A Family Affair (28 page)

Now she couldn’t help but look forward to exploring the grounds of her new home with him.

She went to one of the large windows and looked out over the beautiful Hereford countryside. It looked just as golden in the sunset as Devlin’s eyes.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, and when she turned she saw Mrs. Blair had arrived, carrying a large tray.

“His Grace thought you might be tired, so he told me to bring you something to nibble upon.”

“Oh, Mrs. Blair, how nice of you.” Fanny smiled, relieved that she didn’t need to face Devlin’s awful relatives again.

“Don’t thank me,” Mrs. Blair said as she walked toward the door. “Thank your husband. Now eat, and I will have a bath prepared for you.” She glanced over the room with a hard eye, bobbed a curtsy, and left.

By the time Fanny finished her meal, a large tub had been placed in front of the fireplace and the servants who brought it had bowed and left her alone.

She squealed with delight at the steaming hot water and wasted no time in tearing off her dirty clothes. Then, with a loud sigh of contentment, she stepped into the tub and eased down into the water. For a few moments of pure relaxation she let the warmth soothe away the tensions of travel before she grabbed the soap left on a chair nearby and covered herself with bubbles from head to toe.

****

Devlin closed his bedroom door and sank back against it with a deep sigh of relief. It felt so good to finally stand up to his horrible aunt and send her on her way.

He knew he had been much more generous with her than she deserved, but it felt better for him this way, knowing they wouldn’t be homeless and without funds. Or at least they would have funds until Simon had gambled all the money away, but they would still have a roof over their heads.

He sent Bear away, not in the mood for dissecting everything that had happened so far, and was just about to change clothes when he heard the soft splashing from the other bedroom. Images of what was going on beyond the closed door flared before his eyes, and suddenly he wasn’t so tired anymore.

He stepped to the door and opened it soundlessly.

In front of the fireplace, his wife sat in a large wooden tub. Her eyes were closed and her head rested against the brim of the tub. She was the image of beauty, reminding him of a painting of a Roman goddess he had seen when visiting friends in Italy.

Before he could change his mind, he silently undressed and crossed to the tub, looking down at his wife, aware of the possibility that she still was too angry to want him there. But his body yearned for her, and his heart and soul needed her, and he would take a chance.

Water poured over the floor when Devlin settled down into the tub that was barely large enough for the two of them. Fanny opened her eyes in shock as she sat up, almost knocking her head against his chin, wiping at her eyes furiously to glare at him from the opposite side of the tub.

“Hello, love.” Devlin grinned.

“Wh-what…”

He gave her a sympathetic smile. “Yes, my love?”

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Oh, just taking a much-needed bath.”

“Not in here you aren’t!”

“Why not?”

“Why not? Because it’s my room and my tub and my water and…” She crossed her arms over her chest and sank down into the water, staring angrily at him, looking just like a small pouting child, and he grinned back.

He could feel the side of her thigh against his foot, and he moved his toes slightly, arching an eyebrow at her as she gasped. She wasn’t as insensitive toward him as she liked him to think, and the thought echoed through his body and made him hard.

He put his arms around her waist and dragged her up onto his knees, one leg on each side of his hips so that his member immediately found its special sanctuary, and he groaned as he thrust deep inside of her.

Fanny grabbed his shoulders and bent her head backwards as he drew back and pushed in again. Twisting her hair between his fingers, he brought her mouth down to his and kissed her with every ounce of the heat built up in his body, his loins, his heart. Her kiss replied in kind, and he squeezed her buttocks with his other hand. As he lifted her up and down, passion tore through their bodies until it became unbearable and he filled her pulsating body.

Fanny almost fainted, and she sank down on top of him, savoring the wonderful contentment that spread throughout her body and weighted all her limbs. He kissed her on the nose, and all she had power to do was to give him a faint smile back.

“Thank you,” he whispered into her hair.

“Mmm-hmm,” she mumbled back, too lazy even to speak.

“I can’t imagine how it would be making love to you in a bed, when it’s so good in a bathtub.”

