Chapter Thirty-One
Katie sat back in her chair and studied the ammonite, blowing away some of the dirt she had just loosened.
The fossil was the size of a serving platter and by far the largest intact sample she’d unearthed in her part of the dig.
Most of the pieces she’d found had been damaged in some way, all of them smaller than this one.
The tent had piles of samples awaiting their final cleaning.
Mr. Everett and Mr. Scott disliked the painstaking task, but Katie found it soothing and rewarding to gradually expose the full beauty of a fossil.
Sometimes unexpected, and disappointing, fractures became clear as the cleaning progressed, but this time the ammonite was stunningly intact.
Katie smiled when she imagined Gerrit’s reaction to the beauty of the ammonite.
A month ago, she might never have noticed the subtle signs that meant her husband was happy.
But now, she found herself eager for the tantalizingly slight curve of his lips and narrowing of his eyes that meant something had pleased him.
Thinking about pleasing him naturally made her think about the past three nights, all of which she’d spent in Gerrit’s bed.
Although she was alone, her face still heated at how boldly she had behaved last night, when she’d pushed him onto his back, climbed on top of him, and taken him inside her without speaking a word, posting him until they’d both exploded within moments of each other.
“You’re so beautiful, Kathryn,” he’d murmured just before he’d pulled her body tightly against his and they’d both fallen asleep.
She’d woken before dusk to find that he still held her tightly. He’d stirred when she’d tried to ease out of bed without waking him.
“Where are you going?” he asked in a sleep-roughened voice, his hand closing around her arm.
“It is morning.”
He’d opened his eyes, looking so adorably rumpled that she’d climbed back in bed and made them an hour late this morning.
Grinning at the memory, she stood and brushed off her skirt before putting her tools in the metal bucket where she kept them.
She’d just turned toward the tent entrance when a familiar, unwanted voice froze her in her tracks.
“The duchess mentioned your dig the last time I spoke to her so I thought I would come by and see what all the fuss is about, Dulverton,” Jasper said, his voice rich with mocking bonhomie.
Katie’s breath froze in her lungs as she glanced out the tent opening.
They always rolled the flap back to allow in the maximum amount of light while still having some protection against the sun’s glare.
Katie briefly considered untying the flap and hiding in the darkened tent, but she could see the shadows of the two men approaching and knew it was too late.
“I was not aware you knew my wife, Lord Jasper.”
The last time Katie had heard Dulverton’s voice so frigid he’d had his fist around the Earl of Ampthill’s throat. Jasper, the fool, had no idea how much physical danger he was in.
“Oh yes, we are old friends,” Jasper said, oozing a slimy sort of charm.
Katie winced at the suggestive way he said old friends.
“Is Her Grace here today? I swear that is her mount.”
Katie hurried from her shelter before Jasper could do any more damage.
“Ah—there she is!” Jasper cried when she almost barreled into the two men. “Hallo, Katie darling.”
“What a surprise, Lord Jasper,” she said coolly, risking a glance at her husband and then wishing she hadn’t. The white-hot fury in his arctic eyes said he wanted to hurt something. Or someone. “You have come to see our work, have you?” she added.
“How could I resist after you spoke of the dig with such enthusiasm, Ka—er, Your Grace?”
Katie’s hands itched to slap the mocking, sneering smirk from his lying face but instead forced herself to meet Dulverton’s predatory stare. “Have you given him the tour, Your Grace?”
“I am too busy. Mr. Scott can—”
“I will do it,” Katie interrupted. “I was just taking a break from my work inside the tent. It will be no bother.”
Dulverton’s jaw flexed dangerously but he pivoted on his heel and stalked away.
Katie grabbed Jasper’s upper arm and jerked him toward the tent. “I would be happy to show you what I have been working on, my lord,” she said in a loud voice. And then added beneath her breath, “What are you doing here?”
“If the mountain will not come—”
“I told you I did not wish to see you again,” she hissed when they reached the flimsy privacy of the tent.
“I just wanted to see you, darling. Our last conversation ended on such a sour note that I’ve not been able to get a good night’s sleep since.
Do not be angry with me, Katie. Please.” He stuck out his lower lip in a pout she remembered from five years ago.
She was such an idiot. She’d thought it adorable then; now she saw it for what it was: grotesque and pathetic for a man his age to behave like a coy schoolgirl.
