Page 59 of The Scandalous Love of a Duke
‘If you will follow me.’ The butler had reappeared.
They were led through doors at the back of the hall to a room, beyond which was the most beautiful staircase she had ever seen. It was pale carved stone, like the house, and it seemed to hang in the air as it climbed upwards about the square walls. The banister struts were glossy metal with elements of gilding and the rail was polished mahogany. She was in awe as they climbed the staircase, surrounded by stunning pictures of foreign lands. She spotted images of Venice and Rome.
It was another world.
At the top of the stairs, the butler continued along a hall lined with busts and portraits, she presumed them John’s ancestors, but there were artefacts from foreign lands too.
Then they stopped before a carved wooden door.
The butler opened it and stepped inside, leaving them outside unseen.
‘Master Spencer, Miss Spencer and Miss Jennifer Spencer, Your Grace.’ Katherine watched the man bow deeply as he stepped aside.
As they entered, Katherine’s gaze spun about the room. John was not alone. It was full of people. His family were with him.
‘Kate! How wonderful to see you!’ Mary shouted as she rose from a chair and she rushed across the large room.
Behind Mary, John got up too.
He welcomed Phillip as Mary held Katherine’s hands.
‘It is so lovely to see you,’ Mary said.
Several of the younger children were in the room too, some were sitting about one table playing a card game and others were lying on the floor about a wooden arc with numerous painted animals. It was a family scene that would never have been portrayed in Katherine’s home.
Katherine curtsied blindly. Mary turned to Jenny and introductions began, because Jennifer had not met many of the people in the room.
Katherine and Jennifer bobbed curtsy after curtsy.
Katherine felt such an interloper here, as though she was deceiving them, trying to steal John from them. When she looked sideways at John, she found him looking at her. She had no idea what he was thinking, but he smiled and she smiled, she was happy to see him.
‘We thought we would come in person to accept your invitation…’ Phillip was saying.
‘Oh, I am so glad you did,’ Mary said, as John held Katherine’s gaze a moment more. ‘Mama and Grandmamma are managing it all.’
I love you, Katherine thought in the moment before John looked away and she wanted him to know.
Having said something to Mary in response, and then Jenny, John came to Katherine and took her hand. Her heart beat wildly and she felt the glow of a blush as she lowered in a deeper formal curtsy, incredibly aware of his light hold on her fingers.
‘You are coming, I hope, Katherine,’ he said as she rose up. ‘Did you receive Eleanor’s gift?’
It was from him, she knew it was from him. She nodded. ‘It was very kind of her. Is she here? I am grateful. I must say thank you.’
‘She is not. I will pass your gratitude on, and I know she will be very pleased you like it.’
‘I love it,’ she answered.
He smiled and it warmed her soul right down to her toes.
He turned to speak to Jenny again, who his stepfather was also talking to. Mary grasped Katherine’s arm and led her to a sofa, where they both then perched amid his family.
‘When is Eleanor coming here?’ Katherine asked of Mary when the conversation fractured into pockets about the room.
Mary smiled. ‘She and the others are coming to stay the day before the dinner. Everyone is coming and I know we are not to be exuberant because we are still in half-mourning but even so I am excited. It will be the most fun I have had in an age. And Grandmamma approves wholeheartedly. She…’
Katherine’s attention wandered. How had he engineered the card from Eleanor when she was not here?
Katherine looked at him. He was looking at her. He smiled. She smiled, longing to speak to him privately.
