The Duke’s Scandalous Kiss Page 4

  Everleigh sat in a chair by the window, wide awake, when she tapped softly on the door before entering. “Good morning,” he said.

  “It is a good morning, isn’t it? You’re dressed and out of bed. Are you in much pain?” She stood awkwardly near the door with her food offerings in her hands.

  “It’s not bad. I’ve had worse.”

  Just like a man to play down his injury. The way his eyebrows pulled together, and the thin line of his lips—those lips he’d pressed against hers—told her exactly how much pain he was in. “I’m glad of it.”

  “As am I.” If it was possible for eyes to appear weary and teasing at one time, his did.

  And those eyes warmed her clear down to her toes. “Well, I uh, brought you something to eat. And drink. I sprained my ankle once and wanted nothing but Cook’s biscuits and a cup of warm chocolate. I ate them three times a day! Mama complained I’d grow fat and she made me stop after four days. Can you believe that? She thought my ankle would be healed in four days.”

  “You must have been in a great deal of distress.” His eyes glimmered with laughter.

  Her cheeks grew warm and she turned away. “I didn’t mean to imply my ankle compared in any way with your head. I couldn’t have died from my injury.”

  “As you can see, I haven’t died.” He lifted an eyebrow, making her laugh.

  “We can be grateful for that, now, can’t we?” Suddenly remembering that she still held the food, she brought it to him and set it on a small table within his reach. Unable to stand still, unwilling to leave, she snatched one of the serviettes and began to dust the paintings on the wall. “Have you learned anything that will help Declan?”

  “Nothing definite. I hoped to investigate some rumors about Barrington.”

  Lorna ran the serviette around the throat of a lamp. “I believe Tristan heard them, too.”

  “Good. Maybe he’ll have the answers already. My trip will have been a waste of time.”

  She paused, turning to see his face. She didn’t think time with him was wasted. True, she had no need to know him better, for she didn’t wish to fall in love, but learning more about him was enjoyable. Had he no interest in knowing her?

  He smiled politely, and she recognized his lack of curiosity.

  Continuing her pretense of dusting, but more hurried, now, she circled the room and returned to the table where Everleigh sat. Spying some crumbs beside the plate, she reached to wipe them.

  Everleigh grabbed her hand. “I appreciate all you’re doing for me, but you shouldn’t be in my room like this. You should send someone with the food, rather than deliver it yourself. Servants talk and your grandmother will be distressed.”

  Jerking her hand free, she stood straight. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of my own reputation.”

  He took her by the wrist and pulled her closer, slowly but insistently. Pulled her onto his lap. She didn’t fight him. Didn’t want to fight him. Her insides were quivering and needy. Needing something, but she wasn’t certain what.

  When she was nose to nose with him, breathing quickly and unable to move, he winked. “You can never tell which man you might need to protect yourself from.”

  Lorna jumped from his lap and rushed out of the room.

  Chapter Six

  Shortly after Lorna left, Tristan joined Everleigh in the bedchamber. “You look much more lifelike today.”

  Everleigh nodded. “I’ll ride to Invernochty and see what I can learn.”

  “I’ve talked to a few farmers already. They say Pennywise kept a large dog near the pig pen so no one could get close without one of the hands being alerted. Whoever took the pig must be known by either the dog or the men there,” Tristan said.

  “We don’t even know if the pig is really gone, or if it’s just hidden.” Everleigh scratched the whiskers he needed to shave.

  “It could have died and the only way Pennywise could recoup his loss is to have someone fined for stealing it.”

  “True, but why would he choose to blame Declan?”

  Tristan shrugged. “No one in the county has enough money to afford a pig like that except for our family. If Pennywise accused Jacob, his title would have prevented any trial. It was either me or Declan.”

  “It shouldn’t be this hard to prove Pennywise lied about the theft. Do you think the offer of a reward would make Barrington confess?”

  Chuckling, Tristan said, “Not at the price of losing his status as Magistrate. I’m going to call on a few more farms to see what I can learn. They’re much more likely to be enticed by a reward. I’ll be back this afternoon.”

