Page 29 of A Bride for the Devilish Duke
The door opened no further, but she felt a gentle hand take hers. Her knees trembled and then melted as she felt soft lips against her palm. Then the inside of her wrist, then her forearm.
She wilted against the door, gasping as Damien's lips came closer. When he reached her shoulder, how would she stop him from pushing aside the door and seeing everything?
Except… he would see the scar. See her shame…
“Elsie!” she cried out, “come in please!”
The kisses stopped, and Emma felt her arm released when she heard the door of her bedroom open.
“Thank you for speaking to me, Lady Emma,” Damien choked out as formally as he could, retreating across the room by the sound of the footsteps. “I shall see you at dinner.”
Then, the antechamber door shut, and Emma slid down the study door to the floor.
CHAPTER TEN
“Welcome, Your Grace!” Duncan Montrose greeted in a booming voice.
He rose from his armchair. Sir Silas Sutherland also rose, though waiting a beat longer. Damien kept his face schooled to stillness, perceiving insult, and not understanding its motivation.
Who is he to offer insult to me? What does he know or think he knows that he is so confident?
A knight with some unknown connection to the Montrose family, though one that seemingly entitled him to behave as thoughhe, not Duncan, were lord of this manor.
“Eastwick,” Damien greeted warmly, holding out a hand to Duncan, “Sir Silas,” he turned to the other man who bowed his head as though addressing an equal.
Damien responded by not offering his hand but, instead, inclining his head to accept the salute given.
Duncan indicated a third chair in a prime location facing the fire. “I must apologize that my business coincided with your arrival, Your Grace. I trust that Emma and Josie entertained you?” He resumed his seat but not before Sutherland.
“Not a bit of it, Eastwick. They gave me a tour of Nettleden. Charming town.”
“You were not familiar with the district already?” Sutherland asked.
“I was not. I had traveled extensively before inheriting Redmane, everywhere but my home county, ostensibly. I look forward to rediscovering it.”
“There is much to discover,” Sutherland said with a thin-lipped smile and a glance at Duncan. Damien followed the glance and wondered at the discomfited expression that flashed across Duncan's face.
“Indeed there is. Hertfordshire is surely one of England's finest counties,” Duncan enthused, “nestled amid the Chilterns as we are, but with Aylesbury, Wendover, and Tring so close. Not to mention London itself.”
“Yet, curiously, it is not the native home of the Montrose family, is it?” Sutherland inquired, though it sounded more like a statement of fact to Damien.
Duncan cleared his throat and shifted in his seat.
“It is not. Well pointed out, Sir Silas. No, we are a family with our roots to the West of here,Buckinghamshire, to be precise.”
“And what brought you to Hertfordshire?” Sir Silas continued, a smirk plastered across his face. “The purchase of property, no doubt?”
Damien was beginning to dislike Sir Silas. His attitude was at odds with his social rank, particularly in comparison to Duncan Montrose, an Earl, and Damien himself.
“Let us not talk of business. We shall be here all evening while the women wait to dine,” Damien interrupted.
“Of course! My late wife always said whenever men convene, the talk is only ever about business or sport. And carries on for hours whichever topic is preferred,” Duncan replied.
Sir Silas looked to Damien, his sly smile slipping away. Damien grinned insolently. He resolved to ask Emma about the knight.
That brought his thoughts to the intense experience they had shared just a few hours earlier. The memory brought color to his cheeks and made his pulse race. He was no stranger to womenbut had never indulged in such scandalous behavior in public, where anyone could walk by and discover them.
He cleared his throat, draining the glass that had been poured for him by Duncan. “An excellent brandy, Eastwick,” he murmured beneath the crystal to conceal the unbecoming flush.
