She turned back, staring at the way she had come.
Then, slowly, she turned towards Hyde Park. She walked, her pace growing faster with each step. Perhaps the Duke was wicked. Perhaps he was not. She knew only one thing with surety: she loved him. Whatever happened today, it was something that she wanted, for herself.
That made it different from many of the other things that had happened since she’d been in London. Julian might love her dearly, but he was trying to make her fit like a piece into a puzzle that he’d made without consulting her. From now on, she wouldmake her own decisions, and let the results tell her if she had been right or wrong.
She was out of breath when she reached Hyde Park Corner. Only then did she realize that she’d run the last few blocks in her eagerness to learn what was going to happen. She stood, looking around her, not sure what she was expecting to see. She was not alone. Walkers passed her from all directions, coming and going from the park. But none of them seemed to take a particular notice of her.
Then, a carriage pulled forward from the place it had been parked and the door was pushed open. A man’s hand extended towards her.
Without looking, she reached for it and was pulled inside and onto a seat.
The Duke shut the door behind her and smiled as they pulled forward and out into traffic.
‘You wished to see me, Your Grace,’ she said. He sat across from her, looking handsome and dapper as always, not flushed and breathless as she was.
‘I think, under the circumstances, you should call me Sebastian,’ he said.
‘And just what are the circumstances?’ she said, before adding, ‘Sebastian,’ enjoying the delicious way the name felt on her tongue.
‘I am kidnapping you,’ he replied, still smiling, then added, ‘Cassandra. Or do you prefer that I call you Cassie?’
‘Either will do,’ she said, trying to control the fluttering feeling inside her so she could banter as they usually did. ‘And is it really a kidnapping, if I came willingly?’
His smile faded, but only a little. ‘Willingly at first. But I expect, very soon, you will have second thoughts and be quite angry with me. You will demand that I take you back to your brother’s house. When you do, I will refuse.’
This sounded a bit ominous, but not really frightening. ‘Where are you taking me?’ she said, hoping the answer would help her decide.
‘To some rooms I keep in Soho, where I entertain especially close friends.’
‘Female friends, I suppose,’ she said, giving him a cynical smile.
‘You understand the situation perfectly,’ he said.
‘Do you mean to seduce me?’ It was surprising that her voice did not shake. Her insides felt like a swarm of fluttering moths.
He tipped his head to the side and gazed up at the roof of the coach, considering. ‘That depends. I wish to talk to you where we can be alone. We need to settle some things between us. What happens after that?’ He looked down at her and shrugged. ‘We will decide when the time comes.’
This sounded positively reasonable. She was not in any danger, as of yet, and he made it sound as if she would have some say in whatever proceeded. She probably should not be orchestrating her own ruin. But it was better than what might have happened had Mr Rutland continued to pursue her. For now, she would smile and wait.
A short time later, the carriage drew to a stop, and Sebastian leapt to open the door and help her down.
She hesitated for only a moment before taking his hand and letting him lead her towards a nondescript building. He unlocked the front door and urged her up a short flight of steps to a landing with another locked door. He fumbled with the key for only a moment. Then he let her into a darkened sitting room.
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim light and realize that they were not alone.
Harriette Wilson was sitting on a velvet chaise on the other side of the room.
Chapter Fourteen
She turned around to go back down the stairs, nearly pushing Sebastian down before he could stop her. ‘Take me back to my brother’s house this instant.’
‘I told you you would say that,’ he said pushing her gently back until they were both inside the room and he could shut the door. Then he locked it and dropped the key in his pocket.
‘I don’t know what you have in mind,’ she said looking between him and the courtesan, ‘but if it is what I suspect, I would rather die.’
He gave a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows, ‘Why, Miss Fisk, what a lurid imagination you have.’
She glared at him and folded her arms, waiting for an explanation.
