 |
|
| |
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Not yet. But I wouldn t count it an impossibility.
Still laughing, Basingstoke nodded. Well, just let me know if I can be of service. And of course you can stay. You re welcome to stay as long as you like.
****
The evening was still young, but exhaustion pulled at Natalia like a dead weight. Her emotions were shredded. She felt strange, disconnected from what was
happening around her.
As soon as Dylan departed, she headed toward her bedroom. She wanted nothing more than to slip beneath her covers and go to sleep for a very long time.
My Lady, I didn t expect you so soon. Cora, Natalia s freckled little maid jumped up from the window seat and tried to hide the book she d been reading while she
waited for Natalia to return.
It s all right, Natalia assured the girl with a weary smile. If you ll just help me undress and brush out my hair, you can have the rest of the evening off.
Cora s blue eyes lit up at that, and she hurried to assist Natalia out of her gown. After changing into her nightdress, Natalia sat down at her dressing table, while Cora
loosened the many pins that had held her intricate hairstyle in place. Giving herself over to the soothing nightly ritual, Natalia let her mind drift away.
Scotland. She d always loved the wild beauty of the Highlands. Apparently, Dylan did too. He obviously craved the serene, peaceful setting enough to risk letting her
go in order to live there.
Once again he d confounded her. Who was the real Dylan Blake? Was he a fortune hunting cad or a tender hero? A warrior or a lover? She feared he was all that
and more.
Why had he pursued her for her dowry? She suspected all he d ever wanted was a place of his own, a home.
A home. That was all she d ever wanted, too. Somewhere cozy and comfortable instead of grandiose and echoing. A place where children could run and play without
worrying about breaking some precious artifact.
Perhaps she would finally find the home of her dreams in Scotland.
As Cora continued to brush her hair, Natalia let her thoughts slide to her future husband. Exactly what did Dylan expect of her? Was this to be a marriage in name
only? Or did he want her to be his wife in truth?
The mere idea of making love to him, of leaving herself vulnerable to those strange, exciting emotions, terrified her. But she couldn t bear the thought of spending the
rest of her life at arm s length, watching him flit between mistresses while he treated her with polite indifference. Oh, anything but that.
If marriage to Dylan was to be her lot in life, she had to figure out a way to either trust him more or love him less. Trusting him again might take more courage than
she possessed, but loving him less seemed impossible.
Chapter Seventeen
During the next few days, Dylan busied himself with wedding details and preparations for the move to Scotland. He arranged for the special license and spoke to the
minister who had agreed to perform the ceremony. He also sent a messenger to his grandfather s solicitor in Edinburgh to inform the man he would arrive to collect his
inheritance within the week.
Every evening, he paid a call at the duke s residence to report his progress. He dined with his future bride and her parents, and the four of them pretended nothing
was wrong, that the looming wedding was the happy occasion it should have been.
Natalia treated him with eerie politeness. She smiled and said all the right things, but he could see the panic building in the depths of her emerald eyes. She made
certain he had no further opportunity to speak to her in private.
Dismayed by the way things were progressing, he wanted to reach out to her and recapture the essence of that evening in the garden. Those few moments had
changed his life given him a glimpse of heaven on earth but as time wore on, he feared he d only dreamt it.
This proper, demure girl who hardly ever spoke, and never met his gaze, couldn t possibly be the same sweet hoyden who d begged him to kiss her.
So on the third evening of his engagement, he sent his regrets. Drinking and gambling at the club with Basingstoke seemed far preferable to another night at Clayton s
mansion. What good did it do to sit beside his future bride and worry and wonder? The arrangements had been made. The die cast. All he could do was hope things would
get better after the wedding when he had her all to himself at Aldabaran.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pldoc.pisz.plpdf.pisz.plcs-sysunia.htw.pl
|
| |
|
|
|
| Podobne |
| |
|
| |
|