“I know. But I was bored. It is dreadfully dull when you have no one to talk to or play with.” Dorothea was using both hands to scratch behind Nina’s ears now, and Nina was loving every second of it. “He never talked about Mama.”
Catriona frowned slightly. The young girl’s words were to the point, no inflection of emotion found within them. Catriona didn’t know anything about the previous duchess and hadn’tthought it appropriate to ask. But now, curiosity lanced her with such force that she nearly spoke without thinking.
Instead, she said, “Well, I’m happy to know that I am quite welcomed in this household. And you should be happy to know that you will have someone to spend time with and play with from now on.”
Dorothea looked at her warily. “Truly?”
“Truly,” Catriona promised. She ignored the voice in the back of her head that wondered if she would be able to keep that promise, seeing that she was still not completely clear on how busy she would be in her new role as duchess. Would it give her any time to act in her role as stepmother as well? Especially a stepmother to a girl who was craving attention like Dorothea was.
Dorothea looked away, contemplative, then she got off the sofa. “I’m going to leave now.”
“Will you be back?”
The hope in Catriona’s voice made Dorothea frown at her. “I don’t know…”
“Well, if you don’t come back, I’ll simply have to search the house until I find you myself,” Catriona told her with a smile, hoping that she would return the smile as well.
She didn’t, but she said, “All right,” before she turned and left the room, walking right by the maid who had just arrived with the tea service. Catriona stared after her, amazed at how similarly she left a room to her father.
CHAPTER 12
“Ican’t sleep, Nina.”
Nina let out a tiny little harrumph in response. Catriona rolled onto her side, blinking until her eyes had adjusted enough to the dark to see her dog lying on the rug next to her bed. Nina’s eyes shone back at her, alert, as if she knew what Catriona was going to suggest.
“Would you like to go for a walk?” Catriona asked, and Nina bounded to her feet, tail wagging, tongue lolling out the side of her mouth.
Catriona didn’t need any more motivation. She’d been tossing and turning in bed for nearly an hour, and her frustration was through the roof. Usually, she had no issues with falling asleep, but she was in a new place with so many things weighing on her mind that it was no wonder she couldn’t relax enough to finally fall unconscious.
She quickly lit a match, fetched her robe, and left her bedchamber. For a moment, she stood in the hallway and listened for any sounds or movements. She’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that she had been listening for the sound of a door opening and closing, likely indicating that Joseph had retired to bed, but it was as if she was all alone in this house. She’d seen neither hide nor hair of Joseph since the ceremony, and Dorothea had all but disappeared as well. Catriona had spent all evening by herself and had even eaten dinner alone in the dining room, much to her frustration.
He did not even try to have dinner with his daughter? It was the very least he could do seeing that he couldn’t seem to find time for her during the day.
The thought infuriated Catriona, but she shook it off as she took off down the hallway. She wanted to clear her head, not beleaguer her mind with thoughts of Joseph’s parenting.
“Where do you think we should go?” she whispered to Nina. “The library?”
Nina said nothing, but Catriona took that as a yes.
“Very well, the library it is. Let’s hope that I can find something particularly uninteresting to lull me to sleep.” She paused, thinking about the tour she’d been given of the house by the housekeeper earlier and how little she had been paying attention. “And let’s hope that I know how to find my way back to my bedchamber when it’s time.”
She set course for where she thought the library was, and when she came upon it, she saw that the door was ajar. Frowning, Catriona pushed it slightly, realizing that there was a soft light coming from the other end of the room.
The light originated from a dying candle, flickering as it clung to life. And next to it was Joseph, asleep.
She should have walked out right then and there. It would have been easy to close the door and pretend she hadn’t seen him, to pretend her heart had flipped over itself at the sight of him. But the foolish part of her closed the door and inched closer instead.
He was well and truly asleep, the only movement being the steady rise and fall of his chest. Catriona came close enough to see the long shadows of his eyelashes resting against his cheeks, to see how soft his lips looked when they were not constantly in a thin line of displeasure. He’d always been handsome, but in this state, he was almost ethereal.
She was married to him. This stunning, handsome, infuriating, powerful duke was her husband.
It hit her so suddenly that she nearly staggered on her feet. Catriona turned, needing to get away.
A hand caught her wrist. “It is very rude of you to stare.”
She swallowed. The silence was so heavy that she would not be surprised if he could hear the hammering of her heart. “Not asmuch as it is dangerous of you to grab me so suddenly when I am holding a lit candle. I could have dropped it.”
“You would not have,” he murmured. She peeked over her shoulder at him to find that his eyes were only partially opened, watching her. “You are far too quick for that.”
