“That’s good,” Kenneth intoned. “I do so hope he entrusts you with the business.”
While sifting through the letters, Dorian came across one labelledLloyds Bankand opened it, then skimmed through the contents in moments. Kenneth, while brewing the cup of coffee, asked, “Bad news?”
“No,” he folded the letter. “It is simply about the trust I’d set up for Evelina. Nothing to worry about.”
“Good,” Kenneth pushed the cup and saucer to him. “Is there anything else you require this morning, Your Grace?”
“Did we send back our agreement to attend Lady Tresman’s musicale and ball?” Dorian asked, frowning.
“Her Grace took care of that, Sir,” Kenneth said. “I am sure the Merry Widow would love to have the most reclusive Duke and his wife under her roof.”
“Naturally,” Dorian refrained from rolling his eyes while reaching for a pen. “For gossip fodder. I do not know which is worse—having anonymity that keeps people guessing or getting rumors and whispers that makes one feel as if privacy is a concept and not a right.”
“Which is why I am sure you will do everything in your power to present a unified front so there are no whispers,” Kenneth intoned as sternly as Dorian imagined his father might’ve.
He cocked a brow. “What about me taking my coffee without a scolding?”
Chuckling, Kenneth left the room, and Dorian retook the letter from the bank again. “The sum of five hundred and fifty thousand pounds has been acquired and has been deposited on behalf of Her Grace, the Duchess of Wolfthorne.”
A satisfied smile crossed his face. “At least there won’t be any quibbling about this. Her fortune ishers.”
He settled into work, and by midday, closed a folio and pondered if he should go and see how Ellie was faring. Maybe summon her maid instead so as not to disturb her?
“Dorian?” Evelina’s soft voice broke through his musings.
He immediately glanced up, ready to chide her for why she was not resting, but the garment she wore had his mouth clamped shut. For a woman as prim and proper as she was, he’d expected a day dress, even a dowdy one, but at present, she wore a sleek robe of sapphire silk.
The deep crevice between her breasts clung to her curves, and with her hair spilling around her shoulders and down her back, she looked every inch an exotic queen.
“How…. are you feeling?”
“The bath, the laudanum, and the light breakfast worked wonders,” she sighed as she took a seat. “Thank you for your foresight.”
Pushing away from the table, he crossed the room to close the door, then strode to take a seat next to her. “It was not so much foresight as it was lessons learned from many nights soused like a sailor. Do I dare ask if you have managed to recall our conversation last night?”
She shook her head slowly. “Only what I told you this morning.”
He grasped her hand and looked into her emerald eyes. “You asked me to make our union a proper marriage, not one which I would dissolve after the agreed time has passed.”
Her cheeks colored. “Then I assume I added that I’d acquired some inconvenient—”
“Emotions,” he finished. “You did.”
Her lips ticked down. “I know you do not believe in love or anything close to it, so I would prefer if we could put that little indiscretion of mine behind us—”
“And what if I say no?”
Ellie’s mouth was primed to rush on, but Dorian’s words stopped her. Her eyes widened ever so slightly, “What—what do you mean?”
His brows lowered as he held her hand in both of his now. “What if I do away with the divorce? You still have the privilege to do as you please, we still have separate bedrooms, but once or twice a week, we can stay in my bed. Given our attraction to one another, bedsport will be most pleasurable between us.”
She almost choked. “Do you… do you mean to say you’ll truly make me your wife?”
“Only if you want,” Dorian chuckled at her part-awestruck, part-aghast expression. “But in the meantime, Idowant to take you up on your request last night.”
“The one where I touch you as you’ve touched me…” she whispered as her face warmed, though her gaze remained bold. “…I remember that too.”
A brisk tug on her hand had her gasping and falling forward, but he caught her first. His hand cupped her waist and chin before he kissed her. The almost tender kiss caught fire instantly, and he hauled her onto his lap.
