Richard grew serious. “Tell me your worries, sweetheart.”
The time for confession had arrived.
“’Twas Odo and Hew who robbed you in Shropshire.”
“I know.” A smile of admiration for her honesty spread across his features.
Extreme agitation rendered Keely deaf to his words and blind to his smile. Her defense of her cousins came out in a rush: “Robbing you was an accident. You happened upon the wrong place at the wrong time and behaved so uncooperatively. If only you’d been the least bit amenable—Odo and Hew worried for my continued survival. And—and they left you the carnelian stone for protection. No harm done, then— What did you say?”
If highway robbery weren’t so serious an offense, Richard would have laughed at her surprised expression. “I said, I know Odo and Hew robbed me.”
“How do you know?”
“Your cousins are incompetent thieves,” Richard answered. “They left their faces unmasked and sold my horse to my own man.”
Keely became suspicious. “Why haven’t you arrested them?”
“Is that what you want?”
“No.”
“I’d planned on seeing them hanged,” Richard admitted, “but then you walked into the tavern with them.”
“I don’t understand.”
Richard leaned close, his handsome face merely inches from hers. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”
Ever so gently, he drew her into his embrace. Captivated by his intense gaze, Keely was caught by the unfamiliar and wholly irresistible gleam of desire in his emerald eyes.
His face hovered above hers for the briefest moment and then descended as one of his powerful hands traveled to the back of her head and held her immobile. Their lips touched in a kiss.
When she relaxed in his arms, his kiss became ardent and demanding, stealing her breath away. His tongue persuaded her lips to part, then explored and tasted the sweetness of her mouth.
And then it was over.
Richard drew back and studied her dazed expression. He traced a finger down her silken cheek and rubbed his thumb across her lips. “Your beauty could corrupt the morals of a saint,” he said. “Rest easy that your cousins’s secret is safe with me.”
Now that she’d let him kiss her, how would she ever face him again? The earl seemed so relaxed and casual about what was to her one of life’s milestones: her first kiss.
Richard reached for her boots, intending to help her, but Keely was faster. She plucked them out of his reach. “I’ll carry them.”
Richard cocked a copper brow at her. “You’re going to walk barefoot?”
“I love the feel of Mother Earth beneath my feet,” Keely said, rising from the chair.
Richard couldn’t credit the fact that she was still blushing. Unless—”I’ll escort you home,” he said.
“That’s unnecessary,” she refused. “I’ve wasted enough of your time, my lord.”
“Moments shared with you are no waste of time,” Richard said. “In fact, you’ve brightened my day immeasurably. And I’m a lord. Remember?”
Keely smiled in spite of her embarrassment. “I appreciate your understanding.” She padded on bare feet across the study. When she would have disappeared out the door, his voice stopped her.
“Keely?”
She turned around. “Yes?”
Richard closed the distance between them and stood in front of her. “Thank you.”
Keely gave him a bewildered look. “For what, my lord?”
Richard gently tipped her face up and gazed into the most disarming eyes he’d ever seen. “For gifting me with your first kiss.”
“How could you know?” Keely moaned in mortification. And then it came to her. She was an incompetent kisser. To make matters worse, kissing wasn’t something a virtuous lady could practice.
“You are incredibly sweet,” Richard said.
“You could tell by my taste?” she exclaimed, relieved.
Richard struggled against a shout of laughter. He gave her a quick kiss and let her go. Instead of returning to his desk, Richard sauntered to the window and watched her run across the lawns to Talbot House. Somehow, he’d known she’d be magnificent. Keely Glendower was a seductive angel, a rare woman of courage and integrity. Most worthy of becoming his countess. Despite her illegitimacy, she possessed the noble qualities he desired in a wife.
Humming a bawdy tune, Richard headed for his desk. The sooner he finished his work and reported to the queen, the sooner he could return and request Keely’s hand in marriage. That the lady might not desire his hand in marriage never entered his mind.
Chapter 6
“You did what?” Odo exclaimed.
“I visited the earl yesterday,” Keely repeated. “I begged his mercy for robbing him.”
“Do you want to see us hang?” Hew touched his neck as if he already felt the noose tightening.
“Harming us is a thing Keely could never do,” Odo said. “Could you, little girl?”
Keely shook her head and looped her arm through Hew’s. “There’s nothing to fear,” she assured him. “I’ve set matters straight. The earl was surprisingly understanding. We couldn’t stay here indefinitely with that hanging over our heads.”
