Scoundrel of My Heart (Once Upon a Dukedom #1) - Lorraine Heath Page 0,90

a stroll through the park, she’d almost confided, “You were right. A woman should be wicked at least once in her life.” But she should take great care in choosing the one with whom she’d be wicked.

When she had wandered into the library and caught her mother sitting on her father’s lap, their mouths clamped together, a book resting on the floor nearby, she envisioned her mother interrupting his reading to offer him something more enticing. Her chest had tightened painfully as she’d backed quietly out of the room, wondering if she would be sacrificing spontaneous moments of affection in the future.

Would the duke’s eyes darken with yearning? Would his hands reach with purpose? Would he want to taste all of her? Would his voice go rough and raw when he murmured how much he took delight in every aspect of her, when he encouraged her touches, asked where she wanted to be caressed?

When ladies called in the afternoon, she wished them away, barely listening as they gossiped about this lady or that one and some gent. All she wanted was to curl up on her bed and think of Griff, relive the moments of their night together, mourn for what would never again be, for what might never have been to begin with.

She had a different future, away from him, one that had been designed for her by a woman she’d always believed loved her beyond measure. Who’d wanted only the best for her and would reward her when she acquired it. But what if the reward was not worth the cost?

She needed away from here, needed the only place where she’d ever truly been herself, where she could think without interruption. Where no one would call upon her. Where no one would stop by to offer a bit of gossip. After finally managing to catch her parents when they weren’t pressed up against each other, she informed them that she was away to Kent for a few days and set her maid to the task of packing a small trunk for her.

She had only just changed into her traveling frock when a knock on her door sounded a heartbeat before her mother barged in, apparently too impatient to wait for Kathryn to bid her entry. Excitement was fairly shimmering off her.

“Oh, my dear girl, the duke has asked for a private audience with your father. He’s speaking with him in the library at this very minute.” Her mother released a tiny squeal and squeezed her hands. “You’ll be betrothed before the night is done. I’m sure of it. Quickly now, you must change. You must be prepared for an audience with him.”

He’d told her he intended to speak with her father. She simply hadn’t expected it to be so soon. “It’s possible that he’s discussing an investment opportunity.”

“Posh!” Her mother fluttered a hand through the air. “He’s discussing a marriage opportunity. You’ll be a duchess. Your grandmother would be so thrilled.”

“Would she?”

“Absolutely. She wanted to see you well cared for. I daresay there isn’t a peer in all of England who could see you more well cared for than the Duke of Kingsland.”

Lowering herself onto the vanity bench, Kathryn knew her mother spoke true. She would have a lovely residence, beautiful clothes, and attentive servants. But she didn’t yearn for Kingsland, didn’t grow warm thinking about kissing him, didn’t long for his touch, or find herself worrying over him several times a day. Was that fair to him? Was it fair to herself? “But was it the sort of care she had in mind? I see so little of him.”

“He is a busy man. Rumor is that he’s increased his income twice over this year alone . . . and the year is not yet done.”

“But he was wealthy without that.”

“Now he is wealthier. What is wrong with you? I daresay it seems you are searching for excuses to turn him away.”

“I’m not searching for excuses, but now that the moment is upon me, I worry that I know so few details about him. I don’t know what he likes to read. I know little at all about his business”—except for the couple of ventures he’d spoken about of late—“or how he enjoys spending his leisure hours.”

“What are you carrying on about? You will have the sort of marriage you have been working toward your entire life.”

“Is it really what I’ve been working toward?”

“You have been acting deuced odd of late. Is it because your father has given