Chapter Fifteen #3
‘But isn’t your house here up for sale?’
‘It was,’ he said.
And he told her. He told her how back in London he’d realised that he was missing being near to the sea and how he found himself imagining living here for much of the year, at least. ‘I pictured the perfect life,’ he said, ‘a life where I was never lonely. Because in that life, Kate, you were beside me, always.’
‘Do you really mean it?’ She still sounded hesitant. ‘Would you be happy to spend much of your time here?’
‘I mean it,’ he said. ‘Of course I would have to be in London often, because it’s my duty to look after the Mayfair house and there are always business matters to deal with.
But I have taken my Brighton house off the market.
’ He took her hands and kissed them. ‘And do you know, I’ve just realised that you’ve never seen it properly, have you? ’
She shook her head. ‘I called at the house briefly once, to agree to your suggestion of two outings.’
‘With severe misgivings, I suspect.’
‘I’m afraid so! But I never got further than the entrance hall, since your brother was unwell and you were clearly busy.’
He nodded. ‘And in a state of disarray, as I recall.’
She laughed. ‘Well, yes, but I was becoming used to that. Then the next time I called, you were busy chopping down a statue in the garden. Remember?’
He loved the way her eyes sparkled with mischief. ‘Indeed,’ he said. ‘But Hercules is no more and everywhere is perfectly respectable now.’
She glanced up at him. ‘Really?’ she murmured. ‘Not too respectable, I trust?’
‘Miss Summerby,’ he said, ‘I believe you are leading me astray.’
‘And are you objecting, my lord?’
‘Not in the slightest. Now, I think it’s time I showed you around my house—all of it.’
His nearby carriage took them there, and Kate’s first impression on entering the vast building was of silence.
‘I kept all the servants on,’ Dan explained as she gazed around. ‘But they come in for just three days a week while the house is standing empty, so there’s no one here today.’
‘You mean you kept them on in full employment?’
‘I thought that any new buyer would be glad to have them, and I didn’t want them to be out of work. I fear I’ve been a thoughtless employer at times, and I’m trying to make up for it. But what do you think of it all?’
‘It’s big,’ she said with a little smile, looking at the imposing, double-width staircase that led up to the first-floor rooms.
‘I know. Let me lead you through to the drawing room. I think you’ll like it.’
He was right. She gazed around in wonder because it was beautiful, decorated in hues of white and pale blue with plain but elegant furnishings.
There were large windows on three sides to allow views of the sea, the gardens and the South Downs.
She absorbed it all in silence before turning to him and saying, ‘I expected grandeur, yes. Spaciousness, yes. But this is light and airy. It isn’t like the Prince’s Pavilion at all! ’
He laughed. ‘Thank God for that, is all I can say.’
‘Show me the rest,’ she urged. ‘Please!’
He did. He showed her all the reception rooms on the ground floor; he led her to his study, and the library that Oliver had frequented.
Finally, he took her into the ballroom, and here she really had to gasp, because there were gilded chandeliers, a musicians’ gallery and, set in the lofty ceiling, a huge glass dome that let in the sunlight.
He watched her a moment then took her hand tenderly. ‘We shall dance in here,’ he told her, ‘whenever you like, just you and me. But when we marry, I think we should hold a magnificent ball.’
‘You are making assumptions, Lord Rivington,’ she said laughingly. ‘I haven’t given you my answer yet.’
‘Then I am intent on persuading you to do so, by fair means or foul.’ He took her in his arms and kissed her, a warm and intimate kiss that robbed her of speech even when he released her.
‘You haven’t seen upstairs yet,’ he whispered in her ear.
‘There is one room that most definitely needs your approval, Miss Summerby, before you make your final decision.’
With that, he led her up the sweeping staircase to his bedroom.
It was large, of course. The dark green drapes adorning the four-poster bed were embroidered with golden dragons, but Kate didn’t have much time to inspect the rest of it and she didn’t care anyway, because Dan was sweeping her towards that enormous bed and laying her on the silk counterpane before pressing his lips to her throat, her cheeks, her lips.
She clung to him, kissing him back, and when he at last broke free it was only to pull off his boots.
Then he knelt on the bed beside her and began to undress her.
‘Not many buttons on your dress this time, thank God,’ he murmured. ‘And no corset.’
‘I hate the things.’
‘So,’ he said, ‘do I.’
Kate was laughing, gasping, trying to kiss him back while at the same time endeavouring to undress him in turn, but after she had unbuttoned his shirt and watched him pulling it over his head, she began running her fingers over the dragon tattoo on his back. ‘Why a dragon, Dan?’
Silence fell, and just for a moment she thought, he has more secrets. I should not have asked.
At last, he answered. ‘It was a bet that I made a long time ago, in my foolish days. My angry days, when I wanted to fight the world for calling my mother a whore.’
They were both kneeling on the bed now, he just in his breeches, she in only her cotton chemise and stockings. She rested her hands on his warm, muscular chest and felt the steady beat of his heart. ‘Do you think the dragon is tamed yet, Dan?’