“Don’t say the H word,” Hew whined.
Hiding a smile, Keely turned to Merlin’s stall and stroked the mare’s forehead. She took an apple from her pocket and gave it to the horse.
“Well, what did the man say?” Odo asked.
“Richard swore your secret was safe with him,” Keely answered. “He promised he’d never do anything to hurt me.”
“‘Richard, is it?” Odo said.
Keely ignored his comment.
“Can the earl be trusted to keep his word?” Hew asked.
“He’ll keep his solemn word or suffer the consequence of deceit,” she told them. “I do not completely trust any Englishman, so never venture onto his property.”
“We won’t,” Hew said.
“Who accompanied you to the earl’s?” Odo asked.
“No one did.”
“Did he try anything?”
Keely arched an ebony brow at him and feigned ignorance. “Like what?”
“You know what I'm talking about,” Odo said.
“Try what?” Hew asked.
Odo ignored his brother. “I’m waiting for your answer, little girl.”
Recalling the earl’s passion made Keely blush. “‘Twas merely a kiss.”
“I should have killed that good-for-nothing in Shropshire,” Odo said.
“Voicing such evilness is wrong,” Keely scolded him. “Richard played the part of a proper gentleman. Yes, he’s English, but better than most, and I won’t listen to you malign him. ’Twas an innocent kiss.”
“What’s wrong with kissing?” Hew rounded on his brother. “You done more than—”
“Shut your mouth in front of the girl,” Odo snapped.
Hew did as he was told.
Keely swallowed a giggle. “Caution is advisable,” she said. “What you need is an invisibility shield.”
“This stable is too busy,” Odo warned. “Someone’s likely to catch you mumbling those incantations.”
Keely pressed her cheek against Merlin’s. “His Grace and Lady Dawn are closeted with a business associate in the study. The gardens will be deserted at this hour of the day, and I know the perfect spot for privacy. Let’s go.”
Keely led the way out of the stable and down the path to a secluded area of the garden that bordered one side of the Talbot mansion. Here several oak trees stood guard.
“The crisp smell of Samhuinn permeates the air,” she said, pulling her woolen shawl closer around her shoulders. “That wondrous night is fast approaching.”
“I don’t smell nothing,” Hew whispered.
“Me neither,” Odo agreed.
Keely looked up at the sky. The dying sun blazed like molten fire in the west, while the eastern horizon darkened into a
deep indigo. Autumn’s vibrant colors of red, gold, and yellow swirled around her.
“All things are possible with the help of the Mother Goddess,” Keely told her cousins. “Be warned. I am working without the requisite candles and herbs. Do not tempt fate by placing yourselves in front of the earl. Understand?”
Odo and Hew bobbed their heads in unison.
Keely wished she had her bag of magic stones and ceremonial robe, but she didn’t want to chance returning inside to get them. Instead, she gathered eight stones at random and made a makeshift circle, being certain to leave the western periphery open.
“Will you join me?” Keely asked her cousins. Both men shook their heads.
Entering the circle from the west, Keely set the last stone down. “All disturbing thoughts remain outside.”
Keely walked to the center and covered her head with her shawl. She turned three times in a clockwise circle until she faced the west again. Then she closed her eyes and focused her breathing.
“By the powers of Mother Earth and Father Sun, control of our lives returns to us,” Keely implored. “With invisibility shield and armor tight, we win this battle to be free of fear.”
Keely walked to the circle’s western periphery and lifted the stone, breaking the enchantment. Then she kissed the stone and tossed it over her left shoulder.
“All will be well,” Keely said, walking toward her cousins.
“’Tis nearly suppertime,” Odo said. “Get yourself inside, little girl.”
Keely nodded but placed the palm of her hand against Hew’s cheek. “Feeling better, cousin?”
Hew grinned and bobbed his head.
“Run along, then. I’ll go to supper in a few minutes.”
Alone, Keely advanced on the oak tree. She placed the palms of her hands against its bark and whispered, “Your power is mighty, my friend. I knew you’d be marvelous to touch.” Stepping closer until her whole body touched it, Keely wrapped her arms around the oak’s trunk—as far as they would go—and hugged it. “From the first moment I saw you, I knew we’d be friends.”
