Page 34 of The Icy Duke Claims a Bride

“Is this really appropriate?” the Dowager Duchess had questioned as the glasses were handed round.

“We’re not toasting his rival’s miserable end, but Edwin’s success!” Lady Georgina had stated. “We can pity that wretched family later, but now is the time to celebrate Edwin. It isn’t his fault if the bank called in the loan Mr. Fitzroy took out and the strain was too much for him, is it?”

“I suppose so,” Rebecca had relented coolly and then taken one polite sip from her glass before putting it down on a table.

Hugh and his grandmother had eaten quickly and left early that night, unable to put the wider context so easily aside as Lady Georgina had seemed able to do. Edwin had accepted all congratulations without demur.

“It is the lot of younger sons to have to grub for money,” the Dowager Duchess had said on their way home afterwards. “Be thankful that you were spared that indignity, Hugh, even at so great a price.”

Hugh had said nothing. He had already been conscious that if Henry had lived, he quite possibly would have been expected to go into business with their uncle. It had not been an inviting prospect.

In the present, and with a heavy heart, Hugh wondered whether Edwin could have had anything to do with Mr. Fitzroy’s death, or at least the string of events that had rendered him suicidal.

The packet seemed to grow even heavier with this thought. What else might it contain?

Weighing the papers in his hands, Hugh’s eyes narrowed. Despite the Dowager Duchess’s sterling efforts, he knew there were conversations she could not have. Or at least men who would not speak with full candor to an elderly lady. The next stage of the investigation must rest on his shoulders, however much he loathed going about in Society.

“Damn it all,” he muttered to himself. “And damn my distraction, too.”

He was tired as well as worried this afternoon, he admitted to himself. Catherine seemed as distant and untouchable as ever over the past few days. She also seemed even more beautiful, now that his grandmother had planted the idea of her harboring some secret affection for him in his head.

When they passed each other in the corridor or on the grounds, Hugh sometimes thought he saw a glimmer of interest in her eyes, but feared that he might be imagining it. He tortured himself with the idea of knocking on her bedroom door one night and attempting to seduce her anew.

Despite his grandmother’s exhortations, his lust was not driven by the idea of producing an heir as quickly as possible. What Hugh wanted most was for his wife to look at him with unbridled desire, his mask and her fears both discarded, even as he thrust deeply into her warm and willing cavern.

Still, he would not give in to his desire until Catherine begged him to touch her. Her ambivalent reactions made him wary, and it was the only way to be sure of what she really wanted.

Such thoughts were not conducive to sleep any more than concentration. He fought to push the distracting erotic images out of his mind as he entered the study and dropped the package on his desk.

The Irish Setter sitting on the rug by the fireplace gave a friendly woof and stood up to greet him, wagging its tail.

Hugh blinked and rubbed his eyes, wondering briefly whether he was hallucinating. There were no dogs in Redbridge Hall and had not been since he was a boy. Even then, they had not been well-groomed Irish Setters. His father owned a Labrador, and Henry had a Terrier which had grown old and grumpy by the time Hugh was old enough to play with it.

No, this dog was veryrealand verypresentin his study. It trotted up to him and sniffed his leg before nuzzling his hand and then looking up at him with intelligent brown eyes.

“Where did you come from?” Hugh asked, patting the dog’s head. “You’re a fine creature. Have you just wandered in here, or is your owner visiting someone? I have work to do, but I’ll take you to Perkins, and he can get you home.”

“There you are!” Catherine said warmly, walking in through the open study door. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

For a moment, Hugh thought that she was talking to him, and despite his weariness, his desire sparked anew. Then, he realized that she was talking to the dog.

Two other dogs, an identical pair of Great Danes, followed closely at her heels as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Again, Hugh wondered if he might be dreaming. One strange dog was odd enough, butthreedefied all explanation.

“We’ll get out of your way,” Catherine said shortly to Hugh, her green eyes only meeting his briefly. “I didn’t realize she was in your study, but I forgot that she can open that kind of handle. She’s a very clever dog.”

“Where have all these dogs come from?” Hugh asked in amazement.

“They’re mine,” Catherine told him, a touch of defiance creeping into her voice and expression.

“All three?!” he queried incredulously. “What in God’s name do you want with three large dogs?”

“Company!” she threw back at him angrily. “My husband can’t bear to spend even five minutes in my company, but these dogs will walk with me, have dinner with me, and listen to my music quite happily. They’ve been here for two days, Bellchurch has even been training them with me on the front lawns, and this is the first time you’ve even noticed.”

“We should have talked about this. I had no idea you were so interested in dogs…”

“I’m interested in company, Hugh, not dogs in particular,” she corrected him angrily. “You should have kept me company yourself if you didn’t want me to seek it elsewhere.”

“I should have kept you company? You gave me no clue that you wished for my company, Catherine. On the contrary. From ourconversations so far, I believe you prefer that I keep my distance. Or am I remembering that wrongly?”

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