Page 2 of Unraveled By the Duke
Celia glanced nervously at their parents. “You are incorrigible. How can you say such things?” she whispered.
“Because they are true. Most people don’t admit it, but as long as two people want each other’s bodies, then it does not matter if they are not in love. You will see. I say, look at that fellow!”
They had reached the shelter of the doorway, and Aurelia had turned to look behind them.
An extraordinary man was approaching on horseback. He wore a cloak that flowed behind him and was bare-headed except for a mane of black hair. Reaching the canvas awning, he reined in his horse and vaulted from the saddle. Water droplets flew from his long hair as he shook it.
Celia felt her heart pound in her chest. He was tall, broad, and had a powerful frame. He moved with the grace of a tiger, deadly and lithe. Eyes the color of water beneath ice fell on her as they swept imperiously over the servants and other guests. They lingered, holding her gaze for the span of a dozen heartbeats.
Then, he was before her.
“You are in the way,” he said in a voice as cold as his eyes.
Looking up at him, Celia felt an overwhelming urge to commit his cruel face to memory. She wanted to draw him—had never wished for anything more. He looked like a Viking earl, savage and dangerous.
“I’m sorry?” she gasped.
“I did not ask for an apology. Merely to be allowed to enter.”
“Celia, you’re in the doorway,” Aurelia whispered urgently.
The spell broke, and Celia realized where she was. Other guests were waiting to enter behind the pagan prince, and she was standing in the doorway. Standingandstaring.
She blushed bright red and practically jumped aside. The man smiled, a tightening of his mouth. His eyes lingered on her as he passed through.
Is he laughing at me? By what right? He was not exactly polite. He could have been far more gracious. Not so much as an excuse me!
Celia opened her mouth to protest, but Aurelia took her arm and led her into the house.
The tall stranger was moving among the throng that filled the great hall beyond the door. Celia watched him go regretfully as Aurelia steered her towards their parents and a white-haired, red-faced man wearing an officer’s red and white uniform. Hewas round in the stomach and the face, clutching a full glass of wine in one hand and mopping his brow with a handkerchief.
Celia had a sinking feeling that this was the man her father had arranged for her to marry.
“Ah, there you are,” Cornelius said. “May I introduce Colonel Herbert Savage of the Essex Heavy Cavalry. My regiment in my youth and a proud one. Colonel, this is my eldest daughter, Celia.”
The Colonel’s smile was positively oily. Celia bobbed a curtsy as was expected of her. He pulled her up with a smile that felt like oil on her skin.
“A fine-looking lady, Cornelius. Very fine,” he praised. “Good pair of hips on her. Good for childbearing.”
Edna looked away with a hint of disdain on her face. Cornelius had the good grace to look embarrassed.
Celia reminded herself of the disgrace her actions had brought upon her family and simply smiled.
“Come and stand beside me,” Herbert ordered. “Let us be seen together so everyone knows you are to be my wife. What of the dowry, Cornelius?”
“Would it not be more appropriate to woo me before talking about how much you will be paid to wed me?” Celia huffed before she could stop herself.
Herbert turned narrowed eyes on her. “In private, that will earn you a slap. More of it and you’ll get a thrashing. Wives and horses respond to much the same treatment. As do soldiers. The whip.”
“Steady on, old man,” Cornelius interjected.
Herbert raised a hand to cut him off. “I won’t have my name disgraced the way yours was. I’m sorry to be so blunt. I see now why you were so keen to marry her off. Scandal and an insolent mouth—not an attractive combination.”
Cornelius directed a sharp look at Celia, who cast her gaze downward.
If this is what I must do, then I must steel myself. I can see no way out of it.
Looking up, she saw her husband-to-be drain his glass.