“I have nothing to say to you, Jasper. I’m not sure how many different ways I have to explain that before you comprehend my meaning.” Her eyes flickered over his shoulder, to where Dulverton was standing and—ostensibly—talking to one of the workers, his eyes riveted to Katie and Jasper.
Katie pointed to the table, as if she were showing something to Jasper, and snarled beneath her breath, “There is nothing between us and there never will be. Nothing. And I want nothing to do with you. You are putting my marriage in jeopardy, and I do not appreciate it.”
Jasper smirked. “Dulverton guards you like a dog with a bone. I thought he’d take my head off just for saying hello.”
“Can you really be so stupid?” she demanded. “My husband is not a man to be trifled with. You will find yourself facing pistols at dawn if you do not stop pestering me and leave.”
“I am not frightened of Dulverton.” He gave a dismissive flick of his hand and then his eyes narrowed. “Because you will never tell him about me, will you?” His smile turned ugly. “How much is it worth for him to continue in blissful ignorance, hmm?”
“What are you saying, Jasper?”
“I think you know what I’m saying.”
“You want money, is that it?”
“I know you are well larded—I’ve heard all about the money your generous brothers-in-law bestowed on you.”
Ah, the chickens are coming home to roost.
They certainly were. Impotent rage boiled within her. She wanted to throttle Jasper, but she wanted to throttle herself even more. This whole mess was her fault.
“I do not know what gossip you have heard,” she lied. “I have no money of my own. Everything I had now belongs to my husband.
“Tsk, tsk, no point in trying to hide your golden egg from me, sweetheart.”
Oh, God. He was blinded by greed and would never give up.
And whose fault is that?
Her eyes darted again over his shoulder. Dulverton was headed toward the tent, his jaw set and his eyes blazing.
“Look at this,” Katie snapped.
“Look at what?”
“At the fossil, you idiot! Dulverton is almost upon us.”
Jasper scowled but dropped his gaze. “This isn’t over, sweetheart,” he hissed. He might like to behave as if he did not fear the duke, but he quickly played along. “Quite fascinating—and you say you dug it out yourself?” he asked loudly.
“We all help each other here.”
“Well, I can see I am keeping—ah, Dulverton, old chap!” Jasper said, edging away from Katie.
“I was just taking my leave of your duchess. Thank you for being so generous with your time.” He hesitated a moment, clearly waiting for some kind of acknowledgement from the other man, but Dulverton was ignoring him so utterly that Katie suspected he truly did not notice that Jasper was standing there.
Jasper snorted, rammed his hat on his head, and sauntered off.
Dulverton stepped closer, until Katie could feel the heat of his body. She had to force herself to hold his gaze rather than look away guiltily.
“I do not like his sort coming around the dig. Or anywhere near my property, Kathryn.”
The way he glared at her made it clear he was not referring to only his land when he said the word property.
Rather than irk her, as it should have, his possessive stare caused heat to flare in her belly. “I never invited him. He took it upon himself to come.”
“Why did you not tell me you had seen him? Or that you knew him?”
Katie lowered her gaze, unable to bear the weight of his scrutiny when she lied. “I suppose it just slipped my mind.”
Gerrit took her chin and forced her to meet his eyes. He did not speak but gave her a searching look, his nostrils flaring slightly at whatever he saw.
Katie’s heart pounded beneath his icy regard, and she was grateful that her high collar hid the pulse she felt fluttering at the base of her throat.
“Lord Jasper has been gone from England for several years, running from his debts,” Dulverton said in a toneless voice.
“That is what I have heard.”
“That means you would not have encountered him in London these past Seasons.”
“My aunt lives near Lord Jasper’s family’s country house. We attended many of the same functions one summer.” All true, but not even close to all of the truth.
He remained so motionless he hardly seemed human.
A throat cleared behind him, and Katie startled when Mr. Scott’s head peered around her husband’s shoulder.
“Er, Your Grace?”
Dulverton finally blinked but his eyes never left her face. “Yes?”
“The men with the wagon are here.” Mr. Scott paused and then said, “Er, you asked that I—”
“I will be right there.”
“Very good, sir,” Mr. Scott said, and then quickly darted off.
When he’d gone, Dulverton did the oddest thing. He leaned down, still holding her chin, and placed a feather-light kiss on her lips. And then he dropped his hand and turned away without saying another word.
Katie watched his large form as he confidently strode across the broken ground. When she raised her fingers to her lips, she discovered her hand was shaking. Badly.
What had that been about?