Page 16 of The Duke's Tempting Widow
“Besides, since there will be a group of us here with you, friend, then perhaps there will be less… shouting.” William smiled again as he wrapped an arm around Weston’s shoulders. Though, it made walking rather difficult as he was the shorter of the two of them. “There is so much to be talked about, and this will provide a nice, neutral location.”
William released him as they grew closer to the blanket and then nearly skipped over to where Kitty sat. Weston bowed his head in greeting, which Kitty returned, and Lydia turned away from entirely.
Sadly, that meant that the pair of them had no choice but to sit together. Weston lowered himself onto the blanket while leaving as much space as possible between them. It was the least that he could do considering Lydia was looking at him as if he had leprosy.
“It is a lovely day, is it not?” Kitty said quickly, pouring a cup of tea for William and offering it to him. Then she offeredWeston one, and he accepted it more out of manners than actual desire for tea. Oddly enough, William was the one to attempt to fill the silence and growing discomfort between himself and Lydia.
“I could not have asked for better weather. Perhaps I could trouble one or both of you for a tour later this evening or even tomorrow? I know that the girls are readying quite the evening. So, perhaps tomorrow would be best.” William amended quickly at the end.
Perhaps the pair of them would be a lovely match. It would be the best possible outcome. That, and then he would not have to endure any of the balls this season either.
In any other setting, Weston would have been thrilled to sit back and study the way that his normally introverted friend was glancing up at Kitty every handful of moments. There was no denying that she was an undeniably beautiful woman. But, sitting next to Lydia it was hard for anyone to seem like they shone properly.
There was quite a possibility that Weston was in well over his head when he could not seem to banish such thoughts from his mind.
It must be simply because she had so many similarities to his mystery woman that he was so bamboozled. The sunlight seemed to catch her hair and make the brown seem to havehints of gold woven through it. It would have been an impossible chance for the woman sitting beside him to be the same person.
The handkerchief that she had left behind did have the initials ‘L.R’ in pink… perhaps her name could have been Lydia but as he had no idea what her maiden name could have possibly been, he was unwilling to make incorrect assumptions. It was very more likely that she was not the same woman and were he to say anything toward the effect, she would look at him like a crazy person. More so than she was already doing.
Even so, as he sat there listening to William and Kitty make mundane small talk, he could not help but to keep his attention turned to her. Even if he was only watching her out of the corner of his eye. It was as if he were drawn to her. Perhaps he should make more of an effort to correct their first encounter.
“I would appreciate the opportunity to take a look at the books that you mentioned earlier, whenever you have the time to show me. I did not wish to start poking around places that you would not like me to be.” Weston said softly, intended only for Lydia.
“I should not like you anywhere in my home, Your Grace. Does that mean that you will leave?” Lydia countered, adding a sugar cube to her tea.
“I could not, even if I wanted to.”
Lydia sighed. “Very well. Though, you simply could ask me. I know everything of importance about the estate and everything within it.”
“You must have excelled at your studies when you were younger.”
“Do not patronize me!”
William and Kitty were staring. It was enough to make him reconsider what he was going to ask next. Instead, he backed off. “Yes, very well. I should appreciate your help then. I look forward to working with you.”
Weston tried to smile at her, hoping that William and Kitty would take the hint to continue their conversation.
Then, much to his surprise, Lydia smiled back.
Chapter 9
Why did I smile at him?
Furthermore, why did she find his smile so enchanting? Lydia did not think of herself as the sort of woman to become too absorbed in a man’s looks. She did not think that she was easily swayed by physical appearances. She was not prone to chasing fancy trinkets or baubles. Before today, she had liked to think of herself as far more practical than that. Apparently, she did not know herself nearly as well as she should like to think.
But, if he was willing to listen to her with the books, then perhaps he would be willing to listen to her when it came to other things as well. It could just be the tip of the iceberg, or it could amount to nothing. For her own sake, she was going to hope that this was merely a sign of good things yet to come. That was what she needed to hope for at least.
The duke started to remove his coat to combat the warm afternoon sun, and she could hardly tear her eyes from him as he did so. Impossibly, his arms seemed even more muscular like that. How could that even be possible? What would happen if she were to see under his shirt, would he be even more impressive then?
Against her better judgment, she found herself staring at his hands as he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows and repositioned himself to be more comfortable on the blanket.
Noticeably, a good deal closer to her. She could have sworn that she felt his body heat radiating toward her.
She needed to compose herself. Of course he was a handsome man, he was a known rake. He was unlikely to have seduced so many women as his reputation liked to suggest that he did, if he were not handsome. He knew what he was doing. She ought to be ashamed of herself for allowing herself to fall for such obvious tactics!
“You know, perhaps it would be best for you to stay for a while.” The duke said, picking up a cookie. “A month at least, just so that I can be sure that everything is in order? I should hate to do you a disservice by not taking all of the proper steps going forward.”
Lydia laughed. “Well of course, Your Grace. I shall be staying for the upcoming month, and then the one after that, and the one after that.” She made a circular gesture with her hand as if to say into perpetuity.
