“Well, I hope I am not that kind of man.” He chuckled. “No, it was my amazement that you knew that poem in particular.”
“A poem about friendship? No finer poem out there.” She smiled and walked around the library again, running those sensual fingers over the spines of other books.
Marcus started to follow her, quite stunned at the power she had over him with this simple touch to his things.
“I can see why it is your favourite room, Your Grace,” she murmured. “It is quite stunning.”
“It is. Sometimes, though, it can get a little lonely.” He halted, waiting as she turned back to face him.
“Is this your way of saying you have been longing for someone’s company in this room? A woman’s company? A friend?”
“Perhaps something more than a friend.” Flirting with her felt all too natural as if this part of him had been missing while she was not here. She chuckled and shook her head again.
“What else is there to see?” she asked with animation. The excitement and amazement she had at his house was quite infectious. With energy, he showed her the next rooms.
He showed her the music room but was surprised to find she did not boast of any great musical skill. Many ladies he had met had been all too eager to tell him about the hours they had spent as a child practicing the harp or the piano just to impress him, but Lady Caroline was not the boasting kind. He showed her his study, the dining room, and finally, the garden room on the ground floor.
With one wall fully made of glass, the outlook over the sunny grounds was quite stunning. A bank of trees on the far side of the garden was golden at this time of day as the sun had started to drop, casting rays of orange light through the window where it danced off the leaves of potted palms nearby.
“Do you like it?” he asked, leaning on the doorframe as he watched Lady Caroline explore, running her petite fingers through the leaves of the trees.
“The room?”
“The house,” he said in clarification. “Lady Caroline … I hope you do like it here.” He wasn’t particularly keen to talk about the fact they were to be married now in case it dispelled this flirtatious air and brought her anger at him asking for her hand without meeting her. Yet he had to say something, had to allude somehow to the fact he wanted her to be happy here.
“How could anyone not like it here?” she asked with a small laugh. “I think a woman would have to be blind not to admire the beauties of this place.”
“Perhaps.” He sighed, choosing not to press the matter. He wanted her to feel some connection with the place and to consider this may someday be her home, but it was far too soon to say such a thing. “Would you like to see your chamber? We can prepare ourselves for dinner then.”
“I’d like that.” She turned back to face him with a smile, those green eyes shining with a kind of happiness.
That feeling. That is what has been missing from this house.
He led her back into the corridor, but any flirtation between them now was halted by the fact they walked past some of the staff hurrying to their duties. Instead, he and Lady Caroline sneaked glances at one another. When he found her looking back at him on these occasions, his heart raced, especially when he saw how deeply she blushed under his gaze.
She’s attracted, too.
They reached the top of the stairs, and he steered their path towards her chamber.
“Your chamber is here.” He gestured to a door flanked by two long windows, flooding the space with light. “My chamber … is down there.” He felt a sudden urge to tell her exactly where to find him if she ever needed him.
“Ah, and that is something I will need to know just now, is it?” she teased him again as he turned back to look at her.
“Perhaps you may like to know it,” he whispered, smiling with her. “Until dinner then, My Lady.”
She curtsied and, once more, seemed to reset herself, not curtsying as deeply as she first did. When she turned to enter the room, he couldn’t let her part this fast. How could he after such a startling and attractive meeting? He reached out and caught her wrist with soft fingers. She gasped, freezing like ice, as he slid his fingers down from her wrist and to her hand.
Entangling their fingers together, being sure to make the touch just that bit more intimate than a formal handhold, he lifted her palm towards his lips and bent it down a little. He held her gaze as he kissed the back of her hand, his lips pressed to her skin far longer than they should have been.
Her breathing quickened. He saw it in the rising and falling of her chest. As he released her, heat stretched through him that had him picturing kissing her lips and not just her hand.
“Something tells me you and I will need a chaperone, Your Grace.” Her wit had him laughing again as he released her hand. “Until dinner.” She hastened into her chamber and shut the door.
He chuckled as he walked away, a surprising spring in his step.
Maybe my debts aren’t such a curse after all. Maybe my debts have brought me the best possible thing that could come my way. Lady Caroline.
Chapter 5
