Page 57 of The Duke of Desire
No. Those were the things he would say.
Hewas changed. He’d thought of little else but her over the past fortnight. He had no interest in continuing with his life the way he had. That had been the best night ofhislife—watching her joy, feeling her passion, giving himself over to her completely. He never abandoned his control, but he’d done it that night. It was supposed to be all about her, and he’d surrendered to her to take his own pleasure.
It all felt so unfinished to him. Not just because they hadn’t had sex, but because there were so many things he didn’t know about her. Things he longed to discover. Things he felt compelled to learn.
Which was why he was going to Bath. Sitting there thinking about what to do next, it had seemed obvious,imperative.
What would she say when she saw him? Would she tell him to go away? Or would she welcome him?
He could hardly wait to find out.
Bath, ten days later
Ivy and Lady Dunn walked up the steps to an elegant town house in The Circus. It was larger and more grand than their leased house on George Street.
“I daresay Lady Parnell has done quite well for herself,” Lady Dunn said appreciatively. “It always helps when your granddaughter marries a wealthy earl.”
The butler opened the door and welcomed them inside. He led them upstairs to the drawing room, which overlooked the street below. They were barely over the threshold before Lucy and Aquilla, Ivy’s two closest friends, had thrown their arms around Ivy.
“You’re finally here!” Aquilla said, squeezing Ivy tightly.
“Yes, I’m here. I didn’t realize you would be, however.” Ivy had expected Lucy. She and her husband, the Earl of Dartford, were visiting her grandmother, Lady Parnell, who now lived in Bath.
They separated, and both Lucy and Aquilla were grinning. Ivy couldn’t help but smile in return. They were the two people in the world she could count on to make her smile.
“It was a brilliant secret, wasn’t it?” Lucy asked gleefully. “If not, blame Aquilla, because it was her idea.”
Ivy didn’t doubt that. Aquilla was the sweetest and most good-natured of all of them. “Iwillblame her, just as I am delighted to see her. To see you both.”
They looked disgustingly happy. Aquilla had always been beautiful, with her dark curls, porcelain skin, and summer-sky-blue eyes, but she was positively incandescent now. She was a master of the demure smile and the flirtatious blink. She was also a chatterbox, which had deterred most men from pursuing her on the marriage mart. As it happened, she’d been feigning that behavior for the distinct purpose of driving men away. It had been a thoroughly clever ploy that Ivy had wholeheartedly endorsed.
Lucy, on the other hand, had been a bit dismayed at learning of Aquilla’s aversion to marriage. But only because she’d recently found love with Dartford. Before marrying him, it had been she and Ivy who had championed independence. But then Lucy had fallen prey to Cupid’s arrow, and Ivy had thought for sure she was alone. When Aquilla had admitted that she too was avoiding marriage, Ivy had been thrilled. Except Aquilla had also capitulated, and Ivy was now alone anyway.
Ivy looked at Aquilla. “I thought you and Sutton were at Tintern Abbey.”
“We were. We decided to stop in Bath on our way back to Sutton Park. I knew Lucy was visiting her grandmother and that you and Lady Dunn would be here for the fall, so I hatched the surprise plan and wrote to Lucy.”
“You really are the cleverest of girls,” Ivy said.
Aquilla laughed. “No,youare, but I shall accept the compliment.”
“Are you ladies going to stand in the doorway all afternoon?” Lady Dunn asked.
The trio turned in unison.
“Oh, I’m certain they have much to discuss,” Lady Parnell said.
Lady Dunn sighed. “Oh, to be young again.”
“No, thank you,” Lady Parnell said primly, but with a hint of a smile.
“Come, let us sit over here,” Lucy said, guiding them to a sitting area in the corner away from the older ladies. “This way we can share secrets,” she whispered, her dark eyes gleaming with mischief.
Ivy almost said she didn’t have anything to share, but of course she did. Would she, though? Lucy and Aquilla were the only two people she trusted in the world, and yet she’d never even told them about her family or her…transgression.
Some things were too humiliating, too painful to share, even with the most important people.
Lucy and Aquilla sat on the small settee, and Ivy took the chair beside it, to Aquilla’s left.
