Page 15 of Falling Into Bed with a Duke
Chapter 4
SHE smelled of verbena.
Lounging in a chair before the fireplace in his library long past midnight, sipping his scotch, Ashe was aware of her fragrance lingering on his fingers, her taste haunting his palate. He couldn’t determine why he’d let her go so easily, why’d he’d not worked harder to convince her to pose for him, why he’d turned away the opportunity to bed her. Granted, he’d never taken a woman’s virginity. He’d spoken true regarding his aversion to deflowering a woman, but going against his preferences seemed a small price to pay in order to uncover the secrets of such an intriguing woman.
She’d been at the Nightingale Club for more than simply determining what all the fuss was about. Something more compelling had driven her there, just as he was driven by the ghosts of his past. While he’d not been on the railway car, he might as well have been, because he felt as though he’d died alongside his parents in the fiery aftermath of the trains colliding. When they were departing for the railway station, he’d been so angry with them for leaving him yet again, that he’d shouted at their retreating backs that he hated them. His nanny had scolded him, rapped his knuckles with her ruler, and when he was still moping about by nightfall, had sent him to bed without his supper.
It was one of the last punishments he ever received.
The Marquess of Marsden seldom punished. Wandering the hallways like a wraith, he’d barely known they were there. The boys had been allowed to roam around as they pleased. The butler was too old to be much of a disciplinarian. The cook prepared meals, often containing more sweets than nourishment because they were “poor orphaned lads.” If they hadn’t spent so much time running over the moors, they’d have probably become little tubby lads who could do no more than roll over the grounds. But they had run wild, climbing trees, scrambling over ruins, and breaking more than one bone each. Ashe had once walked with a broken ankle to the nearby village to have a physician patch him up. No one could claim that they weren’t hardy although a good many had declared them uncivilized. They had a series of schoolmasters who attempted to reform them, but they were beyond reforming.
Being familiar with how easily and swiftly death could come to call, they wanted to get as much out of life as they could. So they did as they pleased.
And it would have pleased him to have bedded tonight’s mysterious woman. To have captured more than a glimpse of ankle and calf. To have focused his lens on her—
He heard a thud and rattle in the hallway as though someone had knocked into a table, followed quickly by a deep-voiced apology, probably to the object itself as there were no servants wandering the residence this time of night. Looking toward the door, he watched as Edward Alcott stumbled into the room.
“There you are,” Edward announced. “I’ve been looking for you. I’m in need of lodgings. My brother’s blasted wife has kicked me out.”
He staggered to the table housing spirits, and, with an awkward clumsiness that threatened to upend more than one decanter, poured himself a drink. “She claims I smell like a distillery, doesn’t approve of the hours I keep, and thinks I’m a bad influence.”
“Julia seems to have pegged you quite accurately.”
With a scowl, Edward dropped into the chair opposite Ashe’s. “That may be, but still I don’t know what Grey sees in that beastly woman. She’s an utter nag, no fun whatsoever. She won’t even let him go on adventures with us.”
“Why would you want him to? The two of you only argue when you’re together.” They were constantly at each other. Ashe and Locksley had learned to ignore them, not to interfere in all their little spats. Eventually, the brothers would resolve whatever the issue was and move on to another.
“Because he’s my brother.”
The simple statement seemed to carry a wealth of power and truth behind it. Ashe had no siblings, although Edward, Grey, and Locke were as close to being his brothers as anyone could be and not be related by blood.
“Anyway,” Edward murmured, “I was hoping you could spare a bed for a few nights. If not, I’ll make do at the club.”
“You can stay here as long as you need. I’ve no plans for the guest rooms.”
“You’re a sport.” He settled back in the chair, sipped his scotch, then lifted his glass. “It’s good to be back in London. Plenty of scotch here, gaming hells, and women. Tonight, I indulged in all three. Think I shall do the same tomorrow.”
“You’re not going to Julia’s soiree?” The countess had wanted to host a celebration of their return.
“Of course I’ll be there, but it’s not going to go on all night now, is it? She’ll leave us with plenty of hours for mischief after. So what did you do this evening?”
“I went to the Nightingale.”
Edward grinned. “You do like your women classy.”
“I don’t know how classy a woman is if she’s married and searching for a lover.”
“They’re not all married. I’ve deflowered a couple.”
Ashe’s stomach clenched with the thought that maybe Lady V had returned—
“Not tonight.” He was surprised that he sounded as though he were growling.
Edward scoffed. “No, not tonight. Too many games have to be played there, ladies protected. This evening I wanted a woman with no reputation to defend. Had two of them actually. Sweet girls.”
“And you wonder why Julia finds you offensive?”
“The woman has no spirit of adventure. She is no doubt as boring in bed as she is out of it. I’m surprised Grey hasn’t taken on a mistress.”
