Hattie was dumbstruck. Flora had never dismissed her like this. She must have nodded or uttered a reply, because Flora and Queenie were walking away, arm in arm. She looked around at all the people leaving the zoo. She didn’t know where her family was. She didn’t want to know where they were.
She wished the earth would open a hole and swallow her up.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
LADYALEKSANDERHADfinagled the invitation to dine at the Raney household in front of him and his mother at the elephant show, and then had delivered a formal invitation from Lord Raney so Mateo couldn’t maneuver himself out of it. The woman was clever that way.
She’d reported to his mother that Lord Raney was over the moon about the prospect of an engagement for his daughter and was prepared to provide a generous dowry. His mother was eager to announce an engagement before he departed London. Mateo wondered if she intended to ask for Miss Raney’s hand herself. Her plan, she informed him, was to sail in a fortnight, and return in a few months after that for a wedding. How convenient—his mother had mapped the most important decision of his life for him.
And she’d done it all while pretending she’d never heard him say that he was in love with Hattie.
He was waiting for Hattie when she arrived for work. He and Rosa had made another attempt at sponge cake. Hattie was delighted to sample it for him. They sat down on the settee together to taste it.
He watched her as she chewed. “Teo...this ismuchbetter.”
“I thought so, too,” he said.
She took another bite. “Sogood.” She put her plate aside and smiled. “What do we have today?”
“Only a few things.” He handed her the formal invitation to dine at the Raney house. “You may reply in the affirmative for both the duchess and myself.”
She was still smiling when she looked at the invitation, but it quickly faded. “Ah,” she said softly. “This must be important.”
Mateo wanted to say how much he hated that this was happening, but the words sounded hollow and ridiculous in his head. Was he not a grown man? Was he really led by his mother?
Hattie forced a smile. “I’m happy for you, though.”
She stood to go to her desk, but he caught her hand. “Hattie, I—”
She pulled her hand free and carried on to her desk. “When do you think the happy day will be?”
This was agony. “I don’t know. I’m returning to Santiava.”
That stopped her. She turned back. “When? If...if I may ask?”
“Ask me anything. I plan to depart in twelve days. There are matters at home that need my attention.”
“Oh.” She pressed a hand to her abdomen and bent over a little.“Oh.”
“Hattie?” He leaped up from the couch and reached her in a couple of strides, his hand going around her back.
She pushed him away, hard. “Don’t do that, please, don’t do that. I understand, Teo. Do you think I don’t understand? You’re a duke and a viscount and I am no one—”
His mother had said that, and it made him irrationally angry. “That is not true.”
“It is!” She dropped the Raney invitation on the floor. “I have always been very clear about who I am and where I’m from, Teo. I’ve enjoyed our friendship. I’ve enjoyed the work. I...I will miss you terribly, and I will never forget you, but I—”
He stopped her from saying another word with a kiss. He grasped her arms and pulled her to him and he kissed those words from her lips.
She didn’t resist—she rose up on her toes and kissed him in return, with lips as soft as butter, her fingers like silk on his face. It was a sweet kiss—hardly a kiss at all, really—and yet his body felt as if a bomb had gone off in him. He was tumbling hard down a path of desire, and alarmed, he lifted his head, his eyes locked with hers. “I love you,” he said.“Te quiero mucho.”
She gasped. “Neversay that again,” she said, and cupped the back of his head and kissed him so violently that he stumbled back against her desk, knocking things to the floor.
She pressed her body against his, and he could feel every soft, pliant curve. He wrapped one arm around her possessively, caressed her face with his hand. He couldn’t let her go. Given that they were in his study, with the door wide open, his mind shouted at him to let go, to get a hold of himself. But his body refused, and anchored her to him, pressing against the length of her. She responded with urgency, nipping at his lips, sweeping her tongue into his mouth, and shoving her fingers into his hair.
Mateo was dangerously aroused, his body hardening with want. He pressed a hand to her breast, filled his palm with it, and Hattie moaned.
That small moan crashed through the fog of desire and Mateo woke up. With a gasp, he shifted back, stumbling a step, his gaze locked on her.
