Page 42 of The Governess’ Unlikely Suitor (The Dashworth Brothers #2)

A knock sounded on Edward’s bedroom door, but unlike the night before, it was not soft and gentle: not Kate then, who had fled during the night and who had not turned up for breakfast. It was surprising how much he missed her presence in his room when she had only been in here once.

The noise came again, sharp and impatient, before the door handle turned and Christopher strode in.

‘I could have been naked.’

‘Fortunately for both of us, you were not.’ Christopher shuddered dramatically. ‘You look remarkably well-rested. The shadows around your eyes are almost normal-coloured.’

‘I slept well for once.’

‘I am surprised. I would have thought the endless stream of visitors for Miss Hornel would have been cause for a very restless night.’

‘Obviously, you do not know me as well as you thought.’ And after Kate had spent most of the night in his arms, Edward was less worried about the men who had called on her than he had been.

They hadn’t discussed what they were to each other and that was some cause for disquiet, but he did not believe she was the sort of woman who let a man touch her intimately and then married another.

The suitors were not a problem with which he need be concerned any more.

There might be other hurdles but after last night, he thought he might be able to overcome them.

He was not about to admit any of his desires to Christopher, however. ‘Why are you here?’

‘The post has been. There is a letter from Hornel.’

‘That was quick.’

Christopher looked at him quizzically. ‘It has been nearly thirteen weeks since he set sail.’

It seemed like no time at all and yet he could barely remember life without Kate in it.

‘What did it say?’

‘We have not read it yet. I am to collect you and then we are to reconvene in Tobias’ office to read it together.’

Sweat beaded on his brow and he whipped it away with the back of his hand. He’d set these events in motion, but now they might have answers, he wasn’t sure he wanted to read them. ‘It is unlikely to have anything of import to share. He can barely have arrived before he sent it.’

‘Well, we are not going to find out if you do not get a move on.’

‘Right, of course.’

‘What is the matter with you today?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Something has changed.’

His brother was surprisingly perceptive.

Everything had changed. He’d changed. He’d thought he had understood what it was to bed a woman.

He was wrong. He’d thought it was impossible for him to sleep through most of the night.

He was wrong. He’d thought a relationship between him and Kate was hopeless.

He hoped he was wrong. Instead of saying that, he said, ‘Has it?’

Christopher muttered something about irritating brothers, but he did not press the matter.

Edward followed him through the long corridors of Glanmore House, his mind not on the correspondence he had been waiting to receive but on the way Kate had responded to his touch.

While he’d lain awake next to her sleeping body, he’d imagined what it would be like if she let him brush his fingers over her skin.

He’d thought he would take his time with her, gently trace his mouth and fingers over every curve of her body, allowing her to get used to the idea of him, but the reality hadn’t been nothing close.

It had been like trying to hold onto flames as they crackled and burned, shifting and dancing.

The way she had reacted to him, the delight her body had experienced at his touch, had awakened something in him that had burned bright and unexpected in its brilliance.

Tipping her over the edge again and again had become his greatest triumph.

He’d wanted to see how many times he could get her to come apart in his arms, and could have gone on all night seeing how he could get her to react to him.

But she had touched him and, already nearly mindless with pleasure, he had been lost, incapable of doing anything other than race to his own ending.

There were still days and weeks left to see how many times he could get her delicious body to sing for him. Last night did not have to be a one-off. If she was willing, they could have forever.

He stopped as they passed the entrance to the Blue Lounge, his heart pounding.

‘What is it?’ asked Christopher.

‘I am going to ask her to marry me.’

Christopher’s eyes danced. ‘That is what is different. You have finally realised you are in love. It has taken you long enough.’

Was this love? It was certainly lust with very deep admiration. Did it truly matter if he didn’t know? He didn’t want her to be with anyone else and he wanted her with him. ‘How would I know if I do love her?’

‘Wanting to marry her is a fairly big clue, you lummox.’

‘What if all I am feeling is desire?’

‘Must we do this now?’ Christopher glanced at Edward’s face and groaned.

