Page 21 of Ravishing His Wicked Lady (The Shadows 4)

Chapter 7

“Please make haste, my dear aunt. Otherwise, we shall be late,” Sebastian said as Frau Elinor slowly applied butter to her toast.

“How can we be late to our own estate, pray tell?” she asked in a croaky voice. “The house party is not for another week, and we had made all the preparations necessary before we left for London. The Duchess of Kensington made sure of that.”

“Yes, I am aware. But I shall not put it past our staff to forget something. Unless I check on it myself, I shall not trust it. And you haven’t even prepared your valises. I told you to let your maid prepare them yesterday. Now the poor thing has to wait for you to eat before she can help you do that.”

“I am not going to hurry while I eat, Bastian. I was not raised in a stable. I cannot rush the process.”

Sebastian pulled out his pocket watch for what seemed like a hundredth time that morning. He looked at the time and promptly forgot what it was. Not that it mattered. The light was getting away from them.

In truth, Sebastian was irritated because he hadn’t slept well the entire night. He had been plagued by the visions of an angel-faced young lady with the body of a goddess he had briefly come across during the ball. He didn’t even know her name. But her features outlined by the candlelight lived vividly in his mind.

Sebastian had spent the entire night fantasizing about putting her onto the canvas, mixing different colors of paint to come up with the perfect golden halo to adorn her face. Line after line, he had imagined painting her until he finally couldn’t take it anymore. So he had gotten up, had climbed the stairs to his studio, had found an empty canvas, and had started painting.

Only with the light of dawn had he stopped.

No, his painting wasn’t finished. There were too many missing pieces. He hadn’t seen his mysterious lady’s facial features, her body had been shrouded in shadows. So he had to abandon his painting unfinished.

And now, his eyes red and smarting, he sat by his aunt, who wasn’t at all hurrying to get on with the trip. But if they didn’t leave soon, Sebastian would fall asleep right there at the breakfast table.

Sebastian took out the timepiece and glanced at it once more. “What could be taking Victoria so long?”

“She is young. Let her rest!” Frau Elinor said with a wave of her toast.

Victoria flew downstairs at that exact moment wearing her morning gown, her hair disheveled but her eyes shining like two bright stars. “Is there breakfast? I am starving!”

“Of course, there’s breakfast,Kindchen,” Frau Elinor cooed and snapped her fingers at a footman standing by the wall. “What would you like? Oh, mayhap we should ask the cook to make you the warm buns she made a few days ago, do you remember? They were lovely!”

“We are late!” Sebastian enunciated, but there was no point. The women were chattering away happily, not paying him any heed. “Frau Elinor, I think I explained that it is imperative—”

“How wonderful,Kindchen!” Frau Elinor exclaimed and put her hand to her heart. She turned to Sebastian. “Our dear Victoria is in love!”

“You are?” Sebastian frowned.

Victoria’s cheeks flushed red. “I wouldn’t say in love, no. But I found a gentleman worthy of my attention.”

“Oh! I thought this day would never come!” Frau Elinor said dramatically.

“But I’ve only had my come-out yesterday,” Victoria protested with a frown.

“Now, now,Kindchen. Eat. You need your strength for the trip.”

“Frau Elinor is right. Please, eat.” Sebastian pulled up a chair. “And who is the lucky gentleman, may I inquire?”

“No, you may not inquire,” Victoria said carefully. “Or at least, you can inquire as much as you like, but I shall not answer.”

Sebastian’s frown turned thunderous. “Why not?”

“Because, my dear uncle, you shall just frighten him away. I’ve only just met him.”

“I am not a brute.” Sebastian was slightly offended but also proud of Victoria’s remark. She wasn’t wrong. Hewouldfrighten them away.

Frau Elinor raised a brow. “Indeed.”

“What? I do need to know who he is so I can investigate him and tell you if he is a worthy man to waste your time on.”

“And that is why I shall not tell you,” Victoria said and sipped on her tea unhurriedly.

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