The Duke of Desire

by Michaels, Jess

  Robert thought of Katherine’s expression when he’d asked her to dance. How her gaze had darted to the women watching, flickered with humiliation. And then she’d been all strength. Confidence. That was part of what drew him to her, not just her beauty.

  “I’m certain it isn’t easy,” he agreed.

  “And then there is her father,” James said. “I remember Mr. Montague from when she was out three years ago. It was the Season before I met Emma, and there were whispers about the man. He was obsessed with morality. I think I might have considered asking his daughter to dance and was put off by another gentleman who said I was inviting a scene. For her. For me.”

  Robert tensed and stared at his very rich, very handsome friend. “You had an interest in Katherine?”

  James blinked as he stared at him. “That is what you brought out of that story? That I considered asking the lady to dance with me once three years ago?”

  Robert shifted. “No, of course not. I was simply having a hard time imagining you with a tendre for anyone but Emma.”

  “I didn’t have designs on Lady Gainsworth, or is she Katherine to you?” James rolled his eyes. “I was eligible and she was available and I danced with a great many ladies in those days. Christ, man, the point was that her father’s behavior had already ostracized her on some level. So she has a bad start with him, and now this nonsense with how her husband died. Her prospects are not the best.”

  “But she doesn’t have to get married,” Robert repeated, circling around to the beginning of their argument. “So what do prospects matter?”

  “I realize this is a foreign concept to you, but perhaps she wants to get married. Not for money or standing, but on her own terms. For love, even. I can imagine she might have been starved of it these last few years if her late husband’s public coldness stretched to their home.”

  Robert shifted. “None of those things are my fault.”

  James smiled, almost a pitying expression and Robert’s heart began to pound. “Of course not. But if you are bent on this idea of wagering to seduce her, you’ll make her life all the harder. Those friends of yours, the ones who don’t belong to our group, they will crow of any conquest that is completed. Society will judge her even further. She could be ostracized and isolated completely. I know you are not so cruel as to want that. To be blind to how you would make another person’s life so much harder.”

  Robert squeezed his eyes shut and ground out, “Please don’t be my conscience, old friend.”

  That inspired another laugh from James, this one warmer. Like he’d said his piece and he could just be Robert’s friend again. When Robert looked at him, James chucked him in the shoulder gently. “You have one of your own. I just need to pluck it from time to time to keep it awake.”

  “Alive,” Robert corrected.

  James laughed again and slung his arm around Robert. “Come on, don’t be so glum. I know what you’ll do. Come to Abernathe with the party. Join us there for ten days and be with your friends who love you and see the man you truly are beneath that swagger and nonsense you show to the world.”

  Robert pulled away and walked to the other side of the room. “Come, James, I appreciate the invitation, just as I did the first time you made it three weeks ago. But you know I’m busy here.”

  “Busy,” James repeated. “Carousing keeps your schedule full, does it? At least give me the real reason for your reticence.”

  Robert ran a hand through his hair as he considered that request. Order? It felt like an order. One he wanted to deny because the answer felt very…vulnerable. Only James was staring at him and he knew he couldn’t avoid speaking forever. Nor could he think of what to say that wouldn’t reveal the whole truth.

  “Kit is busy with running the estate and making final arrangements as his father’s illness progresses,” Robert said. “And the rest of our friends who are making the trip to your estate are married. I will be the sole bachelor amongst the blissfully happy couples and families.”

  James cocked his head. “Is that the lilt of regret I hear in your voice?”

  “No,” Robert said firmly. “Love is fine for you lot. I admire that you have found it. But I am not seeking it, I assure you.”

  “Please come,” James said. “Don’t think of it as being amongst couples, think of it as being amongst friends. Hugh and Amelia are still locked away at his estate celebrating their marriage, so they will not attend. Lucas and Diana will also be away. Do you ever get the feeling he and Diana aren’t as separate from his old work at the War Department as they claim?”

  “Every time I talk to them,” Robert chuckled.

  James grinned. “And Kit won’t be there, of course, as you mentioned. But the rest of us will be, and we want to have you.”

  Robert drew a deep breath. “You only want me there in the hopes I’ll forget my bargain regarding Katherine.”

  “That’s not true. But if it gives you time to reconsider your decision, I won’t lie and say that wouldn’t please me. Come and remember who you really are, Robert. Please.”

  Robert’s foot tapped nervously and he pulled away from James to lean on the billiard table as he considered the invitation. James’s words, Matthew’s words, Isabel’s words…they all rang in his ears. As did Katherine’s spectacular set down at the party a few nights before.

  Perhaps going away was the best thing. It wasn’t as if the Season had much left in it. In fact, London Society in winter would be an easier place to find Katherine. With his friends all ensconced on their estates, making more babies with their wives, no one would be around to cluck at whatever he decided to do about the comely countess.

  “Very well,” he said. He straightened and nudged James with his shoulder. “I hate you, you know.”

  James burst out in laughter and nudged him back. “I know. Now, let’s finish the game.”

  Robert grabbed for his cue and leaned back in for a shot. Yes. He would finish this game, one way or another. And he didn’t mean the one he was playing with James.

