Page 43 of The Duke of Seduction
Chapter 8
Sweet love, sweet air, sweet charity,
Her eyes, hair, gaze, bring clarity.
Love gained, love lost, but love restored.
Sweet love, sweet air, sweetly adored.
-FromThe Nature of Miss Rose Stewart
by The Duke of Seduction
The moment Laviniasaw the red ribbon tied to the iron railing in front of the house across the street, her heart began to beat faster. She immediately told her maid to prepare for a walk, then went to the sitting room to inform her mother she was going out.
“Perhaps I’ll go with you,” the countess said, looking toward the window that faced the small rear garden. “It’s rather fair today.”
Lavinia blinked in surprise. Her mother didn’t generally like physical exercise, unless it meant shopping or gossip. Lavinia didn’twanther along—not today. Not forthiswalk. “I won’t be gone long, and I’m just about to leave.” She’d already donned a pelisse as well as her hat and gloves and was carrying her reticule so she could put Beck’s message inside. She held her breath while waiting for her mother to respond.
Mother looked her up and down. “So you are. All right, then. Don’t wear yourself out so that you won’t want to go to the park.”
She already didn’t want to go to the park. “Yes, Mother.”
Turning hastily, Lavinia met her maid, Carrin, in the hall. “Ready.”
The footman opened the door, and Lavinia preceded Carrin out to the pavement. She waited for the maid, a soft-spoken woman five years Lavinia’s senior, to join her before turning to the left and walking toward Grosvenor Square.
“Are we going anywhere in particular, my lady?” Carrin asked.
“Not really,” Lavinia lied. “I think I’ll just let my feet guide me.” She sent Carrin a warm smile.
Once they were well enough away from the house, Lavinia pulled her spectacles from her reticule and set them on her face. She sighed happily as the sights around her came into sharp focus. Every time she put them on, she wondered why she took them off. Of course sheknewwhy—her mother.
Carrin wouldn’t tell the countess. She thought it a travesty that Lavinia wasn’t allowed to wear them.
As they entered Grosvenor Square, Lavinia instantly found the tree. It was easy to spot, particularly since they were entering from the southwest corner. That was likely why Beck had chosen it.
The center of the square was a lovely green lawn with shrubbery and trees, and the whole was surrounded by a short, wrought iron fence. She turned to Carrin. “Let us go into the square.”
They strolled to an opening in the fence, and Lavinia led her through to a path. After they’d walked for a moment, she said to Carrin, “I believe I saw a squirrel. Wait here.”
Lavinia hurried to the tree and was glad for an adjacent shrub that partially shielded her as she walked around and found the hollow. Sticking her hand inside, she found a small bag.
Lifting it from the tree, she wondered at the contents, for it was rather heavy. She shoved her hand back into the hollow and felt around for paper, but there wasn’t anything else.
The bag had a drawstring, and she tugged it open to see what was inside. Her breath caught as soon as she realized what it was. Rather, whattheywere.
She pulled the first rock out and held it up, staring at the spiral and the even grooves that marked the stone. It was beautiful. And so small. She’d seen drawings of such a thing, but she didn’t have anything like it. Her fossils were all plants.
“Do you like it?”
The low, masculine voice stole across her neck, reminding her of the way his lips had caressed her there once. She turned to see Beck leaning against the tree, his gaze heavy, his lids low over his eyes.
“Where did you come from?”
“Nowhere.” He pushed away from the tree, his eyes lighting with surprise and something else she wasn’t quite sure of. Excitement maybe? No, not that strong. “You’re wearing spectacles.”
She’d forgotten. Instinctively, she lifted her hand to her face and began to take them off.
