Deceived by Bertrice Small Read Free Book Online Page B

I am,” she answered, not in the least quelled. Arrogant bastard, she thought. I was right to foist him off on Cally. She will be the perfect complacent little wife for him.
    â€œCome and sit by me, your grace,” Oralia said, gaining hold of the situation before it got out of hand. “Was your voyage a pleasant one? George, ask Hermes to bring us some refreshment. We make a lovely drink with our own rum and fruit juice,” she told the duke, smiling. Oralia patted the place beside her on the settee as she seated herself. She then nodded to Calandra to seat herself on the other side of the duke.
    The young girl was trembling with excitement. Aurora bent and murmured softly into her sister’s ear, “Calm yourself, Cally. He is, after all, only a man. And try not to giggle.”
    Calandra nodded. She could not take her eyes from the duke’s face. He was so handsome! She would wager a sugar crop that Aurora was sorry now for switching places with her. This man, of course, would want children, but she would deal with that eventually. She could have children. She concentrated on the positive. She was amazed that fortune had smiled on her in this manner. And for the first time in their lives, she felt genuinely sorry for Aurora. To have so carelessly given up a duke!
    Hermes arrived with a silver tray, bringing with him lemonade for the two girls, and rum and fruit punch for the others. The duke remarked, surprised, that the beverage was cool.
    â€œThere is a stream that runs by the kitchen house,” Cally told him breathlessly, eager to join the conversation between her mother and the duke. “Jugs of rum and fruit juices as well as milk and cream are kept there to cool. St. Timothy is a well-run plantation.”
    â€œSo I have noticed, Miss Kimberly,” he replied. “Perhaps tomorrow you will ride out with me and show me the estate.”
    Cally’s pretty face fell. “I do not ride well,” she said.
    â€œGeorge and Aurora will show you the island,” Oralia said quickly. “Calandra must avoid the sun, for her skin is delicate, and has always been so. Not my chicks, however.”
    â€œIn England the sun is not as strong,” Valerian Hawkesworth said. “I will help you to improve your riding skills, Miss Kimberly, and we shall ride to the hunt together. Would you like that?”
    â€œOh, yes!” Cally said enthusiastically, thinking silently she would rather die than be bounded all over the English countryside on the back of a nasty horse.
    Aurora swallowed back a guffaw. Cally was afraid of horses and always had been. Riding was pure torture for her. She hated it. Well, the duke would learn that soon enough, but Aurora doubted he would be too disappointed, for in the long run Cally would make him an excellent wife. That was all he really wanted. A pleasant companion and a good breeder. That was what all men wanted. Or so her father had always said, and when he did so in Oralia’s presence she would look sad. Papa and her stepmother had lost two sons before the doctor who had once lived on the island in their employ had said she could try no more else the next pregnancy kill her. He had gone back to England shortly after that, having taught one of the bondsmen and a slave man enough of his skills to be of service to the inhabitants of St. Timothy.
    â€œAurora is a fine horsewoman,” she heard Mama say. “I would like her to travel to England with you and Calandra so she may experience society, and perhaps find a husband of her own. She has a fine dowry, your grace, and is, as you see, a pretty young girl. She will be company for Calandra, and a comfort, too, as my daughter has never been off this island in her entire life, and is apt to be frightened.”
    â€œYou will call me Valerian, ma’am,” he began. “While Miss Aurora is certainly more than welcome at Hawkes Hill, and my grandmother will be more than delighted to