Secluded with the Rogue

Chapter 2

Two

E zra tried hard not to stare at Marianne’s cousin, but it was difficult, to say the least. He could tell from the look of shock and then consternation that she hadn’t been told they’d be guests here at the same time. And it didn’t take a genius to figure out she wasn’t entirely thrilled at the idea.

He would have to rail at his cousin later for not telling the poor chit. It didn’t seem as though she was someone who enjoyed surprises, given the adorable scowl on her face. Damn, but she was a pretty thing. All doll-like and wide-eyed. According to David, her life had been miserable for the last year or so. She had battled a great illness and oddly enough, given that they were strangers to each other, the idea of the life being snuffed out of her made him feel a little sick himself.

David had only told Ezra of Calista’s history so he’d know to be sensitive around her. She was fragile, his cousin had said and had developed a timidity that hadn’t been there before. Ezra watched as Marianne appeared and slid her arm through Calista’s. It was obvious that they were very protective of her. But was she really so delicate? He’d caught that spark of fire in her deep blue eyes when he’d inadvertently insulted her. Caught the subtle tilt of her chin.

He didn’t know her, granted. But he wasn’t convinced she was the wilting flower David and Marianne treated her as. And not just them. According to David, the chit’s mother acted as though she was made of china, too.

Not that it was any of his business, of course. And he wasn’t overly interested in any case.

David and Marianne were among the very few people whose company he enjoyed in the beau monde He’d accepted the invitation to spend the festive season with them only because the alternative was spending it at home under the disapproving glare of his father. Though he lived alone, with houses both in England and dotted around Europe, his mother always managed to guilt him into spending the Yuletide at the duchy’s main seat where she threw countless women of good breeding his way in the hopes one of them would stick.

His father wasn’t overly concerned about his bachelor status since, as the second son, he wasn’t required to provide a nursery of heirs. Thankfully his brother and sister-in-law had already gotten to work doing just that.

But just because he wasn’t a vital cog in the ducal wheelhouse, that didn’t mean his father approved of his life in any way.

A son who shirked the family name and connections, who spent his time building business investments, and traveling Europe and India wasn’t something his father wanted, and he made no secret of it.

But being the son of a prominent duke meant precisely nothing to Ezra. His brother. It had largely nothing to do with Ezra. As far as he was concerned, he’d gotten the wealth and privilege of the dukedom with none of the responsibilities.

And whilst he’d inherit some of his father’s considerable holdings, he also wanted to build something of his own. Work at something. Achieve something. Something that didn’t involve a Society wife and a boring, staid life in some country estate somewhere.

“Close your mouth, Ezra.”

David’s dry tone brought Ezra from his reverie and he realized that while he’d been thinking about his complicated relationships with his relatives, his eyes had been focused on the lovely Lady Calista, who’d wandered off in the clutches of Marianne.

“Can you blame me for enjoying the view?” he quipped, not entirely joking.

After all, there was no denying that the lady painted a beautiful picture. Though there was something of a resemblance between Marianne and Calista, Calista was shorter and curvier in a way that frankly, made his mouth water. And whilst Marianne’s eyes were a light, sky blue, Calista’s put him in mind of the deepest, bluest part of the warm waters of the Indian Ocean he’d sailed across many times. Both ladies were possessed of deep, golden curls. But Calista’s was the hair he noticed as the sapphires the color of her satin gown threaded through the strands sparkled and shone in the candlelight.

“Not exactly,” David answered dryly. “Though I do hope that glazed look in your eyes is for the lovely Calista, and not my wife.”

Ezra grinned at his cousin, his opposite in almost every way. Where Ezra was dark-haired, David was blonde. And where Ezra chomped at the bit if confined to one place for too long, David took his many responsibilities in his stride. And was happy to rusticate in bucolic bliss with his viscountess.

“Weren’t you the one warning me off the pretty little cousin?” he asked with a quirked brow.

“Indeed,” David answered smoothly. “I believe I warned you I’d blacken your eye if you upset her. But salivating over my wife? That’s a bullet at least.”

Ezra laughed at David’s overprotectiveness. It had been this way ever since he’d first met the lady. Ezra had missed the start of the odious Season due to traveling home from India. And by the time he’d arrived in London, David had already been smitten. But Marianne was a good match for his serious cousin. Her lighthearted, wicked humor the perfect foil for David’s calm stoicism. A study in opposites. But they worked and Ezra was happy for them both.

“It’s not safe for me then to admit that I was indeed admiring the cousin, is it? Lest you ruin this pretty face of mine.”

“Knowing you, you’d pull off the look,” David countered. “The ladies would be in paroxysms at how dangerous and rugged it would make you.”

Ezra rolled his eyes at David’s good-natured grousing.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “They swooned plenty over you, too. Only you took yourself off the market.”

“Does that mean you consider yourself on the market?” David asked, something like astonishment coloring his tone. And rightly so, because Ezra meant nothing of the sort.

“Of course not,” he said with faux horror. “I can think of nothing worse than being tied down in rainy old England. It would take more than a pretty face and virginal white, ruffled skirts to entice me to that, as you know.”

“Hmm.”

They were quiet for a moment, sipping on the brandy that David had snuck from his study.

“What about blue, unruffled skirts?” he asked, his tone too carefully casual to be casual.

And almost against his will, Ezra’s eyes went to Calista. He knew David was just protective of the lady, as was everyone else it seemed.

“Not even blue, unruffled skirts,” he assured his cousin, vaguely insulted at the look of relief in David’s eyes.

But he supposed he didn’t blame the man.

In ordinary circumstances, Ezra might have looked at a beautiful young woman and offered a carte blanche. A mutually beneficial affair.

He’d done it before, after all. In more than one country. And it has been satisfactory to both parties.

But – it didn’t sit right. Not when it came to Calista. She was still young. Had every chance ahead of her for marriage and children. Things that simply didn’t interest him. He had no requirement to produce an heir and spare, after all.

But a lady as lovely as Calista would have no problem securing herself dozens of proposals so she likely wasn’t someone who’d want to get entangled in an affair, no matter how discreet. Besides, as a rule, Ezra didn’t dally with innocents. He wasn’t in the business of ruining young women.

Not to mention the complicated familial ties that would just make things messy for everyone.

So no, he wouldn’t show an interest in the little cousin. She was very much off-limits. And he had no reason to think that it would be difficult to keep his hands to himself.

Yes, they would be spending the next three weeks together under David’s roof. But in his somewhat vast experience, one young lady was pretty much the same as any other. Pretty she might be. But keeping away from her would not prove to be a hardship.