  After Tristan left, Everleigh donned his coat to take a walk. His head hurt less with the exercise than he expected, and for that he was grateful. He hated being unable to do whatever he wanted. The fresh air should have cleared his thoughts but they continued to race with details he needed to investigate.

  Then he saw a sight that calmed him instantly. Lorna walked alone farther down the path, lost so deeply in the book in her hands that she hadn’t noticed him. He waited to speak until she came close.

  “I begin to wonder if it’s pure chance that keeps bringing us together on this path.”

  Her gaze came up with a start. She smiled. “Might it have to do with the fact it leads to my cousins’ home? You are here visiting Tristan.”

  He clenched his fist to his heart. “And here I thought it was fate.”

  Her head tipped to one side as she studied him. “You’re different when we’re alone than when others are around.”

  Winking, he said, “This is our own little world. That house is your grandmother’s world. What would she think if she knew you were meeting a man in the woods?”

  Her eyes grew round, then she offered him a smug grin. “We aren’t meeting. My intent when I left the house was not to find you. Grandmama has nothing to fear on my part. On the other hand, you’re a duke, so she might have high hopes about your intentions.”

  Slowly, deliberately he inched closer. “My intentions…aren’t you worried a wee bit?”

  One of her feet shifted backward. “N-no. Should I be?”

  “That depends.”

  “On…on what?”

  Plucking at one of the curls framing her face, he spoke seductively. “On whether or not you approve of this.” He brought his lips to her cheek, pressing the gentlest of kisses on her soft skin.

  Her lips parted slightly when she inhaled. Her hesitant response made him wonder if she’d been kissed by any other man.

  Made him realize what he was doing.

  Forcing himself to step back, he turned his head away. “Forgive me. I don’t have the right to kiss you like that.”

  “I—I should have stopped you.”

  “You shouldn’t have had to. You needn’t worry, though. It will not happen again.” Everleigh turned on his heels and stormed back to the house. He must learn to control himself before he landed in an unforgivable situation. Kissing his friends’ cousin wasn’t done unless an offer of marriage had been made and accepted. These ridiculous whims of his needed to stop before he lost the friendship of the De Wolfe brothers.

  Lorna stood listening outside a window where Tristan and Everleigh talked. She wasn’t exactly eavesdropping. She’d merely stopped walking when she recognized their raised voices. Were they arguing? Had the duke told her cousin about the kiss? Any of the kisses?

  She quickly discovered they discussed Declan and the pig.

  Tristan’s voice was the calmer of the two. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you wish. There’s no need to find a room at an inn.”

  “I draw too much attention to myself staying here. I think the farmers will speak more comfortably to me if I’m just a gentleman making inquiries, not a friend of the Earl of Margrave. Not a duke. My manservant will meet me in Invernochty tomorrow. Let me do this. What we’ve been doing hasn’t worked.”

  What had they been doing? Lorna hadn’t heard them discussing Declan other than to say They would clear his name. When and how were never mentioned. She missed her cousin, of course, but she worried how he was doing in jail. Did they feed him well? Was he fighting with other prisoners? Thoughts of him weighed on her often.

  Something else in their conversation struck her—Everleigh was leaving. She hadn’t had the chance to get to know him as much as she wanted to. How could she arrange to cross paths in the village? He wouldn’t be calling on anyone she could visit, and if he wanted to avoid contact with Tristan, he wouldn’t come to their home.

  The last vestiges of her excitement about his presence drained from her body. Her adventure had come to an end. Her hopes of kissing him again, of him falling in love with her, were gone.

  Falling in love with her? That was never the plan. Still, if he did, would marriage to him be terribly awful? No, marriage wouldn’t, but having him die before her would be unbearable. She couldn’t put herself in that position.

  Still…wouldn’t it be wonderful to dance with him in a grand ballroom lit by thousands of candles and crystals? He must be a grand dancer. His long, muscled limbs moved gracefully when he walked. He’d not be a dull partner either. What would the Dixon sisters say if they heard Everleigh flirting with her? They would be undeniably jealous.

