Page 19 of A Duke to Undo her
He saw his mother and Benedict frown at one another and his younger brother shrugged to indicate that he shared the dowager duchess’s confusion.
“What’s the matter with you, big brother?” the younger man asked him, still genially. “Did you eat a bad oyster? Or were your ears offended by Lady Gordenford’s musical offerings? It was a large orchestra for a garden party but I found it all rather merry myself.”
Cassius took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly while looking out of the window. What could he possibly say? He could hardly tell his mother and brother that very much against his better judgement, he had ended up alone at the bottom of the gardens with Lady Josephine Thomson, and there had given into an overpowering urge to kiss the damned woman.
“I am too long out of the nursery to be able to listen to interminable tales of your juvenile games with Lady Josephine,” the duke grumbled. “Did you talk to no one else for the entire party?”
If only Lady Josephine had been a more conventional and proper young lady, she would have slapped the duke’s face and sent him on his way for this importunity, both of them having learned a valuable lessons about the importance of keeping society’s rules.
Instead, her lips had warmed to Cassius’ own with raw and instinctive passion, her caresses had added fresh flames to his his already-burning body and her eyes had looked on him with eagerness and desire rather than outrage.
“You accuse me unfairly today, Cassius,” Benedict answered with a laugh. “I spent the last hour escorting Mother, didn’t I?”
The dowager duchess nodded, smiling in remembrance. She had clearly enjoyed the day just as much as her uncomplicated younger son.
“Yes, we listened to some Italian chamber music with Lord and Lady Sudbury, Cassius. You might have liked that, but I couldn’t find you. Their eldest girl, Lady Belinda, was very sorry not to meet you, but she will be at the house party with them, of course.”
The Duke of Ashbourne nodded blankly to this comment, not caring one whit for Lord and Lady Sudbury or their disappointed daughter. His mind was still in the wilderness at the bottom of the Gordenford House gardens.
“It’s such a shame that Lady Josephine left early,” Benedict mused. “I hope she was not unwell.”
Not trusting his face, Cassius again turned it to the open window. No, she was not unwell. She was likely as disturbed as he had been by what passed between them.
It was all the worse because Lady Josephine was undoubtedly an innocent rather than a practiced flirt. The duke did not judge himself guilty of leading her astray, only where her inclinations already intended. He had, however, revealed part of her nature that would have been safer left to her husband on their wedding night.
Some unthinking part of Cassius had always sensed the hot-blood that ran in Lady Josephine’s veins but his mind had neverput words to it. Now the duke knew without a shadow of doubt that this uninhibited young woman’s desires mirrored his own in their strength and insatiability.
They must never be alone together again.
Chapter Nine
“My word, it is an actual castle!” Josephine remarked, standing up in the open-topped carriage to get a better view of Ashbourne Castle and then sitting down heavily again in her seat as the wheel passed over a small bump in the road.
Today she wore a blue traveling dress with a flower-trimmed bonnet presently hanging at her back. Her hair was half-down from its pinning despite Vera’s protests, Josephine having argued that it would be covered under her bonnet, before abandoning this headwear. The two ladies were accompanied by Lady Elmridge’s maid, Betsy, who could not quite hide her amusement at Lady Josephine’s behavior.
“Part of it is a castle,” Vera agreed, smiling. “Late-medieval, I believe. The Emertons are a very old family and they’ve always kept the original castle whenever they’ve rebuilt the family seat. “Most of it is relatively modern, rebuilt by the present duke’s great-grandfather. I take it that your first impression of Ashbourne Castle is a favorable one?”
“Mr. Emerton did say there was a lake but I swear I can see two,” Josephine said excitedly. “What a forest! How far it reaches. We shall need a map or guide to walk there. I do hope we can go out and explore it straight away.”
“Not straight away,” Vera put in. “We must first spend some time with our host and hostess and find out their plans for the rest of the day. You cannot just go romping off with Mr. Emerton and his young friends without paying your respects to the Duke of Ashbourne and the Dowager Duchess of Ashbourne.”
Josephine gave a long sigh at this unwanted reminder, the dark butterflies fluttering again in her stomach at the thought of encountering Cassius Emerton. She had not seen him since the Gordenford garden party.
Not even her closest friends knew what had happened there. It was not a secret Josephine could yet bear to share, partly from fear of Madeline’s harsh judgement but also because the incident at the bottom of the garden felt so incomprehensible that she didn’t have the words.
“Do not look so glum, Josephine,” Vera urged, smiling. “The dowager countess is kind and sociable. I know you’ve taken something of a dislike to the duke but I’m sure that his bark is far worse than his bite, when you get to know him. He is very well thought of in the House of Lords, I believe.”
Josephine shrugged morosely and allowed Vera and Betsy to begin tidying her hair and bonnet for their arrival. She did not want to know Cassius Emerton. In fact, she had lived in dread ofaccidentally coming face to face with him since the last moment she saw him, fearful that he might accompany his brother to tea at Elmridge House, or pass by unexpectedly in the park.
Sometimes she tried to banish the dread, by reframing the encounter in terms drawn from her favorite novels, telling herself that it only felt rather unreal to think that the awful Duke of Ashbourne had so indecently embraced her in the gardens of Gordenford House. He must secretly be a terrible rake and a stain on his family name, regardless of his outward reputation.
Yet, every time Josephine tried to summon the required indignance, resentment or outraged virtue to match this account, the tingling of her own body reminded her that not only had Cassius Emerton kissed her, but she had returned those kisses with equal ardor… She wished she could deny this fact, but the duke knew it too. Josephine was sure she would see it in his eyes when they met.
“I only hope the Duke of Ashbourne is busy with his other guests when we arrive,” she said pensively to Vera. “That would be best. Then we wouldn’t need to bother him.”
“You silly thing,” laughed her older sister. “You don’t need to be scared of Cassius Emerton. I’m sure his brother will look after you.”
“Lady Elmridge, Lady Josephine,” called out Benedict Emerton cheerfully as he came down the stone steps of Ashbourne Castleto meet their carriage, as bright and debonair as he always appeared. “How wonderful to welcome you to our home! Do come straight in.”
