Lily and the Duke (Sex and the Season #1)(54)

Why couldn’t she control her thoughts of him? Her desire for him?

She took the tube of black paint and squirted it on the canvas, annihilating the green, and then fell onto her bed, refusing to let the tears come.





Chapter 12





Lily ordered a lunch tray in her chamber but barely touched it, unable to erase the memories of the morning.

Rose came in later. “I thought you would be with His Grace,” she said.

“Why on earth would you think that?”

“You said you were going to see him when you left Thomas and me, and then you didn’t come down for lunch, so I just assumed…”

Lily snorted. “You just assumed I jumped in his bed, didn’t you?”

“Well, I don’t mean to offend you…”

“No offense taken, dear. I’ve certainly done nothing in the past few days to indicate that I would have acted any differently.” She sighed. “For God’s sake, why didn’t you stop me?”

“Lily…”

“No, don’t answer that. You couldn’t have stopped me. No one could have. Oh, if only I’d had more sense!”

“Lily, if there’s anything you want to talk about—”

A knock on the door interrupted Rose, and Lily rose to answer it. Two footmen stood in the hallway, along with several packages.

“From His Grace, milady,” one of them said. “Where should we put them?”

“Put them back wherever you found them,” Lily said. “I don’t want them.”

“Sorry, milady, we have our orders. We’ll just stack them over there by the dressing room.” They piled the packages neatly. “Do you require anything else, milady?”

“Yes.” Lily stood with her hands on her hips. “Take them back out of here.”

“Sorry, milady.” He grinned, and the two left the room.

Lily eyed the pile before her.

“Aren’t you going to open them?” Rose asked.

“Good heavens, no. I don’t want his bribes.”

“Come on. Your curiosity must be killing you. I know mine is.”

“No.”

“Just one.”

“You want to open them? Go ahead. I’ll sit over here.” She plopped down on her bed.

Rose giggled. “Maybe just one.” She chose a box the size of a dinner plate and ripped off the brown wrapping. Inside was a leather case that snapped open. Rose lifted the lid and gasped. “Lily, look!” She hurried to her sister. Nestled on velvet was a diamond-and-ruby necklace with matching ear bobs, set in gold. “These are flawless. This must have cost a fortune!”

“They likely cost him nothing, Rose. They’re probably part of the Lybrook collection.” Lily shook her head, though she couldn’t help admiring the jewels.

“They’ll be lovely on you,” Rose said. “Perfect for your coloring. I could never wear rubies. My blond hair and peachy pale skin would clash horrendously. But on you, why, they’ll be exquisite.” She sighed.

“I suppose they’re…nice.”

“Nice? They’re amazing. May I open another one?”

“Open as many as you like.”

Rose chose another small box in which she found a pearl choker with earrings to match. “How gorgeous!” She brought them to Lily.

Lily hated to admit it, but Daniel did have impeccable taste. “Oh, go ahead,” she said to Rose. “Open the rest of them. You can start with that hat box. I detest hats. He doesn’t know me at all.”

Rose picked up the box and held it. “This hat box seems to be whimpering.” She lifted the lid and squealed, holding up the small brown puppy from the day before. “Oh, she’s adorable, and look, she has a leather strip around her neck with a tag. It says Brandy, Lily. He remembered that you said her color reminded you of Papa’s brandy!”

Lily’s heart began to melt. “Bring her here.” She stroked Brandy’s soft fur, while the small puppy nuzzled her breast. “Oh, you are a sweet thing.”

“I’m going for the next one.” Rose quickly tore open a small package and produced a book bound in rich red leather. “It’s Mr. Dickens’s Oliver Twist.” She opened the front cover. “And it’s signed!”

“Give that to me,” Lily said. She ran her fingers over the soft leather, inhaling its robust scent. Inside was Mr. Dickens’s signature in a crisp penmanship, dated 1839. “This is too much. I can’t accept all of these gifts.”

“He’s going to be your husband, Lily. Of course you can accept them. I’m going to open this bigger one next.” Rose removed the lid that had been loosened from a wooden crate and pulled out a bottle of wine. “Chateau Beychevelle, 1831. This must be from France.”

“Yes, it’s a Bordeaux. It’s delicious, actually.” Lily’s eyes misted. “Daniel…that is, His Grace and I shared this wine. We… Oh, Rose, what am I going to do?”

“This is a whole case. Twelve bottles.”

“Goodness.”

“This wine has meaning for you?”

“I’m afraid so.” Lily kissed Brandy’s soft muzzle.