  Katherine smiled as she freshened Bethany’s tea and then took a place beside her aunt on the settee.

  “So you never told me, how was the Donburrow ball? I’m sorry I had to cry off. My head feels much better.”

  Katherine’s face fell. She had been feeling so happy. It had been three days since her encounter with Roseford on the terrace at Charlotte’s ball. She’d been working hard to forget it, forget him, and declare to herself that her set down would put him off his pursuit for good.

  And now one word from her aunt and her mind spun right back to the man. To the fact that he’d wanted to kiss her. The fact that she’d wanted it right back. And to his declaration that her nature was not wrong.

  “It was fine,” she lied, forcing a false smile for her aunt. “I must say though, I’m glad to see the Season winding down as autumn chills the air. London will be easier in the winter. Perhaps I can regather myself before next year.”

  Bethany’s brow wrinkled in worry, but then she reached out to pat Katherine’s hand. “Well, I’m glad it was uneventful.”

  Katherine worried her lip. She might not tell her aunt about her unexpected exchange with Roseford, but there was something else she had to share. Something that would go over just as well.

  “My father was here waiting for me that night when I returned,” she said.

  The fear that lit up on her aunt’s face was immediate and powerful. Katherine physically recoiled from it, even as Bethany’s hand clutched hers tighter.

  “Was he?” she asked, breathless. “Is that the first time he has pursued you here?”

  Katherine nodded. “Yes. Since Gainsworth’s death, he has avoided me. He writes, occasionally, to remind me to repent all my wickedness before it’s too late. But it seems my return to Society drove him to come tell me in person.” She drew a short breath. “That and…Bethany, he knows that you and I have been reunited. That we are seeing each other now.�
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  Her aunt got up and walked away. Her back was to Katherine for a long time as she stared out the window to the street below. Finally, she turned and she was pale as paper.

  “I suppose I should have known that would happen. When you were married and did not go out much, our occasional meetings could go unnoticed. But now that we have gone out to parties and balls, of course he would hear that we found each other.” She shivered.

  “You’re afraid of him,” Katherine said softly.

  Bethany nodded. “I am, I admit. He is…dangerous.”

  “Why?” Katherine asked. “We have been reunited for two years now, but I’ve never had the nerve to inquire about what separated you from my mother, from me, in the first place.”

  Bethany frowned. “I suppose now is as good a time as any to explain. Your father wasn’t always as he is now. When he married Jane, I actually thought they’d be good for each other. She was such a bright light and he so serious. But instead of being warmed by that light, he snuffed it out. He isolated her, just as he did to you. Just as your husband did. Even when you came, it wasn’t enough for your father.”

  Katherine squeezed her eyes shut. She had few memories of her mother, but the ones she did were difficult. “She was lovely, but so sad,” she whispered. “And he got so cold and so hurtful. She was alone, I could see that even as a child. And look at me. I am the same.”

  “No,” Bethany said, catching her hand. “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

  “Of course it does,” Katherine said, trying to laugh when what she wanted to do was scream. “What happened with Gregory, the scandal it has created…that has damaged my chances to have any kind of life that I once imagined.”

  Bethany squeezed her fingers. “Unless you find powerful friends who can sweep away that scandal with their influence.” She smiled. “I have an invitation for us to join the duchesses for tea today. In half an hour, actually, so we should go now if we’re to make it on time.”

  “The duchesses—you mean, the duchesses?” Katherine blinked. The women had all been very kind to her thus far. Isabel had even been the one to warn her about Roseford, but to invite her into their circle for tea? Could they really be so determined to help her?

  “Yes, the duchesses,” Bethany laughed.

  “I don’t know,” Katherine sighed. “I appreciate their attention, but—”

  “If you are not certain, let me be for both of us,” Bethany said, all but dragging her to the foyer. “This is your chance to still have those dreams you buried. The ones my sister never got to live. Now come, we’ll dry our tears in the carriage.”

  Katherine blushed as Isabel stepped into the foyer and smiled at her and Bethany from across the room. She hadn’t realized that this invitation had been to the house of the very woman who knew Roseford’s plans for her. Now she felt exposed as the duchess came toward them.

  “Oh, I am so pleased to see you,” she said, squeezing Bethany’s hand and then quickly embracing Katherine. “Are you well?” she whispered.

  Katherine nodded as she sent a quick side glance to her aunt.

  “Come, the others are waiting,” Isabel said, and took them down the hall to a large, beautiful parlor.

  Katherine forced a smile as the other ladies in the group turned. Margaret, Duchess of Crestwood, and Adelaide, Duchess of Northfield, were Isabel’s other companions. To Katherine’s surprise, the ladies each held a child in their arms. Meg’s child was older, a boy with a bright smile who giggled incessantly at Adelaide’s little girl, dressed in a pretty gown with a pink ribbon in her blonde hair.

  Katherine’s stomach clenched and she pushed away all the natural reactions to seeing the children except for surprise. Most Society women she knew, women of wealth and title, hardly interacted with their children. But here Adelaide and Meg were, smiling and cuddling their babies joyfully.