‘I hope so. But can you see why I used to believe that love was dangerous? Can you forgive me for that belief?’
She hesitated. ‘It depends, perhaps, on what you believe now.’
He touched her cheek, wonderingly. ‘I’ve been converted,’ he said. ‘I can see that love is miraculous. Whether I deserve it for myself, I’m not quite sure—because that is up to you.’
The look in his eyes riveted her. It was sombre yet emotional and it betrayed this strong, proud man’s silent struggle to conceal the hurts he had endured years ago. She felt overwhelmed with admiration for him, and pity and love.
Also—desire. Oh, yes, delicious, tormenting desire that was rippling up through her bloodstream and licking at every fibre of her body. She moved away from him just a little to begin rolling off her silk stockings, and when she had finished, she handed him two pink-ribboned garters.
‘For your collection,’ she said mischievously.
He laughed. He took them and kissed them, and then he began to kiss her, absolutely everywhere.
Sometime later, warm and sated and lying in his strong arms, she heard him murmur, ‘Kate.’
‘What?’ she said sleepily, rubbing herself against his naked body.
He heaved himself away a little. ‘Stop using your wicked ways to distract me and listen. You haven’t given me your answer yet.’
She eased herself up against the pillows, sweeping her hair back from her face and pretending to frown. ‘No, I haven’t,’ she answered. ‘But Dan, if I marry you—’
‘If?’
He sounded worried and she pressed one finger to his deliciously soft lips. ‘If I marry you,’ she repeated, ‘then I shall be a Countess, shan’t I? My sister might become unbearable!’
‘Probably. But should your abominable sister and brother-in-law turn up too often to bother us, I shall ask our butler to bar the doors.’
‘Oh, that would be cruel! We would have to receive them at least occasionally!’
‘Perhaps once a year. At Christmas, I suppose.’
‘You never know. Those children of Monica’s might improve with time. But listen, Dan. Do you really think I shall be able to cope as a Society hostess?’
‘You will cope admirably, for you are a baronet’s daughter, after all.
More importantly, you are both intelligent and beautiful and, since the Prince is already an admirer of yours, there will be a stampede to attend any event we hold.
I was thinking, too, that when we are in London I shall teach you to drive a curricle around the park, so you can wave to your friends and cut dead anyone who has ever been rude to you. ’
A mischievous smile lit up her face. ‘Oh, that would be fun. But are you quite sure that this will all work out?’
‘Absolutely,’ he said. ‘Oh, absolutely. My darling Kate, I guarantee that you will be a great success. But Society’s opinion, you know, doesn’t really matter.
’ He suddenly looked serious. ‘What matters to me is how you feel about the two of us, together. Whether you think you can be happy with me, share your life with me. Love me, even.’
She saw the doubt in his eyes and thought again of his lonely childhood and his life thereafter, burdened with the responsibility of his title, his wealth and Society’s expectations.
Yes, burdened—never knowing who to trust, or who were his true friends.
Never knowing love, except from his faithful younger brother.
She stroked his cheek with tender fingertips.
‘Dan, I’ve been thinking. Do you know, I don’t really think you are a rake at heart, are you?
Oh, I know you like to give the impression of one, with your clothes and your parties and all the rest of it.
But I believe it’s all been for show, a form of defence even, and that actually, you are courageous and honourable.
Your brother hinted as much, and my aunt clearly saw it too.
I think you’ve adopted that pose to put up barriers around yourself and to keep any kind of intimacy at a distance throughout your life. ’
She saw a multitude of expressions pass across his face, then he took her hand, kissed it and placed it against his steadily beating heart.
‘So you saw right through me,’ he said lightly.
‘My efforts to play the scoundrel were in vain. Do you want me to discard my colourful wardrobe? Because I tell you, my valet Hamley would be in hearty agreement.’
‘No! Never! How very dull that would be. If I do marry you, though, I shall be most competitive and will try to outshine you in my attire on every outing we make together. People will see us coming from miles away.’
She was laughing and his heart soared too. ‘What an excellent notion. But I think it’s time, Kate Summerby, that you ended this suspense and put me out of my misery. Can you, or can you not agree to be my wife? More importantly still, do you think that you can grow to love me?’
She curled up even closer to him then. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips to his brow, his cheek, his lips.
Then she said, ‘I knew that I’d fallen in love with you when you took me out to dance in the moonlit garden of your friend’s house that night Hopelessly and forever. Didn’t you realise?’
He was almost breathless with emotion. ‘Does this mean, darling Kate, that you will you marry me?’
‘Of course,’ she said, her eyes glittering with mischief as her hand stole downwards to caress his muscled chest and taut abdomen then explored even lower.
‘I shan’t reveal any more of my reasons, or I’ll make you even more vain.
Perhaps all I can say is—’ and she drew close to whisper in his ear ‘—that I cannot wait for more. So, will I marry you? The answer is yes—please.’