Page 32 of Never his Duchess

When she spoke again, her voice had softened. “Nathaniel?”

The sound of his name caught him off guard. He stopped playing.

“Yes?”

“Why would it be so bad to ask Lady Appleton to leave and for me to have the dower house? You cannot be happy with the current arrangement.”

“You know why. The will.”

“The will, yes. But she is not attached to the house. She would leave if only you paid her enough money to go,” she said, pushing her lips forward a little.

“I will not make her do anything. The will was clear. And you and I have an agreement, as you well know,” he said.

“So I’m to be passed from one man’s protection to another’s?” Her voice held an edge now.

He finally turned to look at her directly. In the moonlight, her eyes were luminous. “I’m trying to help you.”

“Are you?” she challenged. “Or are you simply trying to rid yourself of an inconvenient responsibility?”

He knew it had started that way. He had wanted to be rid of her so he could avoid possible complications, but now? Now things were more complicated. Now that he knew her better and oddly even enjoyed her company, he knew he had to marry her off even more so.

“Why must you challenge me? We have an agreement. I am doing my best to find you better options.”

“Perhaps I enjoy challenging you. Perhaps I like to exasperate you,” she fired back.

“And you do it so very well,” he said, eyes fixed on hers.

“Why, thank you. Do you know what else?” She leaned forward so that he smelled her lavender perfume. “I think you like it.”

The honesty of her words hung in the air between them. He should deny it. He should make a cutting remark and send her away. He should do anything but what he was about to do.

Slowly, giving her every chance to retreat, he leaned forward, so close he felt her breath brush against his cheek.

“Maybe I do,” he murmured.

He could feel her breath against his lips.

Then—

The door creaked open.

“Begging your pardon, Your Graces!” Jenkins, the young footman, stood frozen in mortification. “I was told everyone had retired. I was only coming to clear the glasses.”

Nathaniel jerked back as if burned, the spell broken. Reality crashed back with humiliating force. What had he been thinking? He hadn’t been thinking at all. That was the problem.

Evelyn stood without a word, dignity wrapped around her like armor, and swept from the room without a backward glance.

Left alone with Jenkins and his humiliation, Nathaniel reached for his brandy and drained it in one burning swallow.

“Leave it,” he growled at the footman, who promptly backed out with a hasty bow.

Nathaniel remained seated at the pianoforte, staring at the empty doorway where she had disappeared. The memory of her skin beneath his fingertips haunted him still.

God help him. He was falling for his uncle’s widow. And there wasn’t enough brandy in all England to help him drown that particular problem.

CHAPTER 14

“You have been staring out of that window with some concentration now for quite a while. Are you trying to move the clouds with the power of your mind? Or is there something else captivating your attention?” Julian asked the following day.