Helen Dickson - When Marrying a Duke...

Thinking nothing of it, Marietta slipped out on to the veranda. The sky was bright with flares and rockets and Catherine wheels. She was relieved to find she was the only one there, but her solitude was to be short lived.

Minutes later, stepping out on to the veranda, Lord Trevellyan strolled towards the young woman leaning on the balustrade with her small chin propped upon her palms, gazing at the harbour lights and the rockets soaring into the night sky leaving a blaze of colourful sparks in their wake. The moon shone and the sea shimmered—there couldn’t have been a more romantic setting.

Hearing a step behind her, Marietta turned and looked at Lord Trevellyan, unable to explain why her heart suddenly did a somersault at the sight of him. ‘Oh, it’s you,’ she said, turning back to the wonderful panoramic view spread out before her.

‘So this is where you’re hiding. I was beginning to think a dragon had carried you off.’

Marietta’s heart skipped another beat. ‘Why? Were you looking for me?’ she asked, hoping this was so.

‘No, but I did see you leave the party and thought you might have gone home when you didn’t return.’

‘I’m amazed that you thought of me at all, and I’m not hiding. It was so stifling inside. I wanted some air.’

‘I couldn’t agree more. Would you mind if I stayed out here with you a while?’ he asked, perching his hip on the balustrade and looking down at her, with none of the anger of their recent encounters. She wore her hair loose, the weight of it rippling about her shoulders like a rich silken cloud. She really was quite refreshing, not at all overawed as many of the women were when he spoke to them.

Marietta’s senses went into instant overload at his nearness. His voice sounded as dark and sultry as the night. With a faint scent of his familiar cologne wafting over her, he loomed tall, as indomitable as the hills on which Hong Kong was built.

‘No, of course not,’ she said in answer to his request. ‘The veranda’s for everyone and the view is quite splendid, don’t you think? It’s also the perfect spot from which to watch the fireworks.’

‘It certainly is. It’s a rare display.’

‘I cannot understand why, when the Chinese are so thrifty, they spend a tremendous amount of money on something that is so short lived and soon forgotten.’

‘Ah, but they will be remembered by many—along with the noise they make. Some of them are quite deafening. This night, the first of the year of the dragon, will be remembered for its festivities. Without the fireworks and the cymbals and the gongs to frighten away evil spirits, it would not be the same. And what has caught your interest?’ he asked as she leaned forwards and looked down.

‘If you must know, a rather long orange-and-purple caterpillar that’s just crawled along the street below. It had huge blue eyes and wobbly feelers with knobs on the end. I was wondering …’ she sighed almost wistfully ‘… how many people were inside it and if they talk to each other as they go along.’

‘I imagine they do. So tell me, why the long face?’

‘I wasn’t aware that I had one.’

‘Take it from me, you have. Has someone upset you?’

‘No—at least …’ She sighed. Nothing seemed to escape those penetrating silver-grey eyes of his.

‘I hope I’m not the cause and that you’re not bearing a grudge over our little altercation when I forcibly made you leave the native quarter.’

‘No. I don’t bear grudges—even if you do think I’m a flighty, fluff-headed socialite who only cares about enjoying herself,’ she said with a puckish smile curving her lips. ‘I said I was sorry and I meant it. I hope you will accept my thanks for not telling my father. I’m grateful to you for that. And I was quite obnoxious on our encounter in Happy Valley, wasn’t I?’

‘Yes, you were, but I don’t bear grudges either.’ He grinned, his eyes dancing with humour. ‘It’s not every day a pretty young lady throws herself at my feet,’ he teased lightly.

‘Not intentionally. I’m glad I didn’t land on you or your wife. I should hate to have hurt her, or you for that matter.’

‘Thank you. I appreciate your concern. But you might have hurt yourself. So—why the long face?’

‘Oliver and Julian are going to Europe to further their education. I’ve only just found out.’

‘I see. And you’ll miss them, naturally.’

‘Yes, of course I will. Emma, my closest friend, is also leaving the island. Her parents are sending her to be finished off somewhere in Europe.’

‘And that bothers you?’

‘It felt like having a bucket of cold water poured over my head. If it weren’t for you telling Oliver’s father about his visit to China Town, he wouldn’t be leaving. Do you make a habit of interfering in other people’s lives, Lord Trevellyan?’

‘Only when I deem it necessary,’ he replied coolly. ‘I’d like to think I’ve done young Schofield a favour.’

‘But his father is sending him to England.’

‘It’s the best thing for him, if you ask me.’

‘I wasn’t, and that is your opinion.’

‘Which I trust.’

‘But to see my three best friends leave the island! We’ve been together for a long time. I can’t bear to think of the group being broken up. Nothing will be the same any more. Life will be so boring.’

‘Oh, I think you’re still young enough to change all that.’

‘I doubt it,’ she admitted bluntly. ‘To be honest, I don’t know if I would want to.’

‘So a betrothal to the opium-smoking young man I found you with in the native quarter the other day is not to be considered?’

‘Oh, no,’ she replied. A frown marred her smooth forehead at the idea that she and Oliver might be linked together. ‘Even though my father is unaware of Oliver’s partiality for a particular narcotic, he would not encourage a match between us.’

‘He doesn’t like Mr Schofield?’

‘Oh, no, that isn’t the reason. In fact, Father would have no reservations about Oliver making me an excellent husband. It’s just that he would have serious reservations about my life with my prospective mother-in-law.’

Max chuckled softly. ‘Having encountered Mrs Schofield on several occasions, I can see his point. She’s a tiresome busybody and worse than a washerwoman for the pleasure she takes in idle gossip and malicious talk.’

‘Exactly. Besides, I believe she thinks I have a disruptive influence on her precious Oliver.’

He arched a brow. ‘And have you?’

‘I don’t think so, but perhaps the fact that I love having fun and don’t always listen to the dictates of my father has crystallised all my sins in her mind.’

At the tragic note in her voice, humour softened Max’s features and his firm, sensual lips quirked in a smile. ‘Poor you. What a truly miserable time you are having, Miss Westwood. Still, I applaud your honesty. It’s a rare virtue in one so young.’

‘My father says I’m unconventional and I suppose I am, which is why all the old tabbies on the island are always complaining to him about me and giving him advice on the best way to deal with a wayward daughter. But he likes me the way I am and wouldn’t like it if I were to change.’

‘Your father is quite right. You are what you are. You can’t please everybody. One’s true character springs from the heart and dwells in the eyes. Unconventionality is an invitation to disaster in the world we inhabit.’

She stared at him. ‘My word, how very profound.’

Gazing into his unfathomable eyes, she saw cynicism lurking in their depths. There was something primitive and dangerous about Lord Trevellyan. She had the uneasy feeling that his elegant attire and indolent stance were nothing but disguises meant to lull the unwary into believing he was civilised, when he wasn’t civilised at all. He looked like the sort of man who had seen and done all sorts of things, terrible and forbidden things, things that had hardened him and made him cold. A chill crept up her spine as she wondered what dark secrets lay hidden in his past. Surely there must be many to have made him so cynical and unapproachable.