She lifted her head and looked at him blankly. He almost stopped breathing. What if she turned on him now? What if she suddenly remembered her anger at him and forced him away?

He didn’t know how to live without her anymore. She somehow had become like air to him, an absolute necessity for life.

She looked at her bed and back to him, and a small hope started to burn in his heart. A smile grew on her face, and she leaned closer to him, her lips so close to his he would only have to pucker to kiss her.

“Why don’t we try it?”

He caught his breath. Was she implying what he thought she was implying?

She grabbed her towel, and before he could stop her she was out of the tub. She moved closer to the fire, closing her eyes with delight as the heat slowly dried her body.

When Devlin had climbed out from the tub, she went without hesitation to the bed and sat on the edge, holding out her towel. He rushed to her side to grab the towel and in a second was dry and in bed beside her, kissing and fondling her.

****

When Mrs. Blair and a couple of maids later came to get the tub and its water, they found the duke and his duchess sound asleep.

In silence the maids carried away the water in buckets and mopped up the wetness on the floor before a couple of footmen came in for the tub itself.

Just as silently, they all left the room, leaving only Mrs. Blair.

The housekeeper looked at her master and mistress one last time, enjoying the protective way the duke held his young wife even in his sleep, before she too left the room.

Chapter 24

When Fanny woke the next morning, she was alone in her large bed. She closed her eyes again and couldn’t hold back a grateful sigh.

She wasn’t ready to face Devlin after last night’s passion. She needed time to think it over herself before she could confront him with it.

She was still upset with him for selfishly dragging her away from her family, but she wasn’t as furious as she had been the day before. Maybe it was this magnificent new home of hers, or the wonderful staff she met yesterday.

Or maybe it was simply the incredible lovemaking they had shared at the end of such an emotional couple of days.

She didn’t know, and right now she didn’t care.

What she wanted to do was explore her new home. What she had seen of Pendragon when they arrived had made her think of fairytales, and she wanted to see if it looked the same in sunlight.

She tugged the cord for her maid, and twenty minutes later Fanny was tripping lightly into the breakfast room, the way shown by a kind and smiling servant, only to find it deserted. She had been sure she would find her new husband here, but Devlin was nowhere to be seen.

She lingered at the breakfast table for a long time, reading the paper and looking out the window at the panoramic view it offered, but still no Devlin in sight.

When the servants had cleared the table, she strolled out into the circular foyer and was immediately ushered by a footman into an elegant room nearby. She was told it was called The Duchess’s Parlor—therefore, hers from this moment onwards.

She stood inside the closed door and took in the lovely room decorated in soft pink and cream nuances, and like every other room she had seen so far in the castle it was utterly feminine and harmonic.

She sat down at her lovely desk, which faced the window and gave her a fantastic view of the landscape surrounding the castle. She opened the drawers and found pens and ink, as well as papers, neatly stacked.

She cast a longing eye at the door again, as if she could magically force Devlin to open it, but as it continued to stay closed, she started to write letters to her close ones instead. She didn’t have much to tell them yet, but she knew her family, and if she didn’t send them a note letting them know she was still alive and not thrown into a dungeon, they would come here to save her from whatever harm they could imagine.

A visit from her brothers and uncles now, as she was starting a new life with Devlin, was a wonderful thought but not very practical, as they would interfere with everything and keep her busy nonstop.

She spent the morning in her new chamber, writing letters until her fingers ached. When Mrs. Blair brought her a tray with tea and thin cucumber sandwiches, she was more than grateful for the intrusion and persuaded the housekeeper to sit and take a cup with her.

“I was starting to feel a little abandoned,” she confided to Mrs. Blair. “My husband has been nowhere in sight all day, and I’m used to being surrounded by my quite large family.”

With a tender smile, the housekeeper patted Fanny’s hand. “You just arrived here last night, Your Grace. In time you will find your place, and everything will seem much easier for you.”

“You think so?” Fanny must have looked as forlorn as she felt, for she received another motherly pat on her hand.

