The flurry of greetings to the Duke of Ravenhill from the rest of the group were lost on Dorian entirely.
If the Duke of Hawcrest had not already relinquished Rose’s arm by the time Dorian reached her, he might have physically pushed the man away from her. His rationality felt as though it was hanging by a thread. Whatever Levi Collins’ intentions, and regardless of the circumstances, it felt as though the Duke of Hawcrest had usurped his own place beside Rose.
“You do not look well, Rose,” Dorian blurted, placing her hand on his arm but refraining from the fuller embrace he longed for. “What is wrong?”
“I am only a little tired,” Rose claimed.
“You did insist on completing the full circuit, Duchess Rose,” remarked Levi Collins, with a friendly and open smile on a face with green-blue eyes and sandy hair. “I would have brought you back to the house an hour ago, if you had permitted it.”
“You have been very kind, Levi,” Rose told her previous escort. “But I do believe the fresh air was better for me than sitting indoors alone. I have had too much of that lately I hope you do not think me foolish.”
“I think nothing of the sort,” replied Levi Collins gallantly, with a small bow and smile that made Dorian’s blood boil as much as hearing his wife call this man by his Christian name. “I was only glad to be of service and for the extended pleasure of your company.”
Before Dorian had time either to fully comprehend or act on his annoyance with the Duke of Hawcrest, Cassius Emerton emerged from the library and came towards them with a broad smile.
“Ah, you are all back. Excellent. Do take off your outdoor clothes and join me in the library. There will be tea directly. You have found your wife and met the Duke of Hawcrest already, I see, Dorian.”
At this Dorian remembered his manners and bowed stiffly to Levi Collins, baffled by own reaction to the man and forcing himself through the usual social hoops.
“Not quite, although it seems my wife knows the Duke of Hawcrest well already,” Dorian said pointedly out before he could stop himself, causing Rose and Levi Collins equal confusion. “I am glad to make your acquaintance at last, Levi Collins.”
The Duke of Hawcrest returned his bow and Dorian did not miss the shooting of a raised eyebrow to Cassius in inquiry to Dorian’s tone. Christ, what was wrong with him? Five minutes earlier he had felt almost perfectly composed and now he was acting the jealous husband in a bad play.
“Oh, enough of all this nonsense,” pronounced Duchess Josephine cheerfully, never one to stand on ceremony or indulge in overcomplicated emotional conversations. “I have no idea what you are all talking about but I feel the need for my tea and a warm fire and I think it would do Rose good too.”
Stealing Rose away from both men, she guided her friend to the library where Cassius held open the door. When Rose turned her head and looked to Dorian, he had no choice but to follow.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Let’s not dress for dinner tonight, Cassius,” suggested Josephine with a yawn, leaning her auburn head on her husband’s shoulder where they sat on a sofa by one of the library windows. “I am too tired and I’m sure Rose is too. Your mother will be in town until Tuesday and there is no one else here who deserves respect on account of age.”
The Duke of Ashbourne smiled and put an arm about his wife’s shoulders, lightly touching her stomach with his other hand. Watching them, Rose longed for her own husband to do the same. Finding Dorian here on return from their walk had delighted her and seemed to draw him immediately close, yet he had not once embraced her.
Presently, Dorian was hovering near Rose’s chair beside the library fireplace, almost as though guarding her from something. Rose wished they were in their own library at Ravenhill House and that they could sit together in one chair, Rose curled into Dorian’s arms.
“You had convinced me as soon as you said you were tired,” Cassius answered Josephine. “We shall not dress tonight. We are all friends here and none of us stands on formality. Dinner will be free and easy.”
“Hear, hear,” said Levi Collins, from chair beside Josephine’s older sister, Vera, Lady Elmridge, where they had been talking of his plans for the following summer, his first as the Duke of Hawcrest.
The decision on dress made, and a drinks tray called to the table, they all remained there in the library, chatting comfortably among themselves amidst the blazing warmth of the fire.
Rose liked Levi Collins and could not understand why Dorian seemed to take against him in the hallway. He had been nothing but solicitous and gentlemanly towards Rose and she had been glad of his arm in the gardens, feeling another of those moments of sudden weakness that had plagued her recently.
Remembering another semi-faint at the door of Haybridge Hall, Rose reflected that she had not even had the chance yet to tell Dorian that she had met and liked his sister and niece. Given Jane Chatham’s situation, it was not something she could do casually in company.
At least Dorian’s strange enmity towards Levi Collins seemed to be subsiding. He was even looking on the Duke of Hawcrest with approval, agreeing occasionally with his statements to Vera and nodding at other times. Rose smiled at Dorian and was happy tosee him sometimes smile back at her quite naturally although he kept a distance.
Her husband was forgetting to be charming tonight and it was both worrying and endearing. Would they be alone to talk that night? Rose did not even know where Dorian was sleeping.
“If you have an interest in art, Levi, perhaps Dorian can introduce you to his friends in Chelsea,” Cassius said, picking up on some exchange between the Duke of Hawcrest and Lady Eldridge.
“More in architecture,” Levi Collins corrected his host quickly. “My interest is more practical than personal, in any case. Half of Hawcrest Hall is falling down and I’m inclined to think that a complete rebuild is the only solution. I’d like to get some expert views.”
“If the basic structure isn’t solid, rebuilding might save you a great deal of future trouble,” Dorian remarked. “Some of the homes of the greatest families in England ought to be pulled down and rebuilt in my opinion.”
The Duke of Hawcrest nodded in agreement, clearly not having taken offense at the earlier mild clash in the hallway.
“Tradition and history are no use when the rain comes through the roof, the floors are sinking and the ceilings falling in,” he said.
