“The duke has arrived, My Lord,” the gardener said.
Gregory expelled a sharp breath and straightened his posture, his fingertips pinching his cravat to adjust it. “And not a moment too soon.” He cast one last glare at Valerie. “Send him in.”
“Yes, My Lord.” The gardener backed out of the room as if Gregory were a king instead of the country’s lowliest, most wretched baron.
A few staunchly silent moments later, and the door opened again.
Valerie sat up straighter, her heart in her throat as she stared at the doorway, waiting to see the face of the man she would be chained to for the rest of her life. Legally speaking. She imagined some old and desperate creature who had been refused by every other lady in theton, regardless of his station and fortune.
So, when Adrian walked in, windswept and unwaveringly handsome, she could not swallow the gasp of shock that hissed from her throat.
He is here!He came to save me!
The hope was fierce and immediate, surging through her like the bliss that he had conjured with his touch and his tongue. She could not have tempered it if she had tried, despite knowing it was probably foolish to believe she could avoid the destiny her father had planned for her.
“Who the devil are you?” Gregory asked bluntly, a sneer upon his face.
Adrian leveled a steely glare at the man, while a little thrill beetled down Valerie’s spine. She had never seen anyone discipline her father before, and she had a feeling she was about to witness something exquisite. After all, Adrian could not abide rudeness.
“Speak to me in so coarse a manner again, and I will remove your tongue,” he said, his voice as cold as the wintry world he had left. “I am here to speak with Valerie, not you.”
The older man visibly floundered, his mouth opening and closing in obvious outrage, yet unable to muster a single coherent word.
“Be very careful of your next utterance,” Adrian warned.
Gregory’s eyes bulged. “How dare you! I am the Baron of Gramfield, and this is my house. I will not be spoken to like that in my own?—”
“I am the Duke of Norwood,” Adrian interrupted brusquely, “and you are trying my patience. Leave, so that I may speak to your daughter.”
“A duke?” The older man’s face clouded over in confusion. “But… how do you know my daughter? Why are you here? I am afraid that an important guests is due at any moment, so this really?—”
“Leave,” Adrian growled, taking a step toward Valerie’s father.
Delighted, and a little anxious, Valerie observed as her father’s head tilted up to take in the full measure of Adrian’s height. The duke towered over Gregory and, paired with the grim expression on Adrian’s face, it was clear that the older man knew he could not fight this visitor with words or strength.
It would be over quickly if theydidfight.Discreetly, she let her gaze travel over those broad shoulders and that muscular chest, her fingertips tingling with the memory of touching Adrian’s bare skin. The heat of him, the texture of his scars, the way that just a look could steal her breath and make her body yearn for him.
“Well, be quick… please,” Gregory muttered. “I shall send Mrs. Oakley in to chaperone.”
“And tea,” Adrian replied. “I have ridden almost the length of the country, and I find myself parched.”
His summery blue eyes fell upon Valerie at last, and though she was trying not to get her hopes up, she felt them rise anyway. Christmas had come and gone, but perhaps her miracle had just arrived.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Adrian glanced at the elderly woman standing in the corner, as if she were ornamental. He had hoped to speak with Valerie in the privacy he was accustomed to with her, but it appeared that was not to be.
I suppose I am back in society now, where certain rules apply.
“Do not mind Gwendolen,” Valerie said stiffly, a slight tremble in her hand as she brought her teacup to her lips. “She is here to protect my honor.”
Adrian frowned. “It is in no peril from me.”
“Nevertheless, it is proper,” she replied in that same, cool tone. “Now, before you leave, I would like to apologize for not being entirely honest with you during my stay at your castle. I should have been truthful and I was not.”
“Leave?” he replied, tilting his head to one side. “Valerie, I have only just got here.”
She nodded slowly. “I am aware, but…” She trailed off, eyeing him with greater intensity, as if she were seeing him for the first time. “Have you been sleeping properly?”
