"Excellent. Then you know everything you need to know."
"I do?"
"Yes." Reaching out, she patted Elizabeth's cheek. "Just remember everything I've just told you and you'll do splendidly."
Elizabeth stared trying to recall anything her aunt had just told her.
"And if you have any other questions," Aunt Joanna said "don't hesitate to ask. I'm delighted to help." With that, she rose and tossed her boa over her shoulder. "Come, dear. It's time to go downstairs. I want to make sure I have a clear view of Lady Digby and her horse-faced brood when Bradford announces your betrothal. Small and petty of me, I know, but it isn't every day that one's niece captures 'England's Most Eligible Bachelor.'"
Elizabeth decided that the betrothal announcement in the drawing room before dinner produced the greatest range of facial expressions she'd ever seen. Caroline and Aunt Joanna beamed. Austin's mother smiled regally while Robert simultaneously grinned and winked. Most of the other guests looked anywhere from surprised to stunned while Lady Digby looked as if she'd swallowed an insect. The Digby daughters looked as if they'd all bitten into the same sour lemon. After the initial surprise, however, the guests gathered around her and Austin, offering their congratulations.
Dinner was a gala affair, with everyone raising their glasses to toast the future bride and groom. Several guests who had planned to depart first thing in the morning hastily changed their itineraries to remain at Bradford Hall for the whirlwind wedding ceremony.
Elizabeth noticed that the Digby daughters were already turning their attention toward the other available gentlemen guests. She smothered a grin when she saw Robert seated between two Digby girls, both of them vying for his attention with cold-eyed determination. Robert caught her looking at him from across the table and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. She had to cough into her hand to cover her laughter.
Her merriment faded however, as the meal progressed. She realized with growing discomfort that everyone at the food-laden mahogany table was looking at her. Some of the guests were not as obvious as others, but she felt the weight of two dozen stares flicking over her. Assessing her.
Whereas before she'd been the object of sneers, now she observed speculation. Curiosity. And while she clearly felt skepticism veiled behind many of the smiles, as Austin had predicted no one uttered an unkind word to her. Indeed the gentleman seated next to her, instead of talking around her, hung on her every word as if gems of brilliance dripped from her lips. Penelope and Prudence, neither of whom had deigned to exchange more than a dozen words with her before, now made it a point to engage her in a conversation regarding fashion. Luckily they did most of the talking.
While the gentleman next to her droned on about a recent fox hunt, she glanced toward the head of the table at Austin. He was about to drink from his wineglass when their eyes met. And held.
Elizabeth gazed at him, his hand arrested halfway to his lips, his eyes intent on hers. Heat rushed through her and she fought a sudden urge to fan herself with her linen napkin. The way he looked at her, with that dark intensity that seemed to see inside her, unnerved her. And excited her in a way she could not put a name to.
With great difficulty, she returned her attention to her dinner companions, but her skin continued to tingle from the heat of Austin's gaze.
When the meal ended the ladies retired to the drawing room for coffee. Elizabeth immediately found herself surrounded by half a dozen chattering women.
"Of course you must call upon us at your earliest convenience, my dear," Lady Dibgy said elbowing her way to Elizabeth's side.
Before Elizabeth could open her mouth to reply, Lady Digby went on, "In fact, I should like to host a dinner party in your honor." She turned to her daughters. "Wouldn't that be lovely, girls?"
"Lovely, Mother," the Digby daughters chorused.
With a determined and proprietary air, Lady Digby linked her arm through Elizabeth's elbow. "Come, my dear. Let us sit down and discuss the plans."
A deep, masculine voice halted Lady Digby. "If you don't mind Lady Digby," Austin said smoothly, "I need to have a word with my fiancée."
Lady Digby relinquished her hold on Elizabeth with obvious reluctance. "We were just about to discuss my plans for hosting a party in her honor."
"Indeed? Perhaps you should discuss the arrangements with my mother and Lady Penbroke. They will be helping Elizabeth organize her social engagements for the next several months, until she is settled with her new duties."
"Of course. Come along, girls." Lady Digby strode across the room like a ship under full sail, her fleet of offspring bobbing along in her wake.
Austin smiled at her. "You looked like you needed rescuing."
"I believe I did, although I'm not sure your mother or my aunt will thank you for it."
He waved his hand in a dismissive fashion. "Mother is very adept at these matters. She'll maneuver Lady Digby with an ease that I'd find downright frightening if I didn't admire it so much." His gaze roamed her face. "You look disturbed. Has anyone said something to upset you?"
"No. But I'm afraid that I feel somewhat… overwhelmed."
He extended his elbow. "Then come with me."
She didn't even consider refusing. Trying not to appear overeager, she took his arm and he led her from the room. "Where are we going?"
He cocked a brow at her. "Does it matter?"
"Not at all," she answered without hesitation. "I'm happy to escape all those people staring at me."
Austin felt the shudder that passed through her. He'd observed her all through dinner, saw how well she'd handled herself in the face of her newfound popularity. She'd been unfailingly polite to people who had once snickered at her, charming to those who had previously dismissed her, and smiled at everyone who had hurt her.
Bloody hell, he was proud of her.
When they reached his private study, he opened the door. A fire crackled in the grate, casting a soft glow over the room. Closing the door behind him, he leaned against it and watched her. She stood in the middle of the room, her hands clasped in front of her, looking more lovely than anyone he'd ever seen. Tenderness flooded him along with an overwhelming urge-no, a need-to kiss her. Before he could act on his impulse, however, she spoke.
"May I ask you something?"
"Of course."
A frown knitted her brow. "What happened to me at dinner… did that same thing happen to you?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"When you inherited your title and became the duke, did people change toward you? I'm the same person I was last week, last month, but everyone is treating me differently."
"Not unkindly, I trust."
"On the contrary, everyone seems quite determined to be my friend. Did that happen to you?"
"Yes, although before I was a duke, I was a marquess, so I was quite used to it already."
She studied him for a long moment, then shook her head sadly. "I'm so sorry. It must be very difficult for you, not knowing if someone likes you or your title."
He drew a deep breath. Would her words ever cease to amaze him? He walked across the floor, his footsteps silenced by the Axminster carpet, and stopped in front of her. She looked at him and his heart jumped. Tender warmth glowed from her beautiful eyes, sincere, honest, and unmistakable.
He simply had to touch her. Now.
Cupping her face between his hands, he brushed his lips across hers.
"Austin…" she breathed.
What was it about the sound of his name on her lips that moved him so? He'd only meant to give her a brief kiss. He'd brought her to the study for a different reason altogether. But now, with her soft curves so enticingly close, and her voice sighing his name, he promptly forgot his reason. Gathering her closer, he traced her full lower lip with the tip of his tongue. She needed no further urging to part her lips and welcome him. He half whispered, half groaned her name and deepened their kiss.