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.’
