Scoundrel of My Heart (Once Upon a Dukedom #1) - Lorraine Heath Page 0,92
sound of their footsteps, he turned.
He was so devastatingly handsome, dark hair and strong features. Yet she could have been looking at a cup of cool tea for all the thrill that went through her at the sight of him. She didn’t want to comb her fingers through his hair or trail them over his shoulders. She couldn’t imagine herself ever running into his arms.
“Your Grace,” her mother sang out as she glided toward him and curtsied. “We’re so thrilled you’ve come to call.”
“Lady Ridgeway, as always it’s a pleasure to see you.”
“But I understand it is not me you are here to see. Rather, you wish to have a word with Kathryn. I shall leave you to it.”
As she floated toward the door, she passed Kathryn and gave her a pointed look which communicated effectively Mind how you go here.
When her mother was no longer about, Kathryn offered the duke a small smile. “Your Grace, shall I send for tea?”
“No, thank you. Would you care to sit?”
She approached him, stopping only a couple of feet shy of him. “Actually, I think I prefer to stand.”
“As you wish.” He cleared his throat. “I’ve just had a meeting with your father. I’m certain you’re aware of what that portends.”
“Since I wasn’t privy to the conversation, I cannot say with any degree of confidence.” It was what she would have said to Griff had he made such an absurd statement. He might not have liked it, but she would have seen appreciation in his eyes. In the duke’s she saw merely impatience.
“You’re not going to be this contrary as a wife, are you?”
“Having never been a wife, to be honest I can’t say how I will be as one.”
“Is that the reason you didn’t write me a letter, describing yourself?”
“There are a lot of reasons I didn’t write the letter.”
“Mmm. I see. Well. Be that as it may, I have spoken with your father, and we have come to terms. So all that is left”—he took a step forward, bowed his head slightly—“Lady Kathryn, will you honor me by becoming my wife?”
She studied him for a full minute. He waited, unmoving. “You didn’t go down on one knee.”
“Don’t take offense, but I kneel for no one.”
She thought of Griff who had gone to both knees, without hesitation, when it might have meant death. Griff who had come to her when she was lost in the throes of a nightmare and guided her out of it. Giving her a memory to replace it, another that involved going to his knees. But he’d told her it was all fantasy. That she should return to her duke. Griffith Stanwick would only give her one night. But what if she wanted more?
“You’re not going to be this contrary as a husband, are you?”
He barked out a short laugh, and she realized she’d never heard him laugh before. He had a good laugh, but it didn’t reach down into her soul, didn’t seek to take up residence there. She suspected an hour after he left, she wouldn’t even be able to recall how it sounded.
“Having never been a husband, to be honest I can’t say how I will be as one.” He shook his head. “No, that’s not true.”
“You have been a husband before?”
He grinned, and this time she thought maybe he did appreciate her tease. “No, but I know how I will be as a husband. Insufferable, no doubt. I have expectations and don’t like for them not to be met. You know at least one of them. You had Griffith Stanwick make inquiries on your behalf to determine what I wanted in a wife.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, that day in the park I thought you’d figured it out.”
“You may take some comfort in knowing that while I have expectations for a wife, I have much more stringent expectations for myself. I will be as good a husband as I can be. I will never strike you. I will never intentionally hurt your feelings. I will never be unfaithful. I will never give you cause to doubt my devotion.”
“Devotion is not love.”
“No. Love is not an emotion I believe myself capable of. But perhaps you shall prove me wrong.”
“You don’t strike me as a man who likes to be proven wrong.”
“Look how well you already know me, Lady Kathryn.”
“Unfortunately, I feel we know each other hardly at all. How well will we know each other five years from now? Or ten? And if I do