Page 15 of Taming a Beastly Duke
In doing so, she realized that the duke was watching her with surprising tenderness. He noticed her looking at him at once, correcting his features to its usual stern expression. But the brief instant of softness she had seen in his eyes aroused her even more than the feel of his body against hers had.
“Strange,” Edith said thoughtfully beside Adelaide.
Adelaide looked at her friend, confused.
“What?” she asked.
Edith turned to face her with a sad smile and shook her head.
“It is just that, for a second, I thought I saw my brother smile,” she said. “That is something I have not seen in years.”
Adelaide looked up at the duke, who was looking at her again. His glass of mineral water remained untouched as he seemingly followed her movement through the crowd of bathers with intense attentiveness. Many people surrounding them stopped to stare and whisper, even beside him. But he seemed unbothered as he looked at Adelaide with that same burning intensity he had had since she happened upon him in the library. If she did not know better, she might have believed that he meant to devour her. Strangely, that idea appealed to her in a rather inappropriate way.
***
Edith smiled shyly as Thomas approached the two women. She had been so involved in helping Adelaide feel comfortable and giving her a tour of the bathhouse that she had almost forgotten that the handsome gentleman was also in attendance. He looked striking in his dark blue wool bathing clothing, which even dry clung to the lines of his physique. Through the long, modest breeches of the suit, the muscles in his legs were prominent, and the sight gave Edith a thrill of prohibited delight.
“Good morning, my ladies,” Thomas said, dipping into an elegant bow before smiling warmly at Adelaide. “This is a lovely bathhouse, is it not?”
Adelaide returned his smile and nodded.
“It is so beautiful,” she said. “I feel as though I could stay here forever.”
Thomas chuckled and nodded.
“I believe everyone who partakes in its waters feels the same,” he said. Then, he turned to Edith. “You have been here before, have you not?”
Edith blushed as he looked at her with a different interest than that in which he looked at Adelaide. His eyes flickered from hers to her torso, as if he could not help glancing down at her beautiful cotton bathing gown. The way his gaze lingered on her with his lips parted gave her another shiver, and she struggled to find proper words.
“Indeed, I have,” she said. “Grandmother and I come here often.”
Thomas nodded, grinning.
“I suspected as much,” he said. “Do you know of any of its history?”
Edith shook her head, thinking.
“I do not believe that I do,” she said.
Thomas nodded, still smiling as he offered her his arm.
“Well, would you like a tour through a fresh perspective?” he asked.
It took Edith a moment to understand what he was asking. When it dawned on her, she turned to Adelaide with a sheepish expression.
Adelaide giggled, waving her away with her hand.
“Pray, go and amuse yourself,” she said with a playful wink. “I would prefer to remain seated and enjoy my refreshment for a spell in tranquility, if you please.”
Edith giggled, blushing at the idea of being alone with Thomas.
“Well, I suppose since Adelaide is ready to be rid of me, I would be delighted,” she said.
Thomas smiled, looking at Adelaide as though he had won a great prize.
“You will regret losing such excellent company, then,” he said.
The three of them laughed and Adelaide waved to them as they walked arm in arm toward the lobby. Thomas gazed up at the ceiling, his expression of awe and wonder.
