Yet scars were inevitable, and scandal would someday deface even the purest of hearts.As Selwyn called his brother and sisters toward their waiting carriages, he saw Mathieson eying Miss Goldsworthy.
A nagging suspicion of some awful, distant memory prickled at his conscience.
CHAPTER TEN
The Duke of Brantingham appeared shaken to his very core.The arrival of Lord Mathieson had brought their outing to a swift end, and His Grace quickly shepherded his siblings to their carriage.He handed the Ladies Margery and Fanetta into their seats, urging Lord Peregrine to climb in after them.
He waved them off before joining Aurelia in the landau.The conveyance rocked and swayed as he leaped onto the cushioned squabs beside her and slammed the door at his back.With a thump of his fist onto the leather hood, he ordered his driver to depart.
She watched the brilliant lights of the Victoria Embankment fade away.“I hope you’re not upset with me for drawing His Lordship’s attention…”
His Grace’s eyes went wide.“Not at all.You did nothing wrong, Miss Goldsworthy.The man is a blackguard and a cad—so far as Mama was concerned—and he ought to have known better than to gawp at you.When he realized that we were together, he should’ve removed himself entirely.I don’t know what Margie and Fannie were thinking to even speak to him!”
“Perhaps they were merely being polite.”
He huffed and sat back against the seat.“They don’t know how awful he is, and I cannot tell them what he has done.It wouldn’t be proper.”He gave Aurelia a half-hearted smile.“I suppose I shall have to call him out.”
It was her turn to balk.“For what offense, Your Grace?”
“For treating you in an ungentlemanly fashion.”
She laughed at that, and her heart danced in her chest at the thought ofhimdefending her honor.She didn’t wish him to duel with Lord Mathieson, but it was sweet justice indeed to imagine the Duke of Brantingham as her champion.
“I would fight for you, Aurelia,” he vowed.It was the first time he’d used her Christian name—the name she’d given herself—though she had not permitted him to do so.Yet she didn’t mind, for the moniker sounded perfectly natural spoken in his clipped, aristocratic tongue, as though she belonged on his breath, in his lungs.
At the very beating heart of him.
She leaned toward him, meeting his gaze in the quiet, darkened carriage.“I believe you would go to war for me, Your Grace,” she said, for she daredn’t call him by his given name.It was too intimate and too bold, even for her, “but I don’t need you to fight my battles.I’ve never had anyone to stick up for me, you see, so I’ve become adept at looking inward for strength.”She placed her hand on his arm, breaching the slight distance between their bodies.“Lord Mathieson didn’t hurt me.He couldn’t even reach me.”
The only man in danger of harming her was the one seated beside her.He could break her heart with a word, wound her with a glance.Oh, she would recover—of that she had no doubt—yet getting over him wouldn’t be easy.
His Grace’s handsome face was illuminated by the street lamps beyond the windows of their landau.His skin looked burnished and harsh, for he was a fearsome gentleman in all his power.Hewouldfight for her, if necessary, and he would undoubtedly win, for even a man like Lord Mathieson would be a fool to challenge the great Duke of Brantingham.
Aurelia smiled inwardly at the thought.
Her cheeks flushed and her heart warmed, and—emboldened by her own desire—she placed a trembling palm upon his greatcoat lapel.She traced her fingers through the soft, fluffy astrakhan collar, stroking him.
With her free hand, she steadied herself against his thigh, feeling the warm wool and the firm man beneath his taut trousers.Aurelia was desperate for a human touch and leaned toward his puzzled, slightly slackened mouth as he gazed into her eyes.
She pressed her lips to his in a chaste kiss.
Her first and only kiss, for she had saved her affections for the Duke these past five years.It had been foolish and fruitless, she knew now, as he would never make her his duchess.At best, she might be invited to become his mistress, yet Aurelia knew she could never share him, or even love a part of him.She wanted all of him for herself.
“Miss Goldsworthy…”he murmured into her mouth.“Aurelia…”
He was going to protest!He was going to pull away!
She slid her hand from his collar into his hair, searching her fingers through the thick, brown mass to clutch the back of his skull.Using soft strength and the persuasion of her lips, she held him in place.
She did not wish to lose him—not yet.
Aurelia moaned as His Grace’s arms encircled her waist.He cradled her as the carriage rocked, and his large, capable hands spanned her shoulders and stroked her spine.He clasped her to his chest, and she felt his heart drumming into her breast.
Their lips feathered against one another.He was a bold and purposeful kisser, while she relied on her natural instincts to guide her.
“You are so good, my darling,” he whispered encouragingly.“So sweet…”
She felt cherished in his embrace, though she knew they weren’t lovers.They were friends, perhaps more than friends, as the attraction they felt for each other was unquestionable.
