He must have lost his mind. Of course, he’d been quite agitated from his conversation with Lord Merrivale and the decision to leave London. And bewildered by the unnerving dreams he’d been having of Helena. Yes, all those things combined.
And yet …
He could not banish the remembered sensation of her softness, her scent, the warm silk of her lips.
He tried to joke with himself that at least the kiss had rendered her silent. Then again, while Helena liked to rattle on, her voice was pleasant, like velvet, not shrill and resounding. Damn it all, Ash liked hearing her talk—that is, if he ignored what she was saying.
None of that mattered now, he told himself. Ash had found sanctuary at Middlebrook Castle, one he hadn’t understood he’d needed. If Aunt Florence wanted to invite the county to stroll about the galleries of an evening, she had his blessing. Let her enjoy herself.
The first gathering occurred after Ash and family had been home two weeks. Aunt Florence truly had invited the entire county, Ash mused—he hadn’t realized he had so many neighbors. Most he recognized to nod to, some had become good friends, and a few were complete strangers. Aunt Florence knew everyone, of course, and Ash went through the ritual of introduction several times.
He only realized his predicament when he was introduced to Miss Lucy Howard and her family. Miss Howard was tall for a lady, young, but with intelligence in her eyes.
The name was familiar. Alarm bells rang in his head when Ash remembered she’d been on the list of Helena’s potential brides.
Ash was a bit more abrupt to the poor girl than he ought to be, but she looked puzzled rather than hurt, likely labeling him a boor.
Coincidence that she was here, nothing more. Aunt Florence had sent out the invitations, not Helena.
The alarm sounded again when he met the Honorable Miss Hannah Werner, and then Lady Megan Winter. And then another lady, a young widow this time, whose name he’d spied on the list before he’d thrust it into the flames.
Damn and blast. Aunt Florence would answer for this.
Ash was cursorily polite and escaped the ballroom at the first instance. He had so many guests no one would blame him for attending those in other parts of the house.
He made for the card room, that realm of safety where husbands and fathers retreated once their obligatory greetings were finished. Ash had almost reached it when an all-to-familiar voice pulled him up.
“
Ash stood frozen in place while the words washed over him, then he slowly turned.
It was not a dream. Helena Courtland stood behind him, red lips smiling, in a silver and blue gown that rendered her a glowing angel.
CHAPTER 4
HELENA COULD PRETEND all she liked, but Ashford did
My, he was handsome in evening dress. The trousers suited him, as did the fit of his coat across broad shoulders. His waistcoat emphasized his slim torso, the ivory silk broken by the fine gold chain of his watch fob. The only other color amid all the black and white was a sapphire pin in his lapel.
The clothing showed his athletic build that Helena believed had grown even trimmer since he’d left London. Lady Florence had told her he spent most of his time riding or tramping about, and it showed.
“I beg your pardon, Ashford,” Helena said in a light voice, as though she’d forgotten all about the kiss they’d shared—the passionate, blood-stinging kiss. “I did not mean to startle you.”
“What the dev—” Ashford straightened and cleared his throat. “What are you doing here, Mrs. Courtland?”
Her brows went up. “Well, that is not much of a greeting. I was invited, of course, by your aunt. My friend Millicent lives not a mile outside your gate, so we are neighbors once again. Is that not entertaining?”
Ashford advanced on her. To throw her out? Or kiss her once more? Helena waited eagerly to find out.
He halted three feet away, to her disappointment. “You brought those ladies here,” he said in a hard voice. “The ones on your be-damned list.”
“Indeed, I did. I instructed your aunt whom to invite. Which lady do you favor? Or do you need more time to converse with them?”
“Do they know why they are here? Did you recruit them as a general recruits his soldiers?”
“Goodness, no. They’d be horribly nervous if they knew a duke looked them over with an eye to marry them.”
“But I do
“Perhaps not immediately. You’d hardly go down on one knee and propose to a young lady in the middle of the ballroom tonight. It would embarrass her, and you. No, none of them have any idea you’re hanging out a shingle for a wife.”
