Page 62 of The Princess Stakes
Ravenna grinned. “Is that what they’re calling it these days? I suppose you do use your tongue for both.”
Sarani gasped with a smothered laugh, and he scowled, though the recollection of Sarani’s sweet taste made his mouth water. He suddenly wanted to kiss her again. Kiss her elsewhere. See if she was as sweetthereas her lips had been.
His sister cackled. “You are a dissembler, brother.”
“Ravenna, enough,” he snapped. “That is unseemly.”
But of course his warning went unheeded. “My goodness, the gossip was afire. A duke ravaging a lady? The aloof Duke of Embry no less?” She pressed a hand to her mouth to hold back her giggles. “Poor Penelope. She and Lady Windmere were dead certain she was going to receive an offer from you. Though I warned her months ago that I suspected my brother’s heart was elsewhere.”
“Was she expecting an offer?” Sarani asked.
“Penelope intimated as much,” Ravenna said. “She has already had seven offers from suitors. It’s because she’s an heiress of course. Her dowry is enormous, like her head.”
Rhystan shook his head. “She could have all the money in England, but marrying that chit will drive any man to an early grave. Any other gentleman is welcome to her, but not me.”
“Speaking of suitors,” Sarani interjected, peering at Ravenna. “Any young men take your fancy tonight? I did not spot a single silly, smelly sir in tonight’s mix.”
“Not a one, no.” Ravenna let out an aggrieved sigh. “They’re all boring, full of their own importance, and lacking in ambition. They were all commendable dancers, though, and creditable punch fetchers. I was not thirsty for one second the entire evening.”
Rhystan flattened his lips. “Courtship is not a joking matter, Ravenna. You need to secure a husband.”
“Why?” his sister shot back. “So you can leave again? Go back to your exciting, shipboard life?”
He stared at her. That was exactly why. But hearing it stated so baldly and seeing the fleeting flash of hurt on her face made something tighten inside him.
“Ravenna—”
“I don’t wish to marry anyone.” She drew a deep breath. “Well, not right now. I want to travel and see the world as you have. Visit India, maybe where Sara grew up. I’ve talked to Asha—”
“You talked to Asha?” Sarani blurted out, her panicked gaze meeting Rhystan’s.
Ravenna reached for her hand. “Please do not be cross with her, Sara dear. I practically forced her to tell me stories of you when you were younger, about where you grew up and some of your adventures. She misses her home, too.” Oblivious to Sarani’s brewing panic, Ravenna went on. “She told me that you grew up in a palace. How delightful! And your jaunts to the river and all the trophies you took for horse racing.” She sighed. “It sounds much better than dreary, stuffy old London.”
“It wasn’t all roses,” Sarani began haltingly. “Every place has its trials and thorns.”
“I don’t care. I want a bit of adventure before I become some man’s property.”
“And risk scandalizing the Huntley name?” Rhystan firmed his jaw. “No, I forbid it. You will secure an appropriate match and marry to your station as is your duty.”
Two incredulous stares—one a wounded copper and the other a furious hazel—crashed into him. The bitter thought that he sounded exactly like his father slid through him before he quashed it. He also dimly recognized that he was the pot challenging the kettle, given that he was avoiding his own mother’s trap as well as his obedience to duty with a fake betrothal to a lady whom most of thetonwould deem unsuitable.
His thoughts were reflected in Sarani’s eyes. There was injury there, too, along with a flicker of ferocity. Why would she be angry? Their engagement wasn’t even real. She had no say in who Ravenna married or whether the match was sound. He leveled her with a cool expression. “Do you have something you wish to say?”
“Sometimes fathers or brothers don’t know what’s best.”
He gaped in incredulous surprise. “You’ve certainly changed your tune from five years ago. Your father spoke, and you jumped.”
“That’s not fair and you know it.” Her gaze flicked to Ravenna, but she was too caught up in her own anger to have noticed his slip. “You know very well what was required of me. I had no choice.”
Rhystan shook his head and ground his jaw, well aware of what a hypocrite the situation made him. He’d expected Sarani to defy the wishes of her father while expecting Ravenna to keel over and do what she was told. The irony of the double standard did not escape him.
“This is the way things are done.”
Her eyes flashed. “That doesn’t make it right. Sometimes, things have to change.”
“As you’ve changed, Lady Sara?” He couldn’t keep the bitterness from his voice.
“This isn’t about me, Your Grace. This is about your sister and you being here for her instead of out on the sea somewhere.” Her voice hushed. “At least you have a family.”
