soon learned that my husband, though a good man, was blinded by ambition. Nothing else mattered to him but the reputation and respect of the family. I learned that the only way to have a voice was to echo his, and I learned to love this family, this heritage as my own.”
Married to the Marquess Page 23