Page 70 of Stolen and Seduced By the Duke

And she will. I have every intention of seeing to that.

* * *

Margaret returned to Ravenfield House in excellent spirits, her arms laden with packages and her mind still pleasantly occupied by the afternoon she had spent in Bond Street.

"Your Grace, let us take these for you." The servants descended upon her the moment she entered, taking boxes and parcels from her hands with the solemn efficiency of soldiers collecting spoils after a battle.

"Take everything to my bedchamber, please," she instructed with a smile, handing a small parcel to a footman. "I am going to have a bath, and I should like an hour in which nobody tells me what I ought to be doing."

The footman wisely said nothing, though Margaret suspected the entire household had already learned that the Duchess of Ravenfield possessed a particular talent for ignoring orders.

A short while later, she was sinking gratefully into a tub before the hearth, the hot water surrounding her in fragrant clouds of steam. She rested her head against the edge and closed her eyes, allowing the warmth to ease the last remnants of fatigue from her shoulders. It had been a surprisingly pleasant day, and she found herself thinking of Hugh, wondering whether he had eaten his dinner and whether he would smile when she kissed him goodnight. The thought made her smile.

"Whatever else I may feel about his father, I can no longer deny the affection that has taken root in my heart for the little boy," she said quietly.

By the time she returned to her bedchamber, she felt thoroughly relaxed, her hair damp and loose around her shoulders, a thin drying linen wrapped around her, falling modestly to her knees.

She had barely crossed the threshold when she stopped dead.

Pierce stood beside the hearth, looking entirely too comfortable in her private room.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, clutching the front of her shift as her face immediately heated.

Pierce merely smirked. "I might also ask a question, Duchess. Where did you go?"

Margaret stared at him in disbelief before hurrying across the room and attempting to push him towards the door.

"Leave at once," she insisted, giving his shoulder an indignant shove. "I am indecent."

His amusement deepened. "You were considerably more indecent when you let me pleasure you."

Margaret's hands fell from him as embarrassment swept through her. "That was different," she protested, refusing to examine exactly how different it had been.

Pierce seemed delighted by her discomfort as he turned away from her and began collecting the shopping parcels scattered around the room. "Did you truly require all of this?" he asked, lifting one box without bothering to inspect it. "And, more importantly, did you truly need to go shopping yourself? We have servants to do such things for you."

Margaret folded her arms. "I spent most of the day with Hugh and then decided to go shopping. I needed to get out of this house."

"You did not spend it with him when you were expected to," he countered, setting another parcel aside. "You were meant to remain here."

His calmness irritated her far more than anger would have done. "You are impossible to satisfy," she declared, lifting her chin. "Since you refuse to leave, you may stand there and waste your own time, but you shall not waste mine. I am going to bed."

Something mischievous stirred within her then. If Pierce insisted upon treating her like a disobedient child, he ought to discover precisely how little his disapproval frightened her.

She turned her back to him and reached for her nightgown. Margaret could feel his attention without looking at him, and her courage nearly deserted her.

Nevertheless, she continued, determined not to let him see her falter. She allowed the linen cloth to fall to the floor. She stood there, bare and wet.

Before she could finish pulling the gown over her shoulders, however, his voice stopped her.

"Enough," he said quietly.

Margaret froze, her heart beating far too quickly. She turned towards him and continued to pull the nightgown down her body. She half expected him to cross the room and touch her.

"I’m simply getting ready for bed," she said.

He calmly reached for her hairbrush.

"Sit," he instructed, gesturing towards the chair before her dressing table.