“Would you rather I called a servant?”
“No. Do not bother them. They need to be on their way.”
And he wanted them out of the house.
After the fire was blazing, Demetrius stepped outside to bring in more wood and stacked it near so that there would be plenty for at least another day.
“Thank you,” Lavinia said after he took his seat once again.
“It was my pleasure.”
“Lady Teviot, we are going to be on our way, unless you need anything further,” Mrs. Trenton said as she stepped into the parlor.
“You just go on and enjoy your holiday,” Lavinia insisted.
It was then that the housekeeper looked at Demetrius with concern. Did she not approve of him. Or was it simply that the two of them would be alone and she already assumed his intentions?
“Keep watch please. I do not like leaving Lady Teviot alone.”
So, she wasn’t worried about him. “I promise that I will or His Grace would likely have my hide.”
“Thank you,” she murmured then took her leave.
He and Lavinia waited in silence as they listened for the three servants to gather their things, then the door close.
“Alone at last,” she whispered.
Chapter
Nineteen
“What do you suggest we do, now that we are alone?” Demetrius asked, a wicked twinkle in his brown eyes.
Lavinia’s face heated and she was certain her cheeks would go up in flames even though there was still a chill in the room.
“More brandy?”
He lifted his glass to show that he’d hardly drunk any of what he had originally poured.
While Lavinia was enjoying the evening simply in conversation with Demetrius, she had hoped that he would seduce her once they were alone.
Would she need to seduce him?
If she truly wished to be a wicked widow, then perhaps that was what she should do. But how did a woman go about seducing a rake?
“I think I have always desired you, but did not realize it at the time.” Lavinia sucked in a breath when she realized that she had voiced her thoughts.
The corner of his mouth tipped. “How could you not?”
“Well, you are handsome, charming, and intelligent.” She laughed.
“I meant, how could you not realize, though I thank you for the compliment.” He chuckled.
“There was an attraction, which I became aware of that very first day. Then strange things would happen. My pulse would race and there were times you made me nervous and when our hands would accidently touch, there was an awareness that I did not understand.”
“You certainly hid your response well.”
“I needed your respect and for you to truly listen to what I was trying to explain at any given time.”