“Of course you will.”

Fanny sighed deeply and took another sip from her cup. “I must confess I do miss the presence of my husband. I haven’t seen him at all today, as he had already disappeared when I woke up this morning.”

“His Grace usually spends his days with his supervisor, Mr. Brown. Whenever His Grace has been away, they tend to lock themselves inside the office and go through all the ledgers thoroughly. Sometimes we don’t see the two of them for days.”

“Oh.”

Mrs. Blair chuckled over her mistress’ obvious disappointment. “Now, now, dear child. Don’t you fret over this now. His Grace will soon be finished with the past happenings of Pendragon, and he will be all yours for the evenings.”

“I guess I’ll just have to find myself something to do during the days.”

“Well, there you go,” Mrs. Blair said cheerfully. “A little patience, and soon you will have settled down here in good order.”

Fanny nodded thoughtfully. She had never really thought about what a married woman did all day. Her mother always seemed busy, but Fanny had not a clue what her mother’s routine activities involved. She knew the marchioness was a firm believer in lists, and spent many hours a day composing new ones and updating her old ones, but it couldn’t be all she did, could it?

“I guess I will have to spend more time with you, Mrs. Blair. My mother always spends time with the housekeeper, and goes through the menu and so on.”

“Oh no, dear child. There really is no need for you to go through the menu with me. Our chef is one of the best in England, and he would never let anyone interfere with what he is serving.”

Mrs. Blair shook her head with a kind but patronizing smile. It was not hard to tell she found her young mistress’s awkward attempt at becoming the matron of the house quite amusing.

Fanny’s shoulders slumped. She didn’t have to look around her to realize Pendragon was perfectly maintained. There was no need for her to meddle anywhere. Everything was already taken care of.

“I guess I’ll talk to Delia. She might have some responsibilities she would be grateful to get rid of.”

“Responsibilities?” Mrs. Blair snorted. “That woman never wanted any responsibilities. She has spent over twenty years in this house and never cared about anything. As long as she got food on a plate, and someone took care of her room and her clothes, she was satisfied.”

“How ungrateful,” Fanny gasped. “Helping out is the least she can do in gratitude for a home for herself and her children.”

“I admit I’m quite thrilled over Mrs. Lawrence leaving Pendragon and taking her offspring with her. She has been a thorn in my side for a longer time than I care to remember.”

This was news to Fanny. “Is Delia leaving?”

“She has already left. They left early this morning, while you were still sleeping, Your Grace.”

Fanny blushed. So she had slept in a little today. Mrs. Blair would have too, if she had such an attentive husband during the small hours of the night.

She did feel a little sorry for Delia, who had left what she had thought of as a home for the last two decades. But if she could believe Mrs. Blair’s gossip, Devlin’s aunt wouldn’t be missed.

The thought about Devlin led to another thought. Had she just been given the most perfect excuse to seek him out? Devlin must of course be notified about his aunt leaving Pendragon.

She put down her cup, and Mrs. Blair gave her a surprised look as she stood up. “Please excuse me, Mrs. Blair. I must go and tell my husband about his aunt’s departure.”

“No need for such haste.” Mrs. Blair chuckled and forced Fanny to sit down again with a gentle tug on her arm. “His Grace was up and about when they left, and I know he watched them as they got into their carriage, as I brought him his breakfast then.”

“Oh.”

“Can I offer you a scone?”

Fanny accepted a warm scone and ate it silently as Mrs. Blair continued her gossip about Delia and her shortcomings.

So Devlin had watched them leave. This must mean he knew they were leaving, and if so, he must have been the reason for their departure. And the only reason he would practically throw them out now was because of her.

Poor Delia.

Even for one of the nastiest women she had ever met Fanny still couldn’t help but feel a little guilty that the older woman had lost the only home she knew.

Fanny had no memories of the woman’s children. Both Amelia and Simon had been unusually bland, and she could only guess the two of them were so used to standing behind their much more colorful mother that they had gotten used to blending into the background.