  Lorna was making too much of a rake’s actions. There was nothing to make anyone jealous. Nothing to make her cousins angry. Nothing to encourage Lorna to believe in an affection between them. He’d merely kissed her…a few times.

  She walked away before she was discovered. What she needed was a distraction. If only there was something more distracting than the Duke of Everleigh. There were still a few more weeks left in the Season in Town, but by the time they arranged to travel and made the journey, many of the families would be re
turning to the country. Lorna would simply have to find something interesting to do right where she was.

  And if that interesting entertainment happened to bring her into the path of a certain duke, well, it was fate.

  Chapter Seven

  After three fruitless trips into Invernochty with the hope of seeing Everleigh in passing, Lorna allowed Grandmama to accept an invitation to a picnic at a grand home in the next county. Perhaps the duke would be there.

  He must be there. It mattered not that he wasn’t in the area to be social, from what Tristan had said. She had no other opportunity available before she left Scotland.

  Lorna changed her gown twice before Julia appeared at her bedchamber door. “If you don’t hurry, we’ll miss half the picnic. What has you in such a state? You’re normally the first one dressed. You wear the first thing your maid offers you.”

  Continuing to tuck flowers into the ribbon in the elegant hairdo her maid had styled, Lorna avoided the true answer. “I’m not in any state. I merely wish to appear at my best. I’m older than the other single ladies so I have to take care.”

  “Humph.” Julia marched to the bed and picked up Lorna’s reticule and bonnet, holding them out with a stiff arm. “Grandmama is waiting.”

  “Very well.” Lorna rose, but before turning away from her mirror, she placed one last flower above her ear.

  To say the garden where they visited was grand understated the description. A maze stood in the center of a large lawn. To one side, yew and boxwood topiary animals gave interest to a long walkway.

  “I understood topiary to be out of fashion,” Julia said as she and Lorna waited for their hostess and Grandmama to finish chatting.

  “When one has an estate as large as this, I imagine one doesn’t care what others find fashionable.” Lorna sought something more interesting than horticulture. She sought the broad shoulders and muscular limbs of Everleigh.

  “I would care.”

  “Yes, you would, but I prefer a garden that has been growing for many generations, such as this. It has an air of tradition I find pleasing.”

  What she’d find more pleasing was to hear the deep tones of a certain man’s voice. Oh, why did she torture herself this way?

  “Come, girls, we’ll sit at the table with Mrs. Hardie and Lady Donella. They are near your age and quite mature. It would do you good to behave more like them.” Grandmama eyed Lorna as she spoke.

  Mrs. Hardie was indeed young, a pretty woman with rich auburn hair and a friendly smile. She greeted each of the sisters when introductions were made. “Are you enjoying your stay? I would have invited you to call, had I known you were visiting.”

  “We’ve had a pleasant time. The weather has been very agreeable,” Julia said.

  Lady Donella smiled sweetly but didn’t speak.

  Lorna continued to watch the people wandering about.

  “I heard your husband recently returned after some time away, Mrs. Hardie.” Grandmama poured tea from the pot on their table.

  Her face a polite mask, Mrs. Hardie nodded. “He… yes, he’s home.”

  “He never should have been sent away.” Grandmama sniffed aristocratically. “Did he say anything about seeing my grandson?”

  Mrs. Hardie coughed on a biscuit crumb, covering her mouth with a serviette. “He only mentioned that the Duke of Everleigh was offering a reward.”

  “Your husband—” Lorna stopped herself before she came right out and asked if Mr. Hardie had been in jail with Declan. That wasn’t something discussed in polite society, even if Declan’s imprisonment was well known.

  “Is a friend of Tristan’s you recall, don’t you?” Julia said quickly. “And Everleigh. I’m not at all surprised to hear the duke has offered a reward in Declan’s case. He’s a very good man. Kind, and generous.”

  Mrs. Hardie’s face brightened at something she saw behind Lorna. “There is my husband. I shall introduce you.”

