Royal's Bride by Kat Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

“I hope I haven’t kept you waiting.”
    “Not a’tall,” the dowager said with a smile. “Royal was telling me about the flour incident in the kitchen. The last time I was here, I slipped and took a tumble into the bushes in the garden. They had just been watered. I came up looking like a half-drowned wren.”
    Lily laughed, feeling a sweep of gratitude for the old woman’s effort to put her at ease, which seemed to work quite well. “I haven’t been below stairs lately, but should I visit in the future, I shall attempt to be more careful.”
    “Accidents happen,” the duke said, smiling.
    “More often to some of us than others,” the dowager added with a twinkle in her eyes, nearly the same tawny shade as her nephew’s.
    “Cook has supper ready,” the duke said. “May Ipersuade you ladies to continue this discussion in the dining room? I find I am nearly light-headed with the need for food.”
    As was she, Lily realized, and couldn’t help wondering if the man was truly that hungry or if he had guessed she had been so busy she had eaten only the cakes and cocoa she’d had for breakfast. She had a feeling it was the latter.
    Drat it, she wished he would be less congenial. Surely there was something to dislike about him. But as he moved beside his aging aunt, taking great care not to walk too swiftly and provide the supportive arm she needed, as he seated her and then Lily, one on each side of him, she couldn’t think what it might be.
    The first course was served, a delicious oyster soup, the creamy broth lightly seasoned with herbs and floating with lemon slices, probably grown in the estate’s conservatory.
    “Have you heard from your brother Rule?” Lady Tavistock asked, taking a hearty spoonful of soup.
    “He is finishing up at Oxford,” the duke replied. “He has been offered a job with an American company once he is out of school—a liaison position of some sort, I gather. If he accepts, he will be traveling there and back quite often.”
    He glanced over at Lily. “It was our father’s wish that our family develop an alliance with the Americans. Rule promised to make that happen. And I think he may be excited at the prospect of seeing a different country.”
    “I would love to see America, myself.”
    The duke smiled. “So you crave adventure, do you?”
    Lily smiled back. “Only in my head, I am afraid.Mostly, I enjoy reading books about other people’s travels.”
    “As do I,” the duke agreed.
    “Royal spent a good many years in the Caribbean managing the family plantation,” his aunt added. “Did a fine job of it, too.”
    “I enjoyed the challenge,” he said. “I hope I am up to it here at Bransford. There is far more at home that needs to be done than there was at Sugar Reef.”
    “With the right woman at your side,” his aunt said, “I am certain you will manage quite well.”
    Royal looked down at his bowl of soup and Lily wondered what he was thinking.
    “So you enjoy reading,” the dowager said to her.
    “Very much. I read just about anything I can get my hands on.”
    “There is a library full of books here at Bransford,” the duke said. “You are welcome to borrow whatever you might find interesting.”
    She felt his golden gaze on her face and something warm settled low in her stomach. “Thank you.”
    “What have you heard of your brother Reese?” the older woman asked, breaking the strangely intimate moment. Lily wondered if that was the dowager’s intent. Her nephew was, after all, practically engaged to another woman.
    “Reese is fighting the Russians in the Crimea at the moment. Though I haven’t heard from him directly for a while. Apparently, getting letters posted is difficult, but at last word he seemed quite healthy.”
    “I am glad to hear it. With your brother Reese, one never quite knows what to expect.”
    Royal turned to Lily. “Reese is a major in the cavalry—a true adventurer. Still, we are all hopeful he will eventually leave