arrival at Darlington Castle and this moment, he’d turned into a drooling, pathetic, lovestruck fool.
Well, he wasn’t drooling, thankfully, but it was bad enough, even so. What sort of marquess hovered at the door of his bedchamber, his breath held and his ear pressed to the wood, listening for the sound of a woman’s voice?
This was his castle, his bedchamber, his door. He had every right to go through it. Every right in the world, yet his stomach was in nervous knots and his palms damp, as if he were some sort of spellbound adolescent.
He wasn’t even going in there to see Cecilia, for God’s sake. It was his niece’s bedchamber. The niece he’d bid a good morning every day since her birth. He always saw Isabella before he went about the business of the day, but now he was frozen in place, and for no better reason than Cecilia was on the other side of that door.
He rested his forehead against it with a groan. Their kiss last night, those delirious moments when he’d taken her lips, pressed her curves against him, heard her soft sighs and whimpers in his ear…
Since then, he’d thought of nothing but that kiss. He’d dreamed of it, of her, and had woken with a pounding heart and a cock as rigid as an iron spike. This from a man who purported to be a gentleman, and one who heartily disapproved of noblemen who debauched their servants.
The trouble was, it had been weeks since he’d thought of Cecilia as a servant. He wasn’t certain he ever had, but she was in fact his niece’s nursemaid, and now, after a lifetime of restraint, he’d done the unthinkable.
What was he meant to say to her this morning, after such a kiss as that? Worse, what if he lost his wits and swept her into his arms as soon as he laid eyes on her, with Isabella as witness? She’d grow up and fall victim to a rogue, and it would be all Gideon’s fault.
But he’d simply have to take the risk. He’d be away from the castle all day with Haslemere, and he didn’t like to leave without bidding them goodbye. He could hear them on the other side of the door— Isabella’s cheerful chatter, and Cecilia’s sweet answering laugh—and knew they’d be leaving their bedchamber in a matter of moments.
Gideon drew in a breath, flexed his fingers, and after a brief knock, opened the connecting door.
“Good morning, Uncle!” Isabella, always delighted to see him, flew across the room and into his waiting arms.
“Good morning, Isabella. You’re energetic today.” Gideon swept her up with a grin and kissed her cheek. “Good morning, Cecilia,” he added, the back of his neck heating as he met her gaze over the top of Isabella’s head.
“Good morning, Lord Darlington,” she murmured, her own cheeks coloring.
“You, ah…you look pretty this morning.”
Dear God. Gideon cringed as soon as the words were out of his mouth, but even as he fumbled to correct his gaffe, Isabella said matter-of-factly, “Miss Cecilia looks pretty every day.”
“She does, yes.” Gideon’s gaze held Cecilia’s. She was dressed much as she was every day, in a plain gray gown with a white apron over it, her dark hair pulled severely back from her face, but he could no more tear his gaze from her than he could a miracle unfolding before his eyes.
Gideon cleared his throat. “What will the two of you do today?”
“A long walk in the kitchen garden, I think.” Cecilia glanced at the window, tapping her finger against her bottom lip. “I’m certain it’s going to snow, and I’d like for Isabella to have some fresh air before it does.”
Gideon didn’t like to order Cecilia to stay indoors, but both he and Haslemere would be gone from the castle until dark tonight. Duncan and Fraser were here, but he didn’t like Cecilia and Isabella wandering the grounds while he was gone, all the same.
But he wouldn’t say so in front of Isabella. “Go on and finish your breakfast, Isabella.” Gideon set her back on her feet. “I need to have a word with Miss Cecilia.”
“All right.” Isabella dashed back to her half-eaten plate of tartlets.
Cecilia’s cheeks flushed a deeper pink when Gideon took her arm, but she followed him through the connecting door and into his bedchamber. “Lord Haslemere and I ride to Surrey today. I’d rather you and Isabella remain inside the castle until we return.”
“Surrey? But why?”
Gideon hesitated. He and Haslemere weren’t getting