Page 3 of Always the Bridesmaid, Never the Duchess
As the door shut behind his butler, Andrew mused what it would be like to provide such a night of passion for a woman like Kate Avery. A bluestocking who shrank away from the fripperies most women of his acquaintance embraced. Did she even know what she was asking by sending such a letter to a rake? It was a lesson he had to teach and a challenge he wished to pursue. A faint smile appeared on his face as he began to make plans for his tryst with a wallflower.
Chapter Two
Kate sat in front of her mirror gazing at her reflection.
Will I look different after I experience a night of passion?She traced the lines of her face with her hand, imagining it was the rake who touched her. Would he be disappointed? Her grandmother always said she was a comely girl, but Kate did not see it. Her eyes were a warm shade of hazel that complemented her dark brown hair. But her cheeks were far rosier than was fashionable and her curvy figure made it difficult for the seamstress to hide her ample bosom. She wished she was tall and graceful like her friend, Julia.
“There you are!” Kate’s grandmother, the Dowager Viscountess, interrupted her musings. “Lady Tarrinton just told me the most interesting news. I dismissed it as a rumor, but she assured me it is true.” The dowager moved swiftly despite her advanced age. A petite woman with hair the color of storm clouds and brown eyes so similar to Kate and her father. She and Kate resided comfortably at Renwood Castle while Nicholas preferred his home in town.
Kate turned away from her reflection and stood. “What rumor?”
“She informed me that Julia will be marrying the Earl of Winfield here at Renwood Castle.”
Kate looked away from her grandmother, fearing the disapproval she would see on her face. “It’s true. I promised Julia that I would let her host the wedding here.”
“How could you make such a promise?” The dowager’s voice grew sharp, and Kate winced. “Your brother is still heartbroken over their broken engagement. To hold the wedding here!”
Kate knew her grandmother was correct, but Julia was her closest friend and Kate could deny her anything. “She has wished to be married here at Renwood Castle since we were small children. I couldn’t deny her request, Grandmama.”
“But Julia’s dream wedding was to be between she and Nicholas, not a man such as Harry Stanford.” Grandmama scowled. “I understand the two of you are close, child, but family honor is important. Julia broke off the engagement and crushed poor Nicholas’ heart.”
Kate lifted her chin. “I know family honor is important. If I were a man, I would have challenged that horrible beast, Andrew Fitzwilliam, to a duel for the way he besmirched my brother’s good name! Nicholas would never have had an affair behind Julia’s back. He loves her too much. Nicholas has loved her since we were children.”
“Which is why you must tell Julia that the wedding cannot take place here. Honestly, I am surprised she would have the temerity to ask such a favor of you. I never would have suspected that Julia could be so audacious.”
Kate bristled slightly at her grandmother’s disparaging comment about her friend. “It’s her dream, Grandmama. Surely, you can understand. And I am her closest friend. Besides, it’s been more than a year.”
“It is a mistake. I insist you cancel it.” The dowager stamped her foot a little, much to Kate’s surprise.
“What are you two quibbling over?” Nicholas said, strolling in. He wore his riding clothes, and his hazel eyes, so much like Kate’s own, looked amused at his female relatives’ tiff.
“You need not concern yourself, Nicholas. I am just an old woman who worries too much.” She refused to meet Nicholas’s eyes.
Nicholas looked from Kate to their grandmother. His eyes narrowed. “What are you hiding? I can tell from the expressions on both of your faces. I know you better than I know myself at times. I insist you share the reason for this discord.”
The dowager sighed, defeated. “Very well. Your sister promised Miss Roves that she could hold her wedding to the Earl of Winfield here at Renwood Castle. I insist she cancels these plans.”
Nicholas blanched at the news, and Kate hurried forward, resting her hand on her brother’s arm. “I am sorry, Nicholas. If this is unbearable to you, I did not mean to hurt you. I shall tell Julia that she must hold her wedding elsewhere.”
Nicholas gave a small shrug. “Julia means nothing to me. She did at one time, but I am over the entire affair. Do as you wish, sister. I gifted Renwood Castle to you so you may lead an independent life. For me to protest your use of it would be to place constrictions you need not have.”
Kate had witnessed the pain cross her brother’s face at the mention of Julia’s name. She knew that although he claimed to not care, his heart still yearned for Julia. “Are you positive? I can speak to Julia and explain that it would be too painful.”
Nicholas was startled and said, “No, although it is kind of you to offer, you need not speak of me to her. I will simply stay at my home in London and refrain from visiting you here at Renwood Castle while Miss Roves is present. In fact, it’s high time I left you to your own devices here. I feel like I’ve hovered over you trying to keep you entertained when I know you are perfectly content to live by yourself with your books as your only company.”
It saddened Kate that even her own family thought she was a spinster by choice. Yes, it was true that she enjoyed reading more than dull conversation designed to satisfy social niceties, but she could engage in a spirited debate on any number of topics. Her latest interest involved a novel by Sir Walter Scott. She had tried to engage Viola DeClancy in a discussion atthesoireeshe attended the previous evening, but Viola had demurred and said she knew nothing of literature as she found it boring.
“Perhaps the two of you should be more concerned about your own prospects for marriage rather than focusing on others and their impending nuptials,” the Dowager Viscountess said. She glanced from Nicholas to Kate.
Kate flounced across to the couch and settled upon it. “I, for one, shall remain a spinster rather than pretend to be uninterested in literature, art, and science. It is far better to be honest with a potential suitor about my true nature than to pretend that I wish to fill my days with needlework and idle gossip.”
Nicholas grinned at his sister. “And that is why you are the finest woman I know, Kate. An honest woman has a worth far greater than gold.”
The Dowager Viscountess harrumphed. “My greatest wish is to see both of my grandchildren married with children of their own and now the Duchess will already be ahead of me. Do the two of you wish to deny a poor, old woman?”
Nicholas laughed. “Grandmama, you will outlive us all. Have no fear. One day, I will marry, but not until I find a woman worthy of my affections.” He offered her his arm. “Come. I’d like to stroll around the gardens with you before I depart for town.”
Once Nicholas led the Dowager Viscountess from the room, Kate blew out a small sigh of relief that she was once againleft to her own devices. She needed to prepare for the evening’s masquerade ball and afterward, for her night of passion with a rake.
