My Heart's in the Highlands by Angeline Fortin (best english novels for beginners .TXT) 📗

Daphne sighed dramatically. “Men! You don’tever truly know what you want until you have a chance to thinkabout it. No, don’t argue! I know how you are. I just know whenwe’ve had a chance to get to know one another better, you’ll changeyour mind.”

With an even more melodramatic mental sigh,Ian realized that arguing with someone as determined as Daphnewouldn’t change a thing. She would think as she wanted, despite hiswords. It wouldn’t take long for her to realize the futility of herambitions with him. Ian’s only hope was that she would do soquickly, so that he might once again have Dùn Cuilean and Hero allto himself.

He had a seduction to finish. Or a courting.Courting. Ian almost chuckled now as the word crossed his mind onceagain. He’d given the idea a lot of thought since he had voiced hisintentions so rashly to Hero in the music room. He had wondered athimself, wondered how he had traversed the battleground between anabstract concept of possessing Hero, taking her for his own, andtaking her as a necessary wife, to unconsciously acting on it. Ithadn’t taken a fraction of the days since then for Ian to admit towhat he wanted and to plot his course. What had lingered vaguely inthe back of his mind had become more intentional.

Aye, Ian would marry, but not Daphne and notpurely for the sake of the marquisate. A much more appealing optionawaited him. An option that would grant him a lifetime of divineexploration, if a lifetime would even be enough.

“Let me escort you to your room, MissKennedy.”

Daphne frowned at the abrupt end to theirconversation but just shook her head. “Actually, I think I mightjoin my brother and his grace in the billiards room.”

“As you wish,” Ian bowed shortly. “Goodnight.”

Chapter Nineteen

“What the bloody hell?”

The silence of Ian’s bedchamber as he loungedonce again before the fireplace, staring moodily at Hero’sportrait, was broken by the muffled sounds of drums, cymbals, andorgans. It took a minute for Ian to realize the distorted sound wasmusic. But from where? Had a full orchestra descended upon Cuileanat midnight?

Throwing open his door, Ian froze at thesight of Hero emerging from the State Room across the landing. Shewas tying the sash on a peacock blue silk dressing gown as shelooked up and froze at the sight of him there as well.

Given the thoughts that had been dancingthrough his mind for nearly a week, the sight of Hero in herbedclothes with her dressing gown tight around her hips, her goldenhair loose about her shoulders, brought them all flooding backalong with the arousal. He wanted nothing more than to draw herinto his rooms and watch that slippery silk slide from hershoulders and puddle on the floor.

Regrettably it was a difficult fantasy toentertain or sustain with the loud chamber music floating up frombelow.

“It’s the orchestrion,” she said in responseto his unasked question, adding with a shrug when he continued tostare, “Papa.”

With an understanding chuckle, Ian followedher around the landing to the head of the stairs. “What makes youthink it’s your father?” he asked, taking her hand to steady her asthey descended.

“Who else could it be?” Hero said with a grinas they reached the ground floor, circling around the oval hall tothe rear of the castle and into the music room next to thebilliards room. “He must have noticed it last night and gottencurious.”

The music had gotten louder as they wentuntil Ian was hard pressed not to cover his ears upon reaching theroom. The half dozen servants gathered in the hall in variousstates of undress outside the music room showed no such restraint.Boyle yelled to Hero with his fingers still stuck in his ears, “Wethought it best to wait for you, my lady.”

“Thank you, Boyle,” Hero said. She patted thebutler’s arm and with a deep breath, plunged into the cacophony, asIan followed. “I told you it was not well suited to such a smallvenue,” she added unnecessarily.

Ian grinned. “No, it is not.”

Their smiles faded as they found the dukestanding in the center of the room wearing nothing but anightshirt. Even his feet were bare. His fingers were also in hisears and he was yelling at the top of his lungs over and overagain, “So loud! So loud!”

Hero rushed over to the hulking monstrosityof horns and cymbals that stood against one wall and bent, reachingunder the thing for a moment before coming up with a small plughooked about one finger. Air whooshed from beneath the beast andthe cacophony of instruments whimpered to a halt with one lastpitiful sigh.

This sound was echoed in everyone’s sigh ofrelief, but the duke was still yelling, “Loud! Loud! Loud!” Earsplugged and eyes closed tightly, Beaumont looked on the verge ofapoplexy. Ian reached his side just as Hero did, but she was theone to grab his hands first.

“Papa!” she shouted right into his face withno response. She shook him and yelled desperately, “Papa! Look atme!”

The duke stopped and opened his eyes,suddenly looking very calm when just seconds before he had lookedready to burst. “I thought I told you to call me Harry.”

Hero sagged with a strangled sound, coveringher face with her hands, but this time Ian knew it wasn’t laughteror amusement that choked her. Wrapping an arm around her waist, heled her to a chair and sank down to his haunches before her. “Areyou all right?”

She peeked up at him and Ian saw the tearsglistening in her eyes and knew he’d been correct. It hadn’t been achuckle but a sob that Hero had bitten back. The duke’s panic hadcertainly frightened her. Turning, Ian waved away the crowd at thedoor. “Back to bed, all of you! The show is over.”

Respectfully, the staff dispersed, but forthe duke’s night nurse, who hovered nervously in the doorway. “Myapologies, my lady, my lord. I don’t know how he …”

Ian stood and approached the quivering man,making no attempt to disguise his anger. “Cooper, what are yourduties exactly?” he demanded.

“To watch over the duke from seven in theevening to seven