Page 39 of Rules for Heiresses
The man appeared like a wraith. “Her Grace has gone out, sir.”
He frowned. “Gone out where?”
“I believe she took the carriage to visit her mother, shortly after Lord Stinson arrived.” Rawley cleared his throat. “She seemed quite…agitated.”
Courtland couldn’t begrudge her that, of course, and he knew why she was upset. He blew out an aggravated breath and scrubbed a palm through his hair, remembering the sublime feel of her fingers kneading over his scalp. He also knew he could not let her face the Dowager Duchess of Embry on her own.
Not if any of the gossip had reached London.
“Tell someone to get me a horse,” he said.
Rawley grinned as though him riding to a damsel’s rescue was an everyday occurrence. “Right away, Your Grace.”
“And Rawley?”
“Yes, Your Grace?”
“Wipe that bloody smile off your face before I do it for you.”
His clown of a cousin only smiled wider.
Eleven
Ravenna sat in the ducal carriage, currently stationed outside Huntley House, her hands in her lap. She’d needed to leave, escape Courtland’s overwhelming presence for a bit, and clear her head. Heavens, the man was going to drive her mad! His constant hot-cold behavior, his sudden chest-beating possessiveness, and his deep-seated enmity with Stinson were mindboggling.
While his mercurial moods were starting to become routine, the second had shocked her, though she knew it had something to do with the last. Growing up with three brothers, she was no stranger to sibling rivalry. But what she’d seen between Courtland and Stinson had seemed to go far beyond mere competition. It was almost as if they trulyhatedeach other. One would think that Stinson would be happy to see his long-lost brother well and alive, but he hadn’t been. Men were strange creatures at times.
Ravenna wrung her hands and stared up at her family’s London home. While she wanted to escape her husband, she wasn’t looking forward to facing her mother’s temper either. If only Sarani was in town, but she and Rhystan had yet to leave their love nest in Hastings on the southern coast of England. And besides, Ravenna wasn’t sure her sister-in-law would travel so soon with her new infant daughter.
A smile broke over her lips. She could do with some sweet baby comfort, and it’d been an age since she’d seen her sister by marriage. She wondered how long the journey was to Hastings. It would be at least half a day by coach if she were to leave right now. Would Courtland even know she was gone? That she’d left town? Would he even care?
A tentative rap on the coach door made her jump. Her coachman would not have let anyone approach unless they were known to her. “Yes?”
“Lady Ravenna? It’s Fuller. Do you require assistance?”
The familiar voice made her heart squeeze. Fuller, their butler, had long covered for many of her escapades over the years. What would he have to say about her latest scrape? With a sigh, she opened the carriage door. “Hullo, Fuller.”
The butler smiled and offered his arm. “It’s good to see your face, my lady!”
Ravenna gave a wry smile before alighting with his help. “It’s ‘Your Grace’ now, I fear.” When his eyes widened, she nodded with a sigh. “Duchess of Ashvale, in the flesh.”
“Ashvale,” he repeated. “Did you marry Lady Borne’s son, the new duke?”
She shook her head. “Stinson isn’t duke. His brother is.”
“I beg your pardon, Lady Ravenna, er, Your Grace, but I thought the elder brother was deceased.”
“You, me, and the rest of theton. Turns out he’s alive and well, much to everyone’s everlasting surprise.” She paused at the top of the stairs, as Fuller turned to look at her, an uncharacteristic smile on his face. Fuller wasn’t one to display any kind of emotion, being the efficient butler he was, even when faced with the vagaries of her past exploits. “I never thought the day would come I’d see you a married lady. God save the man who caught you.”
“Fuller!” Her eyes went wide with indignation as she swatted him. “You’re supposed to be on my side!”
“For once, I’m delighted that someone else is on your side.” He pointed at the spate of silver at his temples. “These gray hairs are all your doing, young lady.”
She huffed a disbelieving laugh, the frustration sitting like a boulder on her chest melting away. Fuller had always been able to make her feel good about herself, even when he disapproved of her actions. She should have come home sooner. “I shall have you sacked for your cheek, you dreadful man.”
He grinned and opened the door. “You cannot. The duchess cherishes me too much.”
“My mother cherishes no one.”
