Chapter 18

18

“Poppy,darling, I mean it with all my love, do not laugh so loudly,” said the Dowager Duchess of Grandhampton with a sweet but strict smile.

It was the next afternoon, and Calliope, the girls, and Nathaniel had come to visit Penelope and Preston, as well as Grandmama and Richard and Jane, who had decided to stay in London after their honeymoon got interrupted to attend Calliope and Nathaniel’s wedding.

The sitting room of Newdale was quite pleasant and lively. Penelope was talking with Hazel about a painting that hung above the fireplace, while Poppy was entertaining everyone with the story of their pursuit. In her typical manner, she was speaking at the top of her lungs and with much animation. Violet threw looks full of longing at a book which lay five feet away on the card table—she had heard the story an untold number of times and had been present for the event, of course.

Richard and Jane listened, their eyes darting between Calliope and Nathaniel. The girls had been instructed to tell everyone it was a thief who was after their money, even though Calliope had told them yesterday she didn’t think he was.

Nathaniel sat next to Calliope on the sofa, perfectly quiet and austere, his knee so close to her own she could feel the warmth of his body through the layers of her petticoats and her gown. From time to time, his gaze warmed her skin, and when she met his eyes, they lingered on her for a long time. Something had shifted between them last night, after she had so embarrassingly let him touch her, then rejected him, and then cried in his arms half the night, only to fall asleep surrounded by him.

Who this man was, she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that he wasn’t just the officer and the rake she had thought he was.

He may be one of the best men she had ever met.

She felt safe with him. She felt accepted. Understood. She felt…happy. And even with his attempt to restrict her and confine her to her house, part of her knew he meant well—even though she loathed restrictions.

Despite his misgivings and his barking and his exterior of an irresponsible man, he cared about her.

And that was a man she could easily love. Too easily.

“Forgive me,” said Poppy, correcting herself and wiping her adorable, excited look from her face, arranging her grimace in the same manner as Grandmama. Calliope thought it was a pity to hide Poppy’s natural enthusiasm under the calm and collected mask of a well-bred duke’s sister, but she had undergone the same education, which the girls lacked with no mother and no governess to teach them manners. “And so the man took out a knife—”

“A knife?” asked Jane.

Jane looked so lovely, Calliope couldn’t stop a grin from spreading across her lips every time she looked at her new sister-in-law. Jane wasn’t a timid wallflower, dressing in the grays and browns that she’d been before marrying Richard. Instead, she wore dusky pinks and blues that favored her coloring. Her spectacles weren’t the simple unassuming round frames she’d worn before, but had quite a daring, unusual design with slanted outer edges that created a striking feline impression. And the glowing love that was evident every time Richard looked at his wife melted Calliope’s heart.

Both of her brothers had found happiness and love, but she’d never thought she would. Until last night when, for the first time, she’d felt she may be wrong about that.

While Poppy talked and everyone asked her questions, Calliope’s gaze kept returning to Nathaniel, who, it seemed, kept returning his gaze to her, too. She couldn’t get enough of his eyes, his handsome face. Something warm settled on her lower back.

And then moved down…

His hand!

She opened her mouth in shock, staring at everyone else in the room, wondering if anyone noticed he was touching her. She turned to him, widened her eyes, and mouthed, “Nathaniel!”

Devils played in his brilliant turquoise eyes, their corners wrinkled in a barely noticeable smile, and he slowly licked his lips. She followed the trajectory of the edge of his tongue, and her body began burning. And then his hand moved even lower, and her breath was stolen from her chest as he cupped her bottom…

She gasped and looked away as she felt the heat of his palm spread through her skin, through her flesh, and right into her sex.

“Are you all right, Calliope?” asked Jane with a frown.

Goodness gracious, this man would bring her to her destruction! Heat flushed through her. She should feel humiliated, embarrassed—what if anyone noticed something?

Instead, Nathaniel leaned closer to look at her, as though to see if she was well, and a satisfied grin lit up his face.

“Are you all right, darling?” he asked, then leaned even closer, as though to inspect her face. “Heavens, you’re so beautiful when you’re flushed,” he murmured just for her. “And what a gorgeous bottom.”

In addition to her shock, she felt…exhilarated. Desired. Appreciated.

Part of her loved this game. Even though she couldn’t let it continue for long.

She bit her lower lip to stop her grin. “I’m quite all right, thank you,” she said and stood up. “Just a little warm.”

She turned away from him, or she would redden even more, no doubt, and they would make a scene, providing a bad example of social manners to his sisters. The goal was, after all, to hone their manners and prepare them for their first Season next year.

She stood up, feeling Nathaniel’s warm gaze following her every movement. “Where is Preston?” she asked. “I haven’t seen my brother yet.”

“He has a visitor,” said Penelope. “But perhaps he already left.”

“I will go and see,” said Calliope. This would give her a chance to ask if he had found out anything new about Spencer.

“Would you like me to come with you?” asked Nathaniel.

With her side vision, Calliope could see the excited and surprised look Jane and Penelope exchanged with each other. The heat in Nathaniel voice couldn’t have escaped anyone.

“Please, stay, Kelford,” said Grandmama. “Your wife is perfectly capable of finding her brother without your help. And do tell us about the latest news of the wars.”

Nathaniel cocked his head in reluctant agreement. “As you wish, Lady Grandhampton,” he said, his eyes still on Calliope.

Hiding her smile, Calliope walked out, closed the door behind herself, and leaned with her back against it, needing a little time to compose herself. What was Nathaniel doing to her? Despite her tears, he still wanted her. He’d made that quite obvious just now. There was a promise in his eyes and in his touch, a promise she wanted him to keep.

