Page 16 of Rules for Heiresses
“Ravenna.”
“Yes?” she said, breathless.
“I will always value your opinion.”
On that shockingly solemn pronouncement, he hauled her gracefully upright amid deafening cheers, and Ravenna let out a shuddering breath. Not even Lady Holding’s enormous scowl could detract from her daze. While the duke’s earlier words had pricked her pride and made her bristle, she felt a curious sense of wonder. He hadn’t dismissed her, nor had he humiliated her. Instead, he’d explained how her words had caused injury instead of ease. It was rather…illuminating.
With an uncharacteristic smile to their audience, the duke took her palm in hers and kissed it. “To my beautiful and utterly singular bride,” he said aloud to everyone. “The Duchess of Ashvale.”
When the fresh round of cheering subsided, they moved toward the refreshment room. The man was mercurial at best. One moment he was taking great pleasure in schooling her during their dance, and the next he was kissing her senseless and parading her around on his arm like the greatest treasure known to man. Her head was spinning. Even now, she could feel the coiled tension in his body, while he smiled and greeted guests with unfailing civility. He was a conundrum, her husband.
A ripple of excitement rumbled through the room, and Ravenna turned just as the majordomo revealed the source of the interest. “His Grace, the Duke of Embry!”
Oh, damn and blast, no!Her stomach rose and dipped with a curious combination of alarm and happiness. She loved her brother dearly, but Ravenna knew Rhystan would not take to her recent escapades with any kind of calm. Hopefully, he wouldn’t take her to task her in public; he was much too well bred for that.
Wasn’t he?
She held her breath as he cut a path directly to where they stood. Her brother and her new husband were of a height and somewhat similar in build, but where Rhystan was all broad-shouldered bulk from living and working as a ship’s captain for years, Courtland was narrower and rapier-strong. The two men acknowledged each other with polite if wary nods. Both of them stood rigid. Ravenna hoped they wouldn’t come to fisticuffs, but with her brother’s hardened sailor’s background, one never knew.
“Embry, I’m glad you could make it,” Courtland said.
“I must say it’s good to see you alive and kicking with my own eyes, Ashvale,” Rhystan said, eyes narrowing. “I could scarcely believe the letter I received, fearing that my poor sister had wed a ghost or an impostor, considering you’re supposed to be dead.”
The corner of Courtland’s lip curled. “Life has yet to do away with me, I fear, despite conjecture.”
“I am glad of it. Congratulations, I’m pleased I could be here,” Rhystan said as Ravenna let out a slow, relieved breath that no blood would be spilled, at least for the moment, and then her brother scrutinized her from head to toe. “Hullo, sister, you look better than expected.”
She bit her lip at his droll expression and gave a tiny eye roll. “Did you expect me to be trussed, bound, and dragged to the altar?”
“Something like that, though my wife firmly insisted that if you had indeed agreed to marryanyman, it wouldn’t have been that bad. I’m glad to see it’s so.”
Ravenna felt a stroke of emotion at her sister-in-law’s steady support, though couldn’t help remarking how wrong she was. Sarani would be horrified to know that Ravenna had simply gotten caught in a trap of her own making rather than her choosing. “Did Sarani not come with you? And my niece, how is she? Is she well?”
Rhystan laughed. “Everyone is well. My duchess sends her love. She was unable to travel—still recovering from the birth, you see. Nothing serious, just exhaustion so the doctor prescribed her lots of rest and fresh air. Our little arrival, Lady Anu, is healthy and hale, and just as beautiful as her mother.”
“What a lovely name,” Ravenna crooned, a rush of warmth filling the gaping hole in her chest. She hadn’t let herself feel how much she missed her family, until this very moment. She fought back a sniff. “I can’t wait to meet her, and I miss Sarani terribly.”
“She misses you.”
Ravenna drew in a breath, her eyes smarting. “You must be tired. Have you only just arrived?”
“Yes, but I refreshed on the ship, marvelous contraption that she is.”
Courtland inclined his head at the praise. “I trust everything onboard was to your satisfaction.”
“She was swifter than expected. I must admit some of the innovation in steam travel is fascinating. I’ll have to have Gideon, my former quartermaster, speak to your engineering men about some of the developments on your ocean liner. The speed was astounding. Six days from port to port across the Atlantic. Astonishing!”
“Ocean liner?” Ravenna blurted, her gaze panning between them and then settling on her husband. “You own a ship?”
Courtland nodded. “Several actually, though not a shipping fleet for goods, more designed for passenger travel. I offered to bring your family across, though only the duke took me up on my offer.” Ravenna blinked her surprise. She had known he was wealthy, but this kind of fortune bordered on the realm of the absurd. He misread her expression. “Don’t worry, Duchess, you’ll experience it for yourself on the way back to London. It won’t be like being on Embry’s clipper at all.”
“Ibegyour pardon.” The voice was low and full of menace. “Embry’swhat?”
Ravenna didn’t have to turn around to know that her brother was glaring at her with the fire of a thousand suns. And it was all Courtland’s fault, the loose-lipped, no-good, devilish-as-sin traitor.
Five
The next afternoon, Courtland sat in the upper restaurant at the Starlight, sharing an amicable meal with his brother by marriage. The Duke of Embry, sitting across from him in the tastefully appointed dining room, finished his meal with a gratified sigh.
