Page 34 of Desperately Seeking Seduction

But he turned for the distant public rooms with that other man following after him.

The man Father had called son.

Winston frowned but watched until the doors to the other room were pulled shut behind them. Still, she could not move a muscle.

She had a father still…and apparently a brother now, too.

Father must have remarried quickly after Mama’s death to have such a large offspring. Winston was four and twenty. That young man shouldn’t be more than ten years old at most.

And yet father called him son.

She looked back at the lectern and the book laying open upon it. There had been no mention of any second married for her father in the records she’d just read. That seemed unusual, too. It was the current edition.

Winston put her hand to her throat and backed away from the door, taking deep breaths and struggling to control her confusion. It was not turning out to be a very good day at all. She’d been seen with Lord Stratford, and now her father would be a guest under the same roof as herself. So close but as yet unaware of his firstborn’s presence. It worried her that her father was familiar enough with the Duke of Ravenswood to demand an interview immediately upon his arrival. He hadn’t even been invited to come.

She returned to the copy of the peerage and again read the published date of that volume. It was just as she remembered. Father would have ensured any second marriage of his and the birth of a second heir, an actual son, had been recorded and published for all to see.

Only one thing was clear though—she had to get away from Ravenswood Palace. She wasn’t safe. No matter how much she wanted to believe the past no longer mattered, it had finally found her.

She was supposed to be dead.

Winston waited until the hall was quiet and then fled up the main staircase and along to the dubious safety of Lord Stratford’s bedchamber, where she hid in his dressing closet for a full hour, shaking uncontrollably. When her panic passed, she gathered up her few personal possessions and held them tightly to her chest. She felt bad about abandoning her post at a difficult time for Lord Stratford. She must leave, without saying goodbye, too, at first light tomorrow, and without the generous wages he’d promised to pay her.

She would miss their conversations, and his kisses. But if Stratford knew her father, she and the lord should never have even met.

CHAPTER 11

Assuming Win’s return to the house had passed without incident, Stratford prowled the lower levels of the palace as if he wasn’t in an utter panic. He had already handed off his canvas, paints, and easel to the first footman he’d seen and looked around again, wondering where Win might be found now.

He saw a number of family members sitting in pockets enjoying the delights of Ravenswood Palace in the morning. None called out to him or followed to ask to speak with him, privately or otherwise. Yet someone staying at the manor had seen him and Win making love out there on the grounds. A someone who could make his life difficult if they cared to.

He had assumed the rider, and anyone else they’d told, would be waiting to accuse him of committing the crime of making love with another man. That was a hanging offense. But no one seemed lurking in wait for him yet. After engaging in brief conversations with anyone he did see, he quickly moved on from each group slightly relieved, but the tension was mounting inside him.

The list of possibilities was growing shorter by the minute.

The long gallery doors were open to enjoy the views and was full of guests, cousins all, but an accuser was nowhere to be found among those standing around gossiping. In the dining room, he saw Crawford and Cousin Amity sitting together near the more open terrace doors, taking tea a little apart from everyone else, and he quickly went to join them.

“Good morning to you both,” he murmured, taking a seat beside Amity and smiling at her…but she did not smile in return.

His stomach pitted. Amity looked happier yesterday. Had she been out riding this morning? She asked nothing about his whereabout that morning and let her husband fill the void with chatter.

Yet, even as he conversed with Crawford, he felt something was off about Amity today. She was too quiet, but he hoped he was wrong that she might have seen him and Winston together and misunderstood.

He glanced around, uncomfortable with his conclusions. He hadn’t wanted to tell anyone about Winston. Not yet. Not when he was finally getting somewhere with the stubborn woman.

Amity caught his eye again, gave him a half smile and leaned closer. “I did not see you at dinner last night.”

“I went to bed early,” he told her. And that was the truth but had not been his intention at the time. The wine and company had lulled him into sleep better than any medicinal draft Nash had ever concocted for him over the years. “Slept like a log.”

Her brow rose. “Alone?”

“Of course,” he promised.

Stratford had enjoyed making Winston laugh last night. The wine and good company had mellowed the usually straight-faced valet. It was no surprise she’d always been so serious all the time. She must have known any levity would have revealed the prettiness of her features. Her musical laughter, too, was a delight for its rarity. He hoped to hear more of it in due time.

The country walk they’d taken this morning, while enjoyable, had revealed the unexpected dangers of seducing a woman wearing men’s clothing though. Yet the idea of escaping again with Win was definitely appealing, going somewhere private where they could let their curiosity take them anywhere they dared.

He’d crossed a line but was committed to never returning to the way things had been. Win could not be his valet, although he would allow her to undertake some of those duties until they could leave Ravenswood Palace together. If she did nothing, it would be noticed by other servants.