Could there truly be hope for them? Would it not just be a marriage where she got what she needed and so did he? Could there be more, perhaps even a glimpse of the true happiness she’d seen between her parents?

Could she really slay the shadow of William if only she opened up to Nathaniel?

Just as she tore herself away from the door, her eyes fell on William himself.

Shock slapped her, and she stood completely still, her feet as heavy as lead. He’d just walked around the corner, eyes blazing with anger under his polite social mask.

As he saw her, his face must have straightened in the same expression of surprise as she wore.

“Lady Calliope,” he said coldly. “Or, shall I say, Your Grace.”

He gave her a pointedly deep bow, then straightened up tall and dark, standing in the shadows of the hallway.

Calliope straightened her back as fear clenched her insides. What was he doing here? He did not have any power over her anymore, she told herself. She was married. William couldn’t do anything.

“Lord Huntingham,” she said. “I was just going to find my brother.”

“Hm,” he said as he slowly walked to her, his disgusted gaze moving over her body, making her want to shrink and disappear. How could there have been a moment in her life when she had been infatuated with him? Thinking he was the most wonderful boy in the whole world? “I’ve just seen your brother.”

“Right,” she said as she tensed all over.

He stood two steps away now, close enough to reach out to pinch her. Silly thought, no doubt, but the place over her collarbone hurt.

“I came to ask for your hand in marriage,” he said. “Imagine my surprise when I learned that you already married someone else.”

He said it like it was a personal insult, like she had betrayed him. His upper lip crawled up, baring a row of white teeth in an expression of contempt.

“Indeed, I am married,” she said. “I am afraid you are too late.”

His nostrils flared as he leaned closer to her, his handsome features transforming into something snakelike.

“Well, you lost your chance to marry the only respectable man who would want someone like you.”

Calliope inhaled sharply, feeling herself shrivel into something small and insignificant.

“Remember, I know who you really are, you dirty little whore.”

There it was, that word, like a slap.

“I saw you,” he continued. “I know you. I would have taken you as you are.”

A small particle of his spit landed on her neck and the skin right above her collarbone. Calliope began shaking, any words she wished to say stuck in her mouth. She should tell him what she thought of him. How wrong he was. He didn’t know her at all. But that place he had pinched her hurt and burned.

“But it’s better this way,” he continued. “I must admit, you’ve entered my private fantasies in the darkest moments of my life, and I prayed to God to forgive my soul. I would have made you a better Christian. An obedient wife. But it’s for the better. Sinful whores like you deserve to be married to such dirty rakes as Kelford.”

Tears of humiliation blurred her vision and burned her eyes. She prayed the floor would open under her feet and she’d disappear. One trembling hand clutched at her stomach in a futile attempt to protect herself.

The door opened and a tall figure came to stand near her. “Step away from my wife,” said Nathaniel calmly.

“Kelford,” said William unevenly.

Through her blurring vision, Calliope saw a large dark navy figure with golden spots move sharply against another tall figure in black. There was the sound of a push and shuffling feet and then the rattle of a vase, and something heavy fell on the floor with crack. Calliope wiped her eyes with the backs of her shaking hands. Nathaniel shoved William against the wall. Shattered shards of a vase, flowers, and a painting with a cracked frame lay on the floor.

“I heard you, you scoundrel,” hissed Nathaniel into William’s face as he held him by the collar. “Apologize to my wife right now, or I will demand satisfaction.”

The sound of many footsteps came from the sitting room, and the hallway filled with people. Preston, who appeared from the hallway leading to his study, rushed to stand by Nathaniel.

“Kelford, calm yourself! This is my visitor—my guest!”

“Your guest just insulted your sister in the worst manner.”

Preston shot a worried look at Calliope, and the next moment he stood by her side, his arm wrapped around her shoulders protectively. “Sister, what is it? I’ve never seen you distraught like this. Is this true?”

William’s terrified gaze was on Calliope, pleading with her to lie for him. But she’d had enough.

“You must apologize, Huntingham,” she said coldly, staring into the man’s eyes, her voice cracked and strange. “You know what you said.”

When William tried to free himself from Nathaniel’s huge hand, Nathaniel pulled his arm back and hit the man in the face. There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh and the crack of a head hitting the wall.

“Apologize,” roared Nathaniel. “Or I will tear the very tongue out of your mouth you spoke such filth with.”

“I am sorry, Duchess,” William snarled, but there was not a trace of regret in his voice. “Happy?”

“Not in the slightest. Calliope?”

She didn’t think the pathetic I’m sorry was enough to atone for the years of humiliation she’d lived under. And Spencer had already beaten him up once, and yet, here he was going at it again. But she didn’t want Nathaniel to fight in a duel. William wasn’t worth getting her husband hurt or killed.

So this had to be enough.

“You must not take a single step in my direction again, Huntingham,” she said.

“Excellent idea,” growled Nathaniel. “And thank my wife for her generosity. If it wasn’t for her word, I’d kill you with the first sun tomorrow.”

William’s dark eyes lay on her with disdain. “Thank you,” he spat.

“Get out of my house,” barked Preston. “I do not want to see you near my family again. As far as I’m concerned, you’re finished in London.”

Nathaniel shook him hard once again and then let go. William staggered to his feet and hurried out of the house.

The next moment, she was wrapped in Nathaniel’s arms like in a thick winter cloak, and she buried her face in his chest. William was gone. But would she ever be truly free from him?