Page 113 of Kathryn

Chapter Twenty-Five

The following morning when Katie went down to breakfast, the room was not empty. Gerrit was already seated at the table, garbed for riding in buckskins and a dark blue clawhammer, a heaping plate of food in front of him.

He stood when she entered. “Good morning, Your Grace.”

“Good morning, Dulverton,” she said, unable to completely mask her surprise at finding him breaking his fast at almost ten o’clock. She glanced at Thomas, whose eyes quickly slid in the other direction. So, she wasn’t the only one surprised to find the duke in the room.

“Coffee please, Thomas,” she said, and then turned to the buffet and put far too much food on her plate while she pondered her husband’s presence.

She had fallen asleep with a smile on her face when she’d returned to her room just before dawn. Evidently, she’d still been grinning like an idiot when Becky woke her at nine.

“Don’t you look happy this morning, Your Grace,” her saucy servant had observed, smirking to herself.

Katie realized her lips had again curled up at the corners as she’d stared unseeingly down at her plate.

She snatched glances at Dulverton from beneath her eyelashes as he poured himself a glass of ale from the pitcher, evidently eschewing coffee and tea. Katie realized at that moment that she had no idea what he liked to eat or drink for breakfast.

She commanded herself to act normally and took a bite of eggs. Why did breaking her fast with him seem more intimate than what they’d done all night?

Dulverton’s plate was heaped with an astonishing amount of food. He glanced up, saw her looking, and—to her amusement—the skin over his axe blade cheekbones reddened, but he did not speak.

“I dressed for work,” she blurted when the silence stretched.

His eyes briefly flickered over her habit, which was a sturdy navy nankeen with a more modest train than most of her others. There were ties on the skirt that could be used to shorten it so that she would not be dragging it through the dirt.

“Would you care to join me on a ride before we go to the dig?” he asked. “I have to call on two of my tenants,” he explained before she could answer. “I want to check on some work being done.”

He was going to introduce her to his tenants?

“It will only take an hour or two,” he went on. “We should get to the dig in plenty of time to help with the big belemnite.”

Katie nodded, entranced by his red cheeks. Was he embarrassed? Why did that cause a joyous leaping in her chest?

“Yes, I would like that,” she said.

He gave an abrupt nod, cut off a large piece of beefsteak and pushed it into his mouth, chewing determinedly. He lifted up his glass of ale and then seemed to notice Thomas, who was staring at them with rapt interest, and frowned.

The footman quickly looked down, but not before she’d noticed that his lips were curved in a faint smile.

So were hers.

And hope, as tiny as a snowdrop sprouting in winter, thrust through the ice inside her. Going to his chambers last night had been the right thing to do. She had finally done something right in this marriage!

Once they’d finished breakfast, Katie said, “I just need to fetch my gloves and whip. Shall I meet you at the stables?”

“Yes, but you needn’t rush,” he said, glancing at his watch. “I’ve got one piece of business to see to first. Shall we say half an hour?”

That was far more time than she needed, but she nodded. “Yes, half an hour.”

Katie took the stairs two at a time, smiling ruefully at a housemaid who paused to watch her hasty behavior with a look of surprise.

She was so happy it was almost frightening. How could things have changed so quickly? She’d been a fool not to go to him before now. He’d not made her grovel or feel ashamed. Instead, he’d been grateful and welcoming.

And very, very amorous.

Katie laughed and opened the door to her chambers.

Becky, who was seated in the chair she favored to do her mending, looked up.