Page 29 of The Duke of a Thousand Desires

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Ravenna dutifully waitedbefore her bespectacled aunt on a curved bench in Jane’s writing room. Her lady’s maid Isolde stood at the ready with a decanter of sherry cordial, polished glasses, and a pair of scented gloves to wave under her aunt’s nose in the event of a swoon. Jane scribbled away at her desk, her swan’s quill bobbing back and forth.

“So you know everything,” Ravenna said before her aunt could go into hysterics. “I’ve shamed myself,” she added.

“What is done is done,” the white-haired Welshwoman said with a resigned air. “I regret you went behind my back to expose David’s infidelity. Why didn’t you seek my opinion before taking this rash action?”

Ravenna shook her head in frustration. “I attempted to do so a dozen times. You and Aunt Primrose assured me David was sowing his wild oats and that I should believe only what I saw with my own eyes.”

“You saw him?”

“Yes.”

“How demeaning for everyone involved. I don’t know that I would have reacted as you did. I might have been too shocked to make a sound.”

“I didn’t plan to shriek like a banshee. Nor did I anticipate attracting the duke’s notice. I wasn’t even aware we had stepped outside at the same moment.”

“One steps outside for a breath of air, not to incite the scandal of the century. I collect that Rhys was your partner in this calamity.”

“I forced him,” Ravenna said. “He agreed it was time to unmask David for the wretch he is.”

“We were all misled by David’s gallant airs. I never realized he was rotten to the core.” Aunt Glynnis took off her spectacles. “But what is the truth about Simon? He went to school with your brothers. I liked the rascal, I admit.”

“He is an exceptional man,” Jane murmured from her desk.

“He would have to be to marry my niece after this,” Aunt Glynnis said. “But I have to wonder -- was there more to your innocent friendship than I perceived, Ravenna?”

Had there been?

Had Ravenna missed the signs of a smoldering romance between her and Simon?

Had she been afraid to admit to herself that she found him compelling? She recalled the day he’d saved her from her brother beneath the old stone bridge.

Indeed, she had relished taking refuge in his arms. Had she secretly hoped he would kiss her then? He hadn’t. She had escaped back to castle, shivering wet and confused, a spark of discontent ignited within her.

As far as she knew, Simon had forgotten the encounter, even though in both reality and her deepest thoughts he had grown forbidding. Someone whose protection might come at a cost.

“Nothing ever happened between me and Simon,” she said after a deliberation that denoted some degree of regret. “And while he might not care what others think, he is concerned about your opinion. Will you forgive us?”

“I don’t see that I have a choice,” her aunt said fretfully. “Are your lives truly in danger?”

“Simon seems to think so.”

Aunt Glynnis tucked her glasses into her bodice. “To think that all of this happened while I was taking the waters to restore my stamina for your wedding. I should have taken you with me.”

“Yes,” Ravenna murmured. Goodness knew, to judge by her few encounters with Simon, she would need a powerful restorative herself to survive not only the ceremony but what came after.

Aunt Glynnis released another sigh. “Who was this lunatic in the gardens who shot at Simon?”

“We don’t know,” Jane said, her quill poised in mid-air. “We’ve made arrangements for Ravenna to stay with Heath and Julia until the marriage takes place.”

“Then I shall stay here, with Grayson’s permission,” Glynnis said.

Jane smiled. “You are more than welcome,”

“Thank you, my dear,” the older woman said with a nod of appreciation. “At minimum Ravenna will pass the days before the ceremony with dignity. Won’t you?”

Ravenna straightened her back. “I hope so.”