Page 11 of Always the Bridesmaid, Never the Duchess
“I think that I should send a message to Julia telling her that the wedding cannot take place here,” Kate said. “I know Nicholas said that he would not be upset by it, but I think it was a mistake to agree to such a thing in the first place.”
The Dowager Viscountess stopped eating her toast. She set it down and sighed. “I think you are not being forthright with me. Preparations have already been made. Guests will begin arriving in a few days’ time. It is quite fickle of you to declare that you no longer believe you should host the wedding.”
Kate squirmed in her chair. She couldn’t tell her grandmother of her evening in the Lilac Room and her brazen behavior when she believed Andrew to be a rake sent to pleasure her. Nor could she tell her of how a simple touch of his finger against the lock of her hair last night made her wish to throw aside propriety. Or how every word from his lips seemed to cause her to want to throw something at his head in frustration. He was a study in contrasts, and after only one day in his company she was vexed beyond measure.
Instead, Kate said, “I think you were too quick to forgive him for the role the Duke played in the breakup of Nicholas and Julia.Was it not the lies from his lips that brought scandal to our family?”
The Dowager Viscountess raised a finger in warning. “You forget yourself, granddaughter. I have not forgotten the scandal, nor have I been so quick to place the blame upon the Duke of Devonport. Julia was quick to believe the rumors despite Nicholas’s insistence that they were untrue.”
Although Kate could not fault her grandmother for placing some blame on Julia, Kate knew better than most the distress the scandal had caused her dear friend. The gossip columns named the Duke of Devonport as the source of the scandal. Nicholas and Julia’s broken engagement had been the sensational news last year. The gossip mills ground over their breakup until a new scandal had finally replaced it. Despite it being old news, it was still fodder for the wagging tongues when the opportunity presented itself. No, she would not be so quick to forgive him.
To believe a man who she had loved since childhood could betray her so profoundly had deeply scarred Julia. So much so, that despite Kate promising the story was false, Julia had refused to even listen. And Kate knew that the fault lay with the Duke and the rumors he had spread.
When Kate felt a warm body rest itself upon her feet, she broke off a piece of toast and slipped it beneath the table to Tibbs. At least he was always faithful and true, unlike most men of her acquaintance. She turned to her grandmother and said, “I cannot forgive the Duke for the lies he told about our family. He has sullied our family’s honor. I shall keep my promise to Julia,but I shall be quite glad to see the back of him after this wedding is over.”
It was Tibbs who alerted Kate to his presence. A low growl from beneath her chair followed by an eruption of barking preceded Andrew’s arrival. Rather than coming from upstairs, he walked in from the back entrance. His hair was tousled from the morning breeze.
“Good morning, Lady Pembrooke.” He turned to Kate, his jaw like granite His nostrils flared slightly. “Miss Avery. I hope you slept well. I certainly did as I have a clear conscience with regard to anyone’s honor.”
The Dowager Viscountess cleared her throat. “Pardon my granddaughter’s impertinence, Your Grace. She is like a dog with a bone when it comes to her opinions. I am pleased that you slept well.”
Ignoring Kate’s glower, he smiled at the Dowager Viscountess. “It is glorious outside. I took the liberty of visiting your stables this morning. Your stable hand was good enough to saddle the black stallion so I could ride the grounds.” He took a seat at the opposite end of the table.
“I am surprised you were able to ride him,” Kate said, refusing to be ignored in her own home. “My brother acquired him a few weeks ago and has found him to be a spirited animal.”
Andrew leaned back in his chair. “Your brother was correct in his finding; however, I have found a firm hand soothes eventhe most spirited creature. Wouldn’t you agree, Miss Avery?” He lifted one eyebrow and gave her a sardonic glance.
Kate felt the heat rise in her cheeks and quickly lifted her teacup to hide her discomfort. He was being deliberately provocative in an attempt to disconcert her. “I wouldn’t know. I fear my knowledge of horses to be quite limited. I’ll defer to you on that one, Your Grace.”
“A victory indeed to have you not cross me.” He did not allow Kate a chance to respond. Instead, he stood and said, “I shall change and return shortly. We have a great deal to accomplish and little time to waste.”
Kate’s teacup rattled in its saucer as she set it down. The nerve of the man. She was not a horse to be tamed!
A small chuckle from her grandmother made Kate’s head whip around. “I do believe the Duke has your measure, Kate.” With that, the Dowager Viscountess stood and left the room leaving Kate with her mouth open and her frustration unvented.
Chapter Six
Andrew took his time upstairs changing into his morning suit. Despite the fact that he had managed to vex Kate so early in the morning, he found himself restless and ill at ease. The sooner they finished their business together over the wedding, the happier he would be.
His valet had laid out a dark coat with a stark white linen shirt. The clean lines of the coat stretched across his broad shoulders. He would need to have his valet fetch his new attire for the wedding. He and Harry had visited Bond Street when Harry first became engaged to Miss Roves. They had been fitted for new morning coats and trousers for the ceremony. Usually, Andrew loathed such attention to appearance, but he wished to cut a dashing figure while in the presence of Miss Avery. Anything to elicit a response such as the one he received the night of the masquerade ball and show her that he wasn’t a scoundrel with a gossiping tongue like she believed.
He stopped.Why do I care what a bluestocking like Kate thinks of me? I have a beautiful mistress who is quite willing to warmmy bed without an argument. The sooner we complete these preparations the sooner I can leave Renwood Castle and its mistress.
Downstairs, he found her in the library, so deeply engrossed in a book that she did not look up when he stepped into the room. Tibbs’s hackles rose and a small growl announced his presence. Sally stood by the desk tidying her mistress’s correspondence.
“I seem to have arrived on the wrong side of your dog, Miss Avery,” Andrew said.
Startled, Kate looked up and closed the slim, green volume she held in her hand. “Oh! I did not hear you, Your Grace. Thank goodness Tibbs is an excellent watchdog. He knows to protect me from those whose intentions are less than honorable.”
Andrew ignored her thinly veiled attempt to provoke him. Instead, he reached down and picked up her discarded book. “Ah. This is an excellent volume of poetry. I foundThe Lover’s Infinitenessparticularly engaging.”
“Did you not find the language of the era a bit tedious?” Kate asked. She snatched the book from his hands lest he see that her place was marked at the love poems. She shoved it onto the shelf.
“On the contrary, it was the language of the time. I would venture to say that if these men were alive today, they would find many a maiden swooning at their feet.”
Kate sniffed. “Some women swoon at the slightest glance from a rake. I find it shows a weakness of character.”
Andrew’s eyes scorched her skin as he glanced from her mouth to the nape of her neck and traced the lines of her collarbone that peeped out from the lace of her gown. “I think your words are untrue and hide your true nature. The words you wrote asking a rake to attend to you the night of the masquerade ball show me the woman behind the mask.”
