“Look around. Does it look like I need money?”
“But–”
“There is nothing you can do to change my mind.” He was sharp, refusing her for two reasons. The first was to keep his reputation intact. If she was discovered in his castle when he was trying to better his own name, what then? Hell, even Simon would want his head for being caught with the cousin of his beau. The other reason was that he knew it would be no good to be her seductress teacher. He’d be too lured in by her. All to hand her on a silver platter for that Windham fool. “Time to leave, Miss Voss.”
“Your Grace!”
He took hold of her wrist.
CHAPTERSEVEN
“Please, Your Grace.” Evelyn couldn’t understand why he was refusing her as he dragged her into the hallway, his grip on her wrist firm but not painful. She scarcely managed to snatch up her bonnet and reticule before he managed to get her out of the room. “I am asking for your help. Is there anything so wrong in that?”
“You do not understand. There is much you do not understand.” He shook his head as he towed her away from the drawing room and through a dark stone corridor, heading toward the front hall of this vast castle. She shivered at the cold air that bounced off the stones, shocked that this was a home at all. There were glimpses of beauty within it, but as far as she could see, it was cold and in need of much work. It wasn’t much of a home at all, in fact.
“You cannot stay. That is the end of the story, Miss Voss. I am sorry you have had a wasted journey.” He released her as he reached the door and flung it open, then he froze completely, blocking her exit and staring out at the rain with his arms on either side of the doorframe.
Evelyn watched him intently, moving more to the side so she could see his face.
Something she hadn’t been expecting when seeking him out was to feel that same stirring she had experienced the other day in Hyde Park when she had seen his face. She’d been certain that was simply the attraction of first seeing such a handsome face. To her annoyance, she found that stirring had been there ever since he had come to find her in his drawing room.
The feeling was even stronger now as she watched a muscle in his jaw tick.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, peering past him.
“The rain.” He took a step back from the doorway and gestured outside. Evelyn stepped forward, peering out at the drive. There was flash flooding, with great rivulets of water running down the driveway, making it impossible to cross. “You came on horse, did you not?”
“I did.”
“Then even I am not so much a monster to send you out in that.” The Duke of Ravensworth raised his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose as if blocking out the sight of her.
Entranced, Evelyn’s eyes darted down his form, feeling as if she had the freedom to do so now that he was not staring at her so intently. His disheveled state was more endearing than she had allowed herself to think of before. The flash of skin that was visible at his neck was something hard to look away from. She caught the brief sight of dark golden hair curling, then a glimmer of a muscled chest, nothing more.
As he lowered his hand from his face, she snatched her eyes up to meet his, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much she had been staring at him.
“Fine. You can stay the night and I shall have the housekeeper prepare a chamber for you. In the morning, you shall be on your way. Yes?” He stepped toward her, apparently keen on having her answer, those eyes unrelenting in their stare.
“You have given me no choice in the matter,” she murmured simply.
He turned away and walked off so fast that she was left reeling, with her bonnet and reticule in her hand. When he was gone, she leaned against the stone wall, feeling weak and awful that her plan had failed.
She had known it was mad, but what other choice did she have? The Duke of Ravensworth’s reputation had suggested he was a man indeed that could assist her in learning the art of seduction.
I am shocked he turned me down.
“This is ridiculous,” Evelyn murmured as she reached toward the bed. She had not been expecting to stay here for very long, a few hours at most, so she had only brought with her a reticule and her diary.
She closed up the diary now, blocking out the sketch of the masked man on those pages. Tucking it away, she turned her attention to the nightgown that had been provided to her. The kindly housekeeper, a Mrs. Rivers, had provided the dress with a smile on her face. When Evelyn had asked where the nightgown came from though, she had no answer. All that Mrs. Rivers said was it had not been worn in a long time.
Well, I can hardly sleep in these wet clothes, can I?
Huffing in irritation, Evelyn took off her wet gown and hung it up by the fire in the guest chamber, so it could dry. She tied up her woolen stockings and her pelisse next, keeping them just far enough from the flames that they wouldn’t catch light.
She washed herself in a basin of water Mrs. Rivers had provided and slipped her body into the nightgown, pulling it on over her shoulders. It was perhaps a little short for her, revealing a glimmer of her calves, but the material was well made and nothing like what Evelyn had ever worn before. The degree of soft lace caressed her body, feeling as if someone was touching her. She shivered, startled when an image shot into her mind of the Duke of Ravensworth’s hands touching her, rather than the nightgown at all.
Looking around the room, Evelyn rubbed her hands over her arms, many thoughts and worries crossing her mind.
By now, her family would have noticed she was missing. Kitty would be inventing some scandal in her head as Hester tried to urge her to be quiet. Mavis would no doubt be up in arms about the trouble her niece was causing the family, and her uncle, Peter, would barely look up from the newspaper he was reading. His attention might only be snatched away when Mavis warned her disappearance could affect the whole family.
