“How could I refuse such a charming invitation?” the Duke of Ravenhill laughed in return and came into the room, pausing to catch Rose’s eye. “As long as my wife does not object, of course. These are her private rooms after all.”
Blushing, Rose shook her head. Dorian had never been in her sitting room before, any more than her dressing room or bedroom. It felt strange to see him in these surroundings but not unwelcome. His dark eyes moved appreciatively over the room and its contents.
“Rose has furnished her rooms beautifully, hasn’t she?” said Madeline and the duke nodded his agreement.
“Rose has excellent taste,” he commented, reaching out to lightly touch the velvet of the chaise-longueand then the rich walnut desk.
She saw a smile briefly quirk the corners of his mouth as he glanced at the books on her shelves. It made Rose blush all over again as she guessed Dorian was wondering whether she had brought any of those scandalous books from the library up to her room. Of course, she had not, the idea not even suggesting itself to her before now.
For the next few minutes, Rose only listened as the duke talked effortlessly with her friends of common acquaintances and events in London, his wit and urbanity making both Josephineand Madeline laugh.He really could charm anyone,Rose sighed to herself, although she knew that Josephine’s love for Cassius and Madeline’s common sense meant that neither of them would actually fall for him.
Part of her wondered why she even tried to resist Dorian’s manifold attractions. No other woman of the ton seemed capable of it…
At length, with a polite bow, her too-handsome and too-charming husband took his leave, his final words addressed to Rose.
“You really have done splendidly with this room, Rose. If you would like to rearrange some of the other rooms in the house, you would be very welcome.”
“How lucky you are, Rose! What a perfect gentleman he is in his own house,” said Madeline in a loud whisper as soon as the door closed behind the Duke of Ravenhill.
“Shhh! He will hear you and grow big-headed,” Josephine giggled.
“Nonsense,” Madeline insisted. “That man hears far stronger praise than mine from ladies in every ballroom he enters. His head is still of normal proportions, which tells me that he has sense as well as beauty. Don’t you think so, Rose?”
Rose nodded, biting her lip at Madeline’s description of how the ladies of the ton viewed her husband even while she told herself not to be so silly.
“Dorian does have sense,” Rose agreed. “He is a clever man and an artist too. “I’m glad that he liked my rooms.”
“Hasn’t he seen them before?” asked Josephine with surprise.
“He never comes in here,” Rose explained. “We meet sometimes at meals, or in the library…”
She stopped and cleared her throat, unable to meet her friends’ curious eyes.
“Does the duke’s suite not adjoin yours?” Madeline asked, with a puzzled expression. “I thought that was always the arrangement in great houses.”
“Oh, no. This is the west wing. Dorian’s rooms are at the far end of the east wing.”
“How curious,” observed Josephine. “My rooms and Cassius’ rooms are connected. We sleep half in one and half in the other. I should hate to have to go wandering the corridors to find him, especially in winter. Why don’t you move somewhere closer to him, Rose?”
Rose felt sad for a moment, knowing that she could never have the love-match that Josephine had found. She did not want toadmit aloud that she doubted Dorian would want her any closer to his private rooms, and likely didn’t really even think of her as his wife. It sounded too pitiful.
“Maybe Rose doesn’t like the east wing,” Madeline suggested in jest. “The duke did just imply that some of the house needed redecoration and after being occupied by single men for so long I can quite believe that certain parts must be quite awful. After seeing the state of the east wing on her wedding night, Rose immediately moved to the west!”
Josephine laughed and shook her head.
“With a husband like Dorian Voss, I cannot believe that Rose spent her wedding night considering Ravenhill House’s furnishing,” she remarked. “It is remarkable that you even found the time and energy to arrange these rooms so soon.”
Rose flushed, feeling herself on uncertain ground.
“I was too homesick to think about anything else on my wedding night,” she said quietly. “I read a book and went to sleep. The wedding day itself had tired me out.”
“You are joking?” asked Josephine, blinking at this reply. “You read a book and went to sleep? But where was your duke?”
Rose shrugged, seeing a look of consternation pass between her two friends.
“I imagine Dorian was in his own chambers. We said goodnight after dinner. I didn’t see him again until luncheon the following day.”
“You mean he hasn’t…” Madeline began to ask but Josephine shushed her with a frown and then glanced back to Rose with concerned eyes.
