Laurie Benson - His Three-Day Duchess

‘Duchess, did you hear me?’

‘I heard you,’ she replied, shifting her gaze away from his exposed neck once again and up to his eyes. ‘We weren’t exactly calling on you. Not in a formal way.’

‘Well, I am not receiving callers in an informal way either. Now, be so kind as to take your things. Good day, ladies.’

Lizzy wasn’t going to be so easily swayed from remaining at Stonehaven. If there was a way she could get him to leave the estate and agree to allow her to stay for the holiday, it would save what was left of a very trying year.

‘Forgive me,’ she said, giving him a bright smile. ‘I have not had the opportunity to introduce you to my aunt. This is Mrs Sommersby,’ she said, gesturing to Aunt Clara. ‘We have spent the holidays together since I was a child—and the last twelve of them we have spent here.’

He gave Aunt Clara a respectful bow. ‘I am charmed,’ he replied rather smoothly, earning him a smile from her aunt.

But when he turned back to Lizzy, his polite demeanour was put aside. He stepped up to her and held out her pelisse. ‘Well, now you can say that you have spent some time here this year, as well. I was kind enough to agree that you could stay in my London residence until the end of January since I had no need for it. I will not be granting you permission to stay in any of my other homes, including this one.’

The emphasis was not lost on her and she felt her demeanour souring. ‘I heard you were somewhere in Sicily.’

‘As you can see, I have returned. I needed to be back here by Christmas.’

‘Why?’

‘You ask a lot of questions for someone who was caught trying to take up residence in a house that does not belong to you.’

‘It should have belonged to me. This should have been my house.’ The anger at her late husband was resurfacing.

‘But it’s not, though, is it? It is my house and because of that you have no right to order my servants about or to stay here without an invitation. And based on all those trunks that are being unloaded in the drive, it appears you were planning on staying here for quite some time.’

‘A fortnight...just a fortnight.’

His eyes widened. ‘All those trunks are for a fortnight?’

‘There are two of us and our maids who have been travelling in my aunt’s carriage.’

‘That is still a substantial number of trunks for a fortnight.’

‘We are not coming from home and one can never have too many dresses when travelling. There are times you find yourself in unusual situations and you need to be prepared with the perfect ensemble.’

‘I see. Well, this certainly is an unusual situation. I’ve never had to throw a woman out of my house before.’

His house? This was more her house than his! She had decorated it. She’d had the gardens restored. This was her sanctuary. It held no meaning to him. She raised her chin. ‘You wouldn’t throw me out.’

‘Not if you leave peacefully,’ he said slowly. ‘If you resist, you will leave me no choice.’ He took a step towards her. Now she was even closer to the exposed skin of that neck of his. The very masculine force of his presence made her insides do a funny flip.

How could he not feel a bit of sympathy for her? She placed her hands on her hips, preparing to argue to make him understand.

Aunt Clara stepped in front of Lizzy and looked up at Mr Alexander. ‘Perhaps you would be so kind, Your Grace, as to allow us to please remain a bit longer to warm our bones and imbibe a cup of tea to warm our souls. Certainly you can see it’s a rather blustery day to be rolling through the countryside.’

There was a hesitation on his part before he gave Aunt Clara a polite smile. ‘Then one might have been advised not to venture out on such a day as this.’

How could he refuse a polite request from her aunt? Lizzy could see the woman was oozing every ounce of sweetness she possessed. Certainly, this man was cold-hearted and callous if he intended to throw them out into the cold.

She needed to take matters into her own hands. She was a duchess! Lizzy stepped from behind her aunt and tipped up her chin. ‘After the long journey we have had, you truly expect us to continue on our way without so much as a warm cup of tea? Why, we have travelled all the way from—’

He held up his hand, indicating he had no desire for her to continue. With a sigh, he let his gaze move between the two women. ‘If I agree to arrange tea for you, will you agree to leave peacefully when you are finished?’

Lizzy pushed back her shoulders. ‘Peacefully? Sir, we have not arrived at this door with pitchforks in hand.’

‘No, just enough clothing to set up every woman in this village quite nicely for the next few years.’

She stared into his dark brown eyes to make her point plain. ‘Sir, I find the more I am in your presence the less I enjoy your company. It will be my pleasure to place miles between us once we are finished with our tea.’

And if she could find a way with her aunt’s help to make him create that distance between them by his wanting to leave Stonehaven first, it would be all the better.

Simon led them to what the servants called the Gold Drawing Room, holding the pelisse and cloak of the two women trailing behind him. He wasn’t about to risk having the garments stashed away by a footman. Their presence on a sofa in the room where the ladies were to have their tea would be a sharp reminder they would have to leave soon. He was well aware it wasn’t a very proper thing to do, but it would be effective.

Upon crossing the threshold, he heard an audible gasp behind him. He held in his satisfied smile and hoped it was the Duchess, and not her aunt, who had uttered it. Shocking her into realising this was no longer her home was his purpose for bringing them to this particular room to have their tea. It wasn’t because he had felt compelled to honour her request to his butler when she barged into his home.

‘What did you do to the Gold Drawing Room?’ Her astonishment was apparent in her voice.

He turned to find her scanning the room with wide eyes as her aunt settled herself on the pale green sofa by the fire.

‘I changed it,’ he stated plainly.

‘I see that. Why? Why would you do that?’

‘Because this happens to be one of my favourite rooms in the house and I prefer the classical style.’

‘It is mine, as well, or it was before you altered it.’

‘I enjoy the view of the gardens and spend a considerable amount of time in here when I’m in residence. I’m thinking of having it converted to my study.’

‘Your study?’ she choked.

‘Yes. I haven’t had the opportunity to have the furniture moved in yet, but I was able to change the mouldings to the Grecian style and had the walls painted blue to match the colour of the Aegean Sea.’ There was no need for him to explain to her why he had altered the design of a room in a house that was his. In his annoyance with himself, he walked to the sofa near the door and unceremoniously dropped their outer garments on it. ‘I’ll go arrange for your tea.’

The sooner he got them out of the house, the better it would be for him. Elizabeth, the Duchess of Skeffington, had a nosy nature and her close proximity to the Blue Drawing Room was not what he needed. Before he went in search of a servant, he would make certain the door to that room was locked. But before he was able to leave, she stopped him with her voice.

‘Why would you change it?’ Her tone was soft and he wasn’t certain if the question was rhetorical. ‘It was perfectly lovely the way it was. What was so objectionable to you that you felt the need to alter it as you have?’

He turned to find her with a furrowed brow, skimming her finger along the top of the new marble mantel that was supported by two replica statues of classical women clad in sandals and sleeveless gowns.