Page 14 of A Duchess to Unravel
“You only think so because you are so very tiny, my love,” Dominic teased.
Alistair’s smile grew upon seeing the two together. Dominic was fierce in the business world, but with his wife, he was another man entirely.
“It is good to see you, again, Lady Astorfield,” Alistair stated, meaning it. “Both of you.”
“I implore you, Your Grace, after the hospitality you showed us on our visit to Scotland, you have earned the right to call me Amelia,” she replied, turning her eyes back to him.
“Then I must insist you both address me as Alistair,” he replied, “In fact I hope by the end of this dinner we may all be comfortable enough to address one another so informally. You have told me a great deal about these friends of yours, and it seems like an inner circle I would prefer to be a part of.”
“You will be, no doubt,” Dominic stated, “Our circle may be bit apart from society’s usual structure, but I believe that’s what sets our business success apart from others.”
Alistair cleared his throat, ran a hand through his thick, dark brown hair, and nodded.
“Yes, I noticed in the few social interactions I have encountered here that London, despite its reputation, is a wee bit of cutthroat society. Every man for himself. Seems there is no limit to how low a man will go to get what he wants.”
His thoughts flashed back to the Devil’s Masquerade a couple of nights ago when he stepped in between such a man and the woman he could not stop thinking about. Alistair was no stranger to the pleasures of women. He’d kissed many. Seduced even more. Yet the kiss he’d shared with the cat-masked woman that night had created a longing in him he’d never felt so deep.
“It is why the four of us stick together,” Dominic said, bringing Alistair back to the present. “Fenwick, Briarwood, and Duskwell, and I seem to be able to handle whatever this vulturous society tries to pluck from us.”
Alistair nodded again, liking the sound of that. Dominic had told him extensively about his close associates: the Duke of Merrivale, who had wed Alistair’s cousin; the Earl of Darlington and the Marquess of Harriden.
“Have you had much time to socialize since you have arrived in London?” Amelia asked.
Again, thoughts of the cat-masked woman filled his mind, but he shook his head.
“Not very much,” he replied.
“Well then, I hope you both will remember to take a rest from your work from time-to-time this evening and have some fun,” Amelia answered. “I for one know your cousin, Seraphina, is most anxious to meet you.”
Amelia had told him much about his cousin during her and Dominic’s visit to Scotland, and in truth, he was looking forward to meeting her as well. They had much in common. Though Alistair’s birth was legitimate, his mother and father were cast out of London before he was born for their relationship and because of it, he had been raised in Scotland. That did not stop his parents from building their own wealth, however, and because of that, they had ensured him the best education and his father had provided a proper tutelage on business. To wit, he also taught him the importance of details. Not just in spaces but within people. There was a lot a man could tell about a person, if he knew what to look for.
The father and son had worked side by side right up until the old man passed three years ago, just shy of a year before Alistair received word that he was the next heir to the Caldermere Dukedom. Then, sadly, last year as he was readying to make his trip to London to take on the new title, his mother also passed delaying his travels. He missed them. Terribly. Any family, no matter how estranged, was welcomed at this point.
“I am very much looking forward to meeting her as well,” Alistair agreed as the carriage came to a stop.
“Oh, good,” Amelia said, clapping her hands with excitement, “We have arrived. Come along! Everyone is simply dying to meet you.”
Alistair and Dominic both chuckled as the Lady was helped out of the carriage first.
“Your wife is a very warm woman,” Alistair noted to him as they had a moment to themselves.
“You have no idea,” Dominic replied, smirking, “I never thought anyone could thaw my heart of ice, but Amelia? She keeps it warm and full and beating every day.”
Alistair grinned.
“I never fancied you as a poet,” he joked as he took his turn climbing out of the carriage.
“Only when it comes to my wife,” Dominic replied, his tone holding a note of reverence as he took Amelia’s hand.
Alistair followed the couple up the short, pristine walk that led to the grand house that was the London Briarwood Estate. Like the others in Mayfair it stood tall and proud, with many street-facing windows upon its white and mint green-trimmed exterior. He noted the single dogwood tree on the trimmed green lawn and the purple and green hydrangea bushes that stood on either side of the wide, white front door.
It was a home designed for a large family, but as Alistair understood it, it was now only occupied by two siblings, who, like him, had suffered the loss of both parents in recent times. The Earl of Darlington, and his younger sister, Miss Briarwood. Theodosia, he recalled, from Amelia and Dominic’s many stories.
Inside, he once more took in the details. Alabaster white walls with gold trim in the foyers. A room to his left, another to his right. A grand staircase sitting in the center. Beyond the bottom of the staircase the long hall continued to the view of patio doors. Hallways leading both left and right just before it.
“Ah, Dominic! You have arrived, and with our guest of honor.”
A handsome young man with short brown hair and bright blue eyes boasted as the three of them were shown into the parlor to his right.