  After he hugged his wife’s shoulders, she said, “May I present Lady Lorna De Wolfe, and her aunt, Mrs. Tilney?”

  He caught Lorna’s gaze and held it. “I know your cousins.”

  “So Mrs. Hardie said.” Lorna bit her tongue to keep from asking if Everleigh was at the picnic.

  Julia pinched Lorna’s leg under the table. “I see a friend of ours. Shall we call him over?”

  Butterflies stirred in Lorna’s belly when she saw Everleigh approach their group. He noticed her just before he reached them.

  “Good day, Lady Margrave. I hope you and your relations are well.”

  “We are, as you can see. Our Lorna is doing well to keep from drawing unwanted attention to herself.” Grandmama’s smile said she knew he’d understand she was teasing.

  “On the contrary,” Everleigh said. “I believe she and her aunt are the general topic of discussion. Their beauty, that is. All I heard as I crossed the lawn was how beautiful the four young women sitting with Lady Margrave are.”

  Grandmama shook her head, poorly disguising a maternal smile. “Still the rakehell, I see. Your father was much the same, and I daresay he grew out of it. You must find a strong woman like your mother to tame you.”

  Everleigh raised an eyebrow and grinned. “Indeed. Only a strong woman such as yourself will do.”

  Everyone chuckled and Grandmama waved him away.

  “May I have the pleasure of walking with the young ladies?” Everleigh asked.

  “Can I trust you with them?” Grandmama teased.

  “We’ll join them,” Mrs. Hardie said.

  Mr. Hardie leaned down to speak to his wife, preventing her from standing. “Are you certain you’re well enough?”

  “I’m fine, dear. I will enjoy the exercise.”

  Something in the young woman’s face told Lorna that Mrs. Hardie was pregnant, and she felt a twinge of envy. That was something else she’d never know, the excitement of expecting a child. When her mother died delivering Lorna’s younger brother, and the baby only survived a few hours, Lorna’s father never recovered.

  She knew one day her grandmama would die, but the loss would be bearable. Everyone dies when their bodies grow too old. It was the idea of someone she loved dying young that scared her so badly.

  She shook away her morbid thoughts. Everleigh had offered his arm to Lady Lorna and she hadn’t accepted.

  With Aunt Julia on his other side, they strolled away from the table. Mr. and Mrs. Hardie followed. Lorna quickly asked the question on her mind. “Have you spoken to Declan?”

  “He’s well enough, Lady Lorna,” Everleigh said.

  “Have you found the pig?” Julia asked.

  He shook his head. “I don’t understand how anyone could hide an animal of that size. If it was really stolen, the thieves have been enjoying their hams and bacon.”

  Everleigh slowed when the path got wider, and the Hardies joined the trio.

  “How is it we’ve never met before, Mrs. Hardie?” Lorna asked.

  “Dinah, please. I’ve wondered the same thing, given how often I see your cousins. I hope we can be friends.”

  They paused in the shade of a large oak. Lorna reluctantly dropped Everleigh’s arm, holding back a sigh. “I’m happy to call you friend, but we leave soon to return home to West Sussex. Perhaps you can visit us there?”

  “I’m afraid I’m not feeling well enough to travel at the moment.”

  “I hope it’s not a serious ailment.” Julia inched her way back from the group as if to avoid catching it.

  “Nothing of the sort.” Dinah gazed at her husband, her face glowing with love. “It’s a much happier occasion.”

  Delight for the couple once again battled with jealousy, but Lorna kept her smile. “I’m happy for you.”

  When they continued down the path, Lorna found herself alone with Everleigh. Julia had joined another group of their friends, and Mr. Hardie and Dinah lagged behind.

  “I’ve nearly given up hope of Declan being freed before he’s served his entire sentence.” Lorna peered around her bonnet to see Everleigh’s face.

  “I’m not giving up. You mustn’t either.”

  “I’ll try.”

  He met her gaze. “Put him from your thoughts. There must be something more pleasant to think about. Was my brief visit so unmemorable?”