  “And here she is!” Isabel said, drawing Katherine in.

  The other two women looked up and their smiles were just as welcoming as Isabel’s had been earlier. She was promptly introduced to James, named after his beloved uncle, and Madeline, then governesses were rung for and the children were taken away for their naps.

  Soon the ladies were all seated and talking about everything and nothing at once. Katherine was surprised at just how…easy it all was. No one ever looked at her askance. No one used the opportunity to casually ask about her late husband or his death.

  The three ladies were simply kind and welcoming, funny and sweet. They were exactly who she would wish to be friends with under any circumstance.

  Isabel settled back, her hand coming to rest on her belly beneath her gown. “I must say, I will be glad to depart London next week.”

  Katherine tilted her head. “Going back to your estate with Tyndale now that the Season is winding down?”

  “Oh, we’ll retire soon enough to our estate, yes. To winter and welcome the baby.” Her cheeks brightened. “But first we will join Emma and James—Abernathe—for a final gathering at their estate.”

  Meg’s eyes lit up and she shot Katherine a quick glance. “Are you going to ask her?”

  Katherine exchanged a look of confusion with her aunt, but hadn’t the chance to ask anything before Isabel giggled. “I’m trying to be subtle.”

  “Subtly is overrated,” Adelaide said over the edge of her teacup. “Be direct.”

  Isabel shook her head and met Katherine’s eyes with a smile. “If you hang about these ladies for more than ten minutes, they will influence you in such wicked ways. Emma couldn’t be with us today, as she and James are preparing to depart to ready the estate. But she wished for me to convey an invitation.”

  Katherine blinked. “An invitation?”

  “She would like for you to join our party at Abernathe. Both of you. Imagine it, Katherine! Ten days away from London, amongst friends.”

  Bethany leaned forward, her face lit up. “That sounds wonderful.”

  Katherine smiled but didn’t respond to the offer as she got up and went to the window to look out at the garden. Once again, she was torn. Were the duchesses being kind, offering her help? Or was there something more sinister afoot in their kindness?

  Isabel was at her elbow in a moment, and both women glanced back to where Bethany was still chatting with Meg and Adelaide. “Are you well?”

  Katherine worried her lip. “I’m sorry to be rude. It is a wonderful invitation. I know your group is quite exclusive and others would fall all over themselves to be involved in this gathering.”

  “But you’re nervous about why?” Isabel pressed.

  Katherine nodded. “I am, a little.”

  “The best practice is honesty, I think. After our talk last week, I suggested inviting you,” Isabel said, holding Katherine’s stare so that she could truly evaluate Isabel’s motives. What she saw was pure, genuine warmth.

  “Why?” she asked slowly.

  Isabel cast another glance back at the others. “I was thinking about you since I visited you and told you of Roseford’s pursuit.”

  Katherine blushed and shifted. “I see.”

  “Emma told me he will not be there. He prefers to stay in London. That made me think of how nice it could be for you to come with us. You will be with friends, and obviously Society would know you were included…”

  “Which would help me,” Katherine said softly.

  Isabel nodded. “As you said, everyone is clamoring for an invitation to Abernathe’s. And the best part of it all is that you won’t have to face Robert. He is a creature of whim at times. If he doesn’t see you for a couple of weeks, he may decide to entertain himself in some other way.”

  Katherine tried to fight the little starburst of pain that expanded in her chest at the thought. Of course that was exactly what she wanted. She didn’t want that cad pursuing her across terraces and ballrooms, trying to pretend he was truly interested when all he wanted was to win some wager about bedding her. She
didn’t want to interact with him at all.

  And yet the idea that he would forget her now as easily as he had forgotten her all those years ago was…not pleasant.

  “Katherine?” Isabel said, touching her hand.

  She blinked and came back to the moment with a shake of her head. “I’m sorry, just pondering my options.”

  “We’d love to have you,” Isabel repeated. “Even if this situation with Robert weren’t part of the equation, we would still love to see you. Please?”

  Katherine drew a long breath. She lifted the elevation of her voice to tell the room at large, “I would be honored to join your party. Aunt Bethany, will you also accept?”

  “I already have,” Bethany said with a laugh. “I’ve heard the Duke of Abernathe has a beautiful estate with a property worthy of my morning walks. And getting out of the city would do us both good.”

  “Excellent,” Adelaide said, clapping her hands together. “That will please Emma greatly. I will tell her tonight when I join them before our departure.”

  Katherine smiled. “You and the Duke of Northfield are going down to Abernathe with Emma and her husband?”

  Adelaide shook her head. “Northfield had to take care of a bit of business on one of his far-flung estates and left two days ago to do so. He will meet me in Abernathe, so James and Emma offered to let Madeline and me ride with them and Bibi.”

  Katherine nodded. “You and Madeline will miss him, I suppose.”

  A flicker of sadness passed over Adelaide’s face, but she smiled nonetheless. “Although she’s young, I know Madeline does seek him out. She is her papa’s daughter through and through. As for me, I always miss him. Even if he is only gone an hour. Dratted man has bewitched me entirely. Luckily, he claims I have done the same to him.”