Then there was the hue of her eyes... they were the deep, shadowy blue of storm clouds and yet, he remembered, sometimes they could turn as brilliant as crystals. He’d never seen their color anywhere else. He had looked—
Blinding insight struck him. Claims of happy bachelorhood aside, if you had asked him fifteen years ago what he had expected by six and thirty he’d say he would have a wife, children, and all that wedlock offered. For the last decade and a half, there had been times when he’d come close to marrying, and yet he’d always pulled up shortbecause of Kate.
He’d met lovely women, suitable women, but none had ever stirred his soul the way she once had. It was as if she had ruined him for others—
God, he was pathetic, because she didn’t even recognize him. Therefore, he was not about to act as if he remembered her.
They were not alone for their meeting. They stood in front of a ratty-looking faded blue tent that he assumed served as the living quarters for her actors. Several of them, men and women of various ages, watched their meeting with great interest.
“MissAddison, I take it?” He hadn’t meant to put quite so much inflection on her address. Any other spinster of her age would have blushed out of humility.
Not Kate. She coolly met his eye. “You know I am. You asked for me and you spoke directly to me.”
“I was being polite.”
She cocked her head as if she didn’t believe him. “And you are?”
“Mr. Brandon Balfour, the Duke of Winderton’s guardian.”
Even with his name, and his relationship of power over the duke she gave no sign of recalling him. Briskly, she asked, “How may I help you, Mr. Balfour?”
That voice.Throaty and yet with a hint of spun honey and precise diction. He’d adored the sound of it. There wasn’t the slightest hint of feminine submissiveness, something he was surprised he admired—and there he was again, falling under her spell.
Forget Winderton. She was a threat tohispeace of mind, to hissanity. Any thoughts of being diplomatic left Bran’s mind. He wanted her gone from Maidenshop and he didn’t give a devil’s damn of what anyone thought of him. “I’m here to tell you to leave the area. You have one day to pack your things and be gone. If you aren’t, the magistrate will be paying you a visit.” He knew Mars would not be pleased with his threat, but a friend was a friend. Mars would use the weight of his office if asked.
That broke her composure. “On what grounds are you ordering me to leave?”
“Ah, Miss Addison, you are more clever than that. You know why I want you gone.”
“Because of the duke’s kindness toward us?”
Bran didn’t hide his contempt. “Is kindness what we are calling it now?”
She drew herself up, facing him as if she was a cobra ready to strike. “Very well,” she corrected herself. “Are you threatening a group of actors plying their craft because the duke is infatuated with me? He is a grown man. Almost one and twenty. He can make his own decisions.”
“But not without my permission,ifhe wants his inheritance.” Bran liked letting her know the power he wielded. “Twenty-four hours,” he reiterated and started to turn his horse. He’d had his say.
Kate’s voice stopped him. “See here, you can’t just order me to leave. Warlords no longer exist. We gave up the feudal system centuries ago.”
“Not in Maidenshop,” he tossed back at her. Orion, still fussy because he believed he deserved a good long rest, pranced as if he was a spirited animal fit for a king and not the most hardheaded creature in the district. Bran gave Kate a mirthless smile. “Don’t test me, Miss Addison. I will win.”
She moved toward him. “And what if I told you I’m not interested in Winderton? That he is safe from a harpy like me? Will that make you see that your high-handed orders are ridiculous?”
“Actually, it makes me more fearful for his soul than before. I would not wish for Winderton or any otherdecentman to fall prey to your wiles.” Her spell was that powerful. Just the sight of her brought back aching memories of the night they’d shared. He’d worshipped every inch of her skin. Its taste had reminded him of sweet strawberries and her scent was that of a field of wildflowers—
The temptation to dismount, to walk up to her to see if her kiss was as he remembered was strong. He had to remind himself that, while he had been her first, he’d not been her last. She hadn’t even waited twenty-four hours to be faithless to him.
And a woman like her would adore stirring up the rivalries of men. Bran would not let that happen.
“Good day, Miss Addison.” He put heels to horse and rode away.
His nephew would be furious with him once he caught wind of this story, and he would hear of it. Bran would be wise to confess all to his nephew himself. There had been too many witnesses.
However, duke or no, his nephew was Bran’s responsibility for another few months and he was willing to use every means in his power to protect him from a Delilah like Kate Addison.
“Are we leaving, Kate?”
It was Silas who asked, but she knew the entire troupe wanted to know.
