“Yes, later,” he agreed, blandly. She wasn’t the only one of them who could pretend.
Reverend Summerall began telling all what a remarkably talented actress Kate was as if he had forgotten her performance at the Cotillion Dance. Bran bowed out, moving toward his horse. Winderton fell into step beside him.
“You and Miss Addison are acting more charitably toward each other than in the beginning,” Christopher said.
Bran studied his nephew. The duke didn’t seem angry or offended. If he suspected a closeness between Bran and Kate, he would not be so pleasant. “Is that not good?”
“It is excellent. I wish Mother would come around. She fears I will run away with an actress. As if I would be so foolish or treat Miss Addison so shabbily.”
“That is comforting.” For a second, Bran was tempted to tell Christopher that Kate was his, that he had claimed her.
Then, he realized, Kate was right. His nephew would consider it a betrayal. There would be an uproar. Some things might come out that needed to be dealt with sensitively.
Not for the first time, he questioned his sister’s wisdom about keeping the news of the title’s past perilous finances from Winderton. To be honest, in those early days after his return from India, Bran had been more interested in building his engineering firm than in thinking her edicts through.
His goal had been to repair the Winderton fortunes and he was doing a nice job. A tidy sum was starting to grow under Winderton’s name. If the duke was prudent and wise, which actually meant if the duke continued to take Bran’s advice, then he could have a substantial fortune to pass on to his heirs.
Bran had not regretted supporting the Winderton estate. He had more money than he needed.
However, now, he realized that he may have gone too long without telling his ward the truth. Especially since even Kate thought he lived on the generosity of the duke instead of vice versa.
But Kate was right when she warned against telling him about their love—this was not the right time. Young men had hot heads. Who knew how the duke would react when he learned that not only was his uncle sleeping with the woman he adored—but that he was also financially dependent on that uncle as well?
Then again, it was past time for Winderton to start to understand that his mother was wrong—the sun didn’t circle around him.
Still, that was not a conversation Bran looked forward to.
Hedidlook forward to seeing Kate again.
That night, he waited in the woods surrounding her tents for her. It was late when she finally came out. She was surprised to see him step in her path.
“Is something wrong? Why are you here?” she asked.
“I didn’t want you to walk through the woods by yourself,” he said taking her into his arms. Their kiss was full of promise... and their lovemaking that night in his bed was better than the evening before.
Chapter Fourteen
The nights that followed were magical to Kate.
Brandon was always thinking of ways to please her. He’d have special suppers prepared in the main house and set up in his own dining room, just for the two of them.
There were stuffed figs and perfectly cooked cold beef served with a mustard sauce and warm, fragrant bread. Nuts, cheese, and apples were the dessert and it was all washed down with a fine red wine.
“Do the servants mind working for you?” Kate asked.
“They never complain,” Brandon answered. “And I always see to the gratuities.”
Those words made her happy. They showed that even though Brandon lived on his nephew’s estate, he seemed willing to care for himself.
One night after they’d finished their meal, he’d prepared a bath with soaps that smelled of lemon and lavender. The tub was the largest that Kate had ever seen and easily accommodated both of them—well, until they started making love in it.
They created a terrible mess of his bedroom that night. Water was sloshed everywhere. “You will have to tip the servants even more.”
“Aye, I will,” Brandon said, drying her off before lifting her up and carrying her to the bed where he made love to her again... and again.
They could not have enough of each other.
And when they weren’t making love, they were talking about everything. Brandon shared his frustrations with the bridge commission and how difficult it was to start over.
