Page 6 of A Duke's Christmas Carol
She blinked at him, or perhaps it was her attempt at fluttering her eyelashes. “I beg your pardon?”
“Have you some trouble hearing? You must do, or you would have heeded my butler when he first told you to leave,” Adrian said, certain that Jarvis would not have gone against his wishes without some reluctance.
This woman, Valerie, must have been very persuasive; Adrian could only imagine what wiles she had used to get the poor man to allow her in. As decent a man as Jarvis was, he did not have the same discipline as Adrian, the butler’s sensibilities too soft to dismiss a supposed damsel in distress.
“Your butler has been exceptionally kind,” Valerie countered sharply. “Which is more than can be said for you. Even now, you have not introduced yourself. What sort of gentleman does not introduce himself to a lady?”
Adrian curled his lip. “Because you already seem to know I am the Duke of Norwood, which rather solidifies my opinion of whatyouare: an unscrupulous mademoiselle who means to extort something from me.” He leaned in. “As I said, I know your ilk; I have met the likes of you before—vixens, determined to fox me.”
Undoubtedly, this Baron of Gramfield had sent his daughter here to try and coax a marriage out of Adrian by whatever scurrilous means necessary. It would not have been the first time, though no such ‘visitors’ had been successful.
How would she convince me where others have failed?It was not an unpleasant prospect, the thought of her coming to his bedchamber, joining him in his bed… but would the pleasure of her, naked in his arms, be worth the cost after?
“I have never been so insulted in all my life!” Valerie shot back, her voice thick, that distracting bosom now heaving with the effort of her obvious deception. “I cannot profess to know what other women have done, but I am not here under any… schemeto thieve valuables or a marriage from you. Why, just standing here, I am certain I would rather poke out my eyes than eventhinkof marrying you.”
“Ah, yes, the offended, oh-so-innocent act. I am familiar with it,” he remarked drily.
She stared at him with such a blaze in her green eyes that he might have been momentarily convinced, had Jarvis not bumbled in at that moment.
“Your Grace! Miss Wightman!” The butler ran the length of the hallway, despite a bad leg that always ached in the winter, and skidded to a breathless halt beside the warring pair.
Adrian surveyed the man with a disapproving eye. “Excellent timing,” he said, ice in his voice. “You may escort Miss Wightman out.”
“Your Grace, I apologize,” the butler wheezed, a hand on his ribs. “This is all my fault. I had the young lady situated in the drawing room, well out of your way, where she would be no trouble at all. I intended to fetch linens and soup for her, but… I’m afraid I ran into some difficulty on my way back from the kitchens.”
“Were you wrestling with your conscience as butler of my household and executor of my rules?” Adrian replied with a sharp glare.
Jarvis cringed, his hands clasping as if he were at confession. “Your Grace, forgive me. It was my leg. It locked while I was in the kitchens, I dropped the soup—it was a frustrating fiasco. But, I assure you, you were not supposed to be disturbed by our guest; she only asked for a place to rest until first light.”
“It is worse that you tried to deceive me,” Adrian said bluntly. “And she is not my guest. You should not have allowed her in at all.”
The butler bowed his head. “I realize that, but?—”
“You were being charitable, and I am still grateful to you, Mr. Jarvis,” Valerie interrupted, her hands balled into tight fists, her face red with anger. “But I would not see you face punishment from this… cruel beast because of me. I shall take my leave. Indeed, had I known the nature of this castle’s owner, I would have willingly chosen the dangers of being alone on the road instead. I choose that now.”
She moved to squeeze through the narrow gap between Adrian and Jarvis, turning sideways to fit. The butler stepped aside but Adrian did not, holding his arm rigid by his side, even as her back brushed against him, the finely woven wool of her pelisse whispering against the fabric of his tailcoat sleeve.
The accidental touch jarred him for a moment, like being stung by a bee or catching oneself on a thorn; he could not remember the last time he had touched another person, by accident or otherwise.
“Miss Wightman, you can’t!” the butler urged, despite the fact that he had moved out of her path. “It is not safe out there. Even the walk back to the road will be treacherous! The storm, it has?—”
Valerie glanced back over her shoulder, gifting a glare that was just for Adrian. “I would rather face any weather than remain here a moment longer. Indeed, I shall take my chances.”
She marched onward with Adrian’s lantern in her hand, and thoughhewas quite content to let her go, Jarvis was suddenly hopping about in his face. More agitated than Adrian had ever seen the man, who was ordinarily the very essence of calm and restrained.
“It’s a snowstorm, Your Grace,” the butler said desperately. “The ground is already thick with it, and it is falling so heavily that I doubt anyone could see beyond an arm’s length ahead of them, if that. She might lose her way and end up in the woods or catch a terrible chill or freeze to death if shedoesmanage to reach her carriage.”
Adrian frowned and turned to watch Valerie’s retreating silhouette, noting the sway of seductive hips and the faint suggestion of an hourglass waist. Every bit the sort of vixen that was usually encouraged to knock upon his door to relieve him of his fortune.
“I do not believe the carriage is broken at all,” he said in a low voice. “Indeed, it is far more likely that her father is waiting for her, eager to be the first to gain a proposal out of me.”
“And if she is not lying?” Jarvis insisted, with such concern that it bemused Adrian. What bewitching spell had that woman cast on the butler to make him act so out of character?
Well, woman, you have not and will not bewitch me.
“Then, I shall be very surprised,” Adrian replied, as Valerie disappeared from his view.
The moment Valerie opened the front door and stepped out into the violent snowstorm, icy flakes striking her in the face like she had wandered into a swarm of wasps, she cursed the duke doubly for being so insultingly unkind.