‘I can see by your face the answer to my question is yes. Damn it. I had things to do today which didn’t involve you having a crisis.

Fine, let us see. Aside from the obvious, that you want to marry the chit, you never stop talking about her.

You cannot take your eyes off her. You want to protect her at all costs, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find all the suitors who have called over the last few days have mysteriously been poisoned.

I am no expert at love, having never experienced it myself, but I would guess you are in it. Does that help?’

Edward started walking again; the quicker reading this letter was over, the quicker he could go and ask Kate what she thought about the idea.

He could not begin to guess at whether or not she would think his proposal a good one.

Perhaps it would come out of the blue to her; she had never implied she wanted to marry him, but he could see no downside to asking.

Aside from crushing disappointment if she denied him.

A fissure opened up in his heart but he brushed it aside.

There was no need to spiral down that path until it happened. ‘It did help, thank you.’

Christopher feigned a shocked double-take. ‘It did?’

‘I still do not know if this feeling is love. I guess I could ask Freddie but…’

‘I would not.’

‘Why?’

‘You know how he gets when he gets smug. He is unbearable.’

‘Why would he be smug if I asked him what it is like to love someone?’

‘Oh, you…’ Christopher began to walk quicker. ‘Why is this house so damned big? When one wants an escape from a conversation, it is almost impossible.’

‘Why would he be smug?’ Edward asked again. He’d tackle Christopher to the floor if he had to. What Christopher gained in youth, Edward would make up for in sheer determination to learn the truth.

‘Fine,’ said Christopher with a huge sigh.

It was a shame his brother was born into the noble elite; he was dramatic enough for the stage.

‘I will tell you, but if Freddie asks, I put up a fight first. That first day, after you’d come back from visiting Kate, Fred told us all he had met your future wife. ’

Edward paused for a moment to take that in; Christopher carried on walking without him.

‘I knew they were trying to set me up with her.’ Edward wondered if he should be cross at being manipulated, but another feeling was seeping through him, warming him from his heart outwards.

It was something more than happiness, contentedness maybe, but even that was too weak a word for it.

Before he’d moved back in with his brothers, he’d not thought of them very much.

He hadn’t cared they didn’t have a relationship.

But now… now, he had an older brother who thought about him enough that when he’d met Kate he had arranged it so they would have time to get to know one another properly.

He had done it because he wanted Edward to be happy and that was more than all the gold in the world.

Christopher turned a corner and briefly disappeared out of sight. Edward jogged to catch up to him. ‘What do you think Tobias will think?’

‘Will it make any difference to your course of action?’

‘No.’ It wouldn’t, he realised. Now he knew for sure he wanted to make Kate his in every way, his course of action was clear and nobody was going to stop him.

‘I only wonder because she is not one of us. Do you think him too lofty to accept her as family? It’s something she already worries about and I would not want him to be anything less than welcoming. ’

‘You are asking rather a lot of our brother there. He is not warm at the best of times, but for what it is worth, I do not think he is stuck-up, only quiet and reserved.’

They couldn’t discuss it any more as they had arrived at Tobias’ office. As warm-hearted with his brothers as he was feeling, Edward was not prone to talking about his emotions in front of other people, especially Tobias.

Freddie was lounging in a chair, smiling like he did not have a care in the world.

Edward knew his brother could not read, not for want of trying, and this relaxed attitude was adopted whenever something involving reading was introduced into the mix.

Edward wished his brother didn’t feel the need to act in such a way in front of them, but he supposed it would be a while before Freddie got over the embarrassment he seemed to feel at what he perceived to be a failing.

As Edward moved over to the desk and smoothed out a crumpled newspaper, he guessed Freddie wasn’t the only one with habits that were not quite the norm and that were hard to break.

‘What does the letter say?’ asked Christopher, making himself comfortable on a wingback chair.

‘We haven’t opened it yet,’ replied Freddie. ‘We were waiting for you. What took you so long?’

Edward waited for Christopher to reveal his secrets, but his younger brother just shrugged and said, ‘This is a ridiculously big house. It takes an age to get anywhere.’

‘Edward.’