Tempted By a Rake (Wicked Widows’ League #21)

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

This was where she needed to be!

Lavinia stepped onto the terrace and stared out over the water as she recalled the happy memories of her childhood when her parents would bring her and her siblings here. They’d play along the beach, running in and out of the waves. They were her fondest memories.

This may be the last place that she had ever truly been happy, so why hadn’t she ever returned?

As far as she knew, Octavia had been the only one to visit after they had all become adults. Though, her brothers could have come here too. If so, she was unaware. However, Leopold paid the servants to live at the cottage and see that it was in good repair in the event that any of them decided to take a holiday. It was a good arrangement because the housekeeper and butler were married, a sister was the cook, and three daughters were maids which allowed them to remain close. Without anyone in residence it was not necessary for the maids to live at Sea View. Each had married and had homes of their own but did come to the cottage to dust and keep it presentable.

Lavinia took another deep breath and closed her eyes, letting the sea breeze drift over her body. Yes, this is where she needed to be. It was quiet, calm and soothing and maybe she would discover what was missing from her life. Maybe she would even come to realize that this was the only place she wished to be.

Though, it could be lonely as there was only one cottage near hers. The two shared a long drive and sat upon a small hill that looked over the beach. They were close enough to the water that it was easy to visit the beach, but not so close that they needed to worry about the waves damaging the homes during a storm. It was also only a short stroll into town, but no other cottages were near.

She glanced over to the neighboring cottage and wondered how often anyone was in residence. It had always belonged to Viscount Totten, and she supposed it still did, except now it would be the son visiting instead of the kind older gentleman that she knew.

Not that it mattered since Lavinia was certain that she would not see anyone else during her holiday, except for the servants inside and the driver and footman who had brought her here. They had been chosen intentionally because they were the sons of the older couple who looked after the cottage and it brought her happiness to be able to surprise the parents with the arrival of sons they did not see very often.

At the sudden barking Lavinia turned to find a sheepdog playing in the surf, his long hair soaked. Except he wasn’t barking at waves but running towards her.

Demetrius stepped out onto the terrace and took a deep breath of the salty air. Not only was the air refreshing, but the sky was blue with no hint of rain, and just a few white clouds drifted by.

If he wasn’t aware of the date, it would be difficult to believe that Christmas was only six days away. This would be his first Christmas not shared with at least a couple of his siblings, but none of his brothers could get away to join him. He would have remained in London, but none of them would have been free to celebrate anyway, and his sisters were spending the holiday with their husbands and their families. Even though Demetrius had been invited, he decided to take the time to come here and reflect on his future since there was nothing pressing for him to attend to in London.

He’d arrived at Hartshorn the day before, Max and Cal by his side, and settled in. He had assumed that it would be a small cottage. Why that had been his assumption, Demetrius did not know, but it was not. In fact, it was quite comfortable with six bedchambers above, a parlor, library, kitchen, dining room and cellar. Behind the kitchen were four bedchambers and a parlor which he assumed were for servants that he did not have.

At least Max and Cal were less destructive here, though it had only been a day, but they enjoyed being out of doors. Cal liked the sun and Max was jumping around on the beach and not bothering to back away as the gentle waves rolled in and soaked his fur.

Demetrius groaned. It was bad enough that the dog shed on everything; now Max would have wet fur that he would have to brush so that it didn’t tangle.

When Max stopped and turned to look at the one neighboring cottage, Demetrius stepped forward. As far as he knew, only servants lived there, but Max did tend to become overly friendly with strangers which was the reason he was always kept on a leash when out in London. He assumed he would not need to worry about the same here but when Max started barking and then took off at a full run, Demetrius hurried after him and hoped that he reached him before Max exuberantly greeted an unsuspecting person.

Unfortunately, before Demetrius could get to the dog, he had already jumped on a woman who had been at the edge of the terrace and pushed her to the ground.

“Bloody hell!” he muttered under his breath and hurried forward. “Max!” Demetrius yelled as he pulled the dog away and reached forward to help the woman to her feet. “I am so terribly sorry.”

The woman put her hand in his and stood. Only then did she look up, frowned and met his eyes.

He was as shocked as her. “I am truly sorry, Lady Teviot. Are you unharmed?”

“Mr. Valentine.” Her greeting was cool. “Is this…dog…yours?”