Page 108 of The Duke of a Thousand Desires

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Simon staredat Ravenna as she carefully approached the male quartet. For a moment he had mistaken her for a page boy, but it soon became clear that the engaging face beneath the plumed hat belonged to the woman he loved. As did her come-hither smile and curvaceous form. Of course it had been her gasp he had heard.

How could he disrespect Heath’s wishes when the man had invested his energy and intelligence to help him? Wouldn’t Simon shield Ravenna from distressing news if she were carrying their child?

He felt a surge of protective fury. Then her hand lowered from her throat to her stomach. A subtle gesture. A universal one – a mother reassuring the life that sheltered in her womb? It was not improbable. Still, it was Heath who had brought up the subject. Ravenna simply might not be accustomed to wearing a sword. She might even have indigestion from imbibing too much punch.

His gaze caught hers. Did her eyes hold the sparkle of a secret? He would investigate as soon as he dealt with his luckless rival. A revelation of this significance should be shared in private between a husband and wife. He was liable to become emotional.

When he turned around, it was to witness Heath guiding Sir David off the premises.

He started after them. Ravenna stopped his progress. “Have you been fighting?” she said, contemplating him with narrowed eyes.

“Me? I’ve been looking for you.”

“And you, Rhys?” she asked.

Her brother refused to meet her regard. “I should help Heath,” he said, holding up his skirts to step through the rhododendrons.

Jane signed in dismay. “And I shall feed the gossips some mindless snippet to distract them from our current disgrace.”

Simon’s eyes kindled. “Thank you, Jane. I am indebted to you and Grayson.”

More deeply in truth, than he could express. Without their intervention, he might not have married the woman he now faced alone. He scrutinized her costume in admiring silence.

“Clever disguise.”

“You didn’t recognize me,” she said.

“I would know your delectable person from a mile away,” he asserted.

“You would not,” she said. “You walked straight past me and Jane in the hall. Furthermore, this is a duplication of the costume I wore on the very evening we met. I felt quite nostalgic when I put it on. Do you remember that at the end of the play my character marries a most powerful duke?”

“I haven’t forgotten anything,” he said, his voice thick. “Not the play you and your family gave in the castle, or how I failed to impress you, despite the fact I thought you were the loveliest girl who ever lived.”

She swept off her hat. “And now?”

“Lovelier every time I see you.” He drew her slowly into the protection of his arms, then glanced down in alarm. “Except that you are wearing a codpiece.”

“What if I am?” she said, tilting her face to his. “Is this the first time you’ve encountered such a garment?”

“I performed a few theatricals in my youth,” he said dryly. “I attended school.” He rested his chin on her head, promising, “I shall manage to remove the contraption when we are alone.”

“We’re not staying the night?”

He drew away with a thoughtful frown. “One small matter begs my attention before we leave.”

“It doesn’t involve fighting?”

“I doubt it. I cannot allow Rhys and Heath to carry out Sir David’s dishonorable discharge from Society without my help.”

Did her body feel different? Was his child forming inside her? He was filled with hope and tenderness and intrigued by the thought of fatherhood.

“Simon, are you all right?” She slipped her hand under his shirt to covertly probe him for bruises. “Are you wounded? Is Rhys? Did you and my brother plan this behind my back? He was supposed to be conspiring with me tonight.”

“Can’t we share him? And don’t be angry. Ours was a last-moment conspiracy. None of it is important now.”

She dropped her hat and pulled him into her arms, disregarding the guests still waiting in the shadows for exactly this kind of behavior.