Free The Heart Denied by Linda Anne Wulf Page B

extending his hand. Caroline's hand slid into it as she curtseyed, her exotic scent wafting upward and bringing with it a keen recall of the waltz they'd shared. Thorne's tongue knotted along with his stomach.
    "Caroline feared she mightn't be welcome at Wycliffe Hall," Gwynneth scoffed.
    "Nonsense, you are quite welcome," Thorne said to Caroline. "My home's ambiance can only be enriched by your presence."
    A smile played about Caroine's lips. "You are as gracious a man as Gwynneth claims, my lord, but your home isn't likely to be improved upon in any fashion by my presence." Your person, however, her eyes told him, might benefit immensely.
    "We've brought Ashby, Caroline's maid," Gwynneth was saying, nodding toward a young woman William was helping down from the driver's seat. "Caroline has agreed to share her with me."
    Thorne drew Gwynneth's arm through his. "But I've taken the liberty of appointing a lady's maid for you. She's waited upon you before. Do you remember Combs?"
    "Yes, she seemed quite capable," Gwynneth recalled as they lagged behind the others, Radleigh following Jennings to the library and its well-stocked liquor cabinet, Dame Carswell leading Caroline and Ashby on up the stairs.
    "I'm glad you agree. I've sent her ahead to your chambers, where you can begin a life of leisure by instructing her in the matter of unpacking your trunks."
    Gwynneth sighed. "I think you will be a perfect husband."
    "Perfect?" Smiling ruefully, Thorne shook his head. "Harbor no such delusion, dear lady. I shall, however, try my best to be the husband you deserve."
    Her answering smile was so sweetly radiant that after a moment Thorne muttered, "Hang convention!" and leaned down to steal a kiss. As her lips lingered willingly under his, he drew away. "Go," he said gruffly, "while you can."
    Laughing, Gwynneth ran up the steps. Thorne's smile felt more like a grimace as his loins tightened again. Dear God, get this interminable wedding behind us.
    Turning from the newel post, he saw his housekeeper paused at the mouth of the west hall, her stony gaze upon the stairs where Gwynneth had just disappeared from view.
    "Buck up, Carswell." A hint of warning lurked behind his teasing tone. "Yonder goes your new mistress."
     
    * * *
     
    "Am I late?"
    Gwynneth's question trailed away as she paused in the open doorway of the dining room, her eye skimming the long table for the first time from a viewpoint as lady of the house.  The service of china, crystal and ivory-handled sterling gleamed in the halo of tall candelabras, every precious piece set out with faultless precision on cream-colored Belfast linen.
    Across the room, Thorne looked up from an aperitif.
    "Late, my lady?" Setting his glass on the mantel, he turned his back on Radleigh and Caroline to approach Gwynneth. "Your father might complain," he murmured as he took her hand, "but the devil take me if I care.  You're a vision to behold, and well worth the wait."
    Gwynneth could hardly question his sincerity. The looking glass in her chambers had revealed a beauty rendered almost ethereal by her shoulder-baring frock, a creation of pale-pink cabbage roses on a background of ivory covered by a gauzy overskirt. But oh, how Sister Theresa Bernard would frown at the décolleté neckline, and especially the display of plump bosom it offered to Thorne's appreciative glance.
    "Sweet," Caroline murmured as she joined the couple, her eyes narrowing.
    Radleigh followed, strutting like a rooster.  "Thorne, I must congratulate you on your choice of lady's maid for my daughter.  What a transformation!" 
    Thorne shook his head, his eyes still on his fiancé.  "Radleigh, your daughter would be a beauty even in rags."
    Gwynneth touched Thorne's arm as he took his seat next to her, the heat in her cheeks rivaling the slow fire that banished all tendrils of fog daring to enter the open windows. "I've told Caroline the tragic story of your Aunt Agnes," she said hastily. "Will you show us inside