Page 56 of Duke of Destruction
And he had no doubt that Catherine had a hefty dowry. It would be a point of pride for her snobbish clan. They might have even increased it as she’d gotten older, but not married.
But the idea of wanting Catherine for her money revolted him.
David’s last point, the one about wives youfound,was, naturally, the most ludicrous.
Percy had to conclude, therefore, that this was a matter of sex and nothing else. It was crass, perhaps, but there it was. He’d been attracted to Catherine, no doubt due to the sparks of dislike that flared between them whenever they came into close contact.
But that was the kind of attraction that sparked bright and flared, only to die just as quickly. He just had to keep his distance for a little while longer. He would eventually remember that Catherine Lightholder was not the only attractive woman in the world. He’d meet someone else and, yes, eventually, he would marry her.
And it would all befine.
Percy became aware that David was watching him very closely.
“So,” his friend said with the kind of cheer that always promised chaos, “are we to fatten you up like a pig to the slaughter, dangle you in front of some matchmaking mamas, and see who ends up dragging you to the altar?”
“As appealing as you make the prospect sound,” Percy drawled, “I think not.”
David’s interest grew more pointed.
“Ah,” he said. “So, this is actually about?—”
“But I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to attend some social events,” Percy interrupted before David could say more. He didnotwant to discuss what had happened the last night of the house party. For one, it would be highly dishonorable to do so. He would not impugn Catherine’s name in such a way.
But part of him also feared that speaking of it would cheapen it, somehow. He should want this, should desire anything to hasten the emotional distance between them.
He simply couldn’t, however. He just could not. He needed a little longer to hoard the memories of her cries, of the way she had let herself justbe,of the way she’d looked so agonizingly beautiful as she came undone for him.
He could not be blamed for clinging to remembrances.
“Grand,” David said. “I shall arrange everything. I hope thetonis prepared to truly meet the Duke of Seaton. It’s going to be ariot.”
Percy tried not to wince. A riot indeed.
What on earth had he gotten himself into?
“Tell meeverything,” Helen, Catherine’s sister-by-marriage, said, clasping her hands beneath her chin. “Leave out no detail.”
Catherine raised an eyebrow in amusement as she lounged in Helen’s private drawing room. The new Duchess of Godwin had begun putting her own personal touches on the space, though Helen was not the kind of person to insist on a full redecoration of a perfectly serviceable space just for the pride of being the one to have done it up.
Catherine was atouchproud of this, as she had been the one responsible for keeping the house in fashion before her brother had married.
Still, Catherine couldn’t deny that Helen’s influence had made the room feel less like decoration and more like the kind of space where a person actually lived. There did seem to be a new cushion or three every time Catherine came into the room, as if Helen was determined to ultimately turn the room into one giant pillow, but itwasmarvelously comfortable for lounging over tea, as Helen, Catherine, and Ariadne did now—and did frequently when they were all at home.
“Because you’re so keen on gossip?” Catherine teased Helen.
Helen had been raised far in the North, only coming to London shortly before her marriage, something that showed both in her accent and in her general dislike oftonnishbehavior.
As if to illustrate this, Helen stuck out her tongue.
“You see how you feel about it afteryouhave spent months stuck in the house with a very small baby, who, while precious and darling, is frankly a terrible conversationalist.” Helen bounced Cordelia in her arms. “Yes, darling, I’m very sorry, but you cannot chat. Mama needs to talk about something in actual words. Aye, she does.”
Ariadne and Catherine exchanged an amused glance.
“You know,” Ariadne said lightly, in a little sister-ish tone of innocence that made Helen’s head snap up at once; Helen, too, had a younger sister, Patricia, who had married the youngest Lightholder brother, Jason. “Youcouldlet her nurse take her for an evening. Then you could go wherever you liked.”
Ariadne’s wondering tone would have made an outsider believe that this was the very first time anyone had mentioned such a thing to Helen—and not precisely what her husband, Xander, said every time Helen seemed the slightest bit tired from her maternal duties.
But Helen’s Northern upbringing had been plagued by inconstant access to money, given only intermittently by a neglectful father. She had all but raised Patricia on her own. This experience had made her a rather more hands-on mother than most women of theton.