As Keely was invoking the universe’s unseen powers, Richard Devereux sat inside the Duke of Ludlow’s study. He reached across the desk and accepted the offered goblet of Madeira malmsey. Then he leaned back in his chair and stretched his long legs out.
“Here’s yours, my dear,” Duke Robert said, handing Lady Dawn her wine. He looked at the earl. “What’s on your mind, Devereux?”
“With great reluctance, I must risk offending you, Your Grace.” Duke Robert stared without expression at the younger man and waited for him to continue. “My interest in Morgana has permanently waned,” Richard told him. “I do regret any hurt this causes.”
“That’s the best news I’ve heard this week,” Lady Dawn remarked, earning a censorious glance from the duke.
“‘Until death do us part’ can be a long, long time,” Duke Robert said. “No man should marry a woman he doesn’t want.”
“That is most understanding of you.” Richard set his goblet of wine on the desk. He stood and wandered across the study toward the window. “I am requesting Lady Keely’s hand in marriage.”
“I knew it.” Lady Dawn clapped her hands together. “What a striking couple Richard and Keely will make. Don’t you think so, Tally?”
“I have no objections to the match,” Duke Robert said.
Richard glanced over his shoulder and smiled at the sight outside the window. The object of his desire was playing an unfamiliar game with her cousins. That two gigantic warriors would attend Keely, gamboling in a circle like a young girl, touched his heart. Their loyalty to his intended wife was admirable. Richard could almost sympathize with their reason for robbing him.
“Are you listening?” the duke’s voice penetrated his thoughts.
Richard turned around and smiled. “I was admiring the view, Your Grace.”
“True love does make people behave strangely,” Lady Dawn said.
Duke Robert rolled his eyes but refrained from commenting on his beloved’s observation. “I approve of the match,” he said, “but the final decision is my daughter’s. I would never force any of my children to the altar.”
“I foresee no problem,” Richard said. “When she visited me yesterday, Keely seemed quite attracted to me.”
“Keely visited you?” Duke Robert echoed, surprised.
“We dined together,” Richard said. “Despite my somewhat tarnished reputation, I assure you ’twas an innocent meal.”
“Chessy, be a love,” Duke Robert said. “Tell Meade to fetch Keely.”
Richard glanced over his shoulder, saying, “You’ll find Lady Keely in the garden. Hugging a tree.”
The duke bolted out of his chair and hurried across the room. He reached the window in time to see his daughter give the oak tree a quick kiss.
Richard turned a stunned expression on the duke.
“’Tis a Welsh custom,” Duke Robert lied. “Kissing an oak insures good luck to the household. Kindhearted of her to think of my welfare.”
Richard relaxed and smiled with amusement. “Very loving, indeed, Your Grace.”
Keely stopped short when she walked into the study. What was the earl doing here? Had he decided to tell her father that Odo and Hew were guilty of highway robbery? How could she have believed an Englishman’s word? The whole damn race had no honor.
Smiling, Richard crossed the chamber and kissed her hand, then gazed deeply into her violet eyes—her angry violet eyes. What had upset her? He hadn’t even spoken yet.
Giving her hand an intimate squeeze, Richard asked, “What game were you playing in the garden?”
Keely froze. “P-playing in the garden?”
“You were twirling in a circle while your cousins watched.”
“Cousins?”
“Odo and Hew, remember?”
“Yes, I remember,” Keely said, evading his question. So much for invisibility shields.
“Sit over here, dearest.” Richard escorted her to one of the chairs. “Your Father has something important to tell you.”
“Is Madoc dead?” Keely asked, her expression hopeful. If that happened, she could return posthaste to Wales.
The duke’s lips quirked. “I’ve had no news from Wales, my dear.”
“Your father consents to our marriage,” Richard told her. “If you’ll have me, sweetheart.”
Keely snapped her head around to gape at the earl. “Marriage?”
“Oh, what fun we’ll have planning the wedding,” Lady Dawn gushed with glee. “‘Twill be the marriage of the decade.”
“What do you say to the earl’s proposal, child?” Duke Robert asked.
Keely looked from the earl to the duke. Was her father trying to get rid of her? She had no desire to wed, let alone with an Englishman. She knew that a woman's problems sprang from that ruthless creature called man. Megan's miserable life proved that beyond a reasonable doubt. The daughter had learned hard lessons from the mother’s mistakes. Keely would not be forced into a marriage, but for Odo’s and Hew’s sake she needed to extricate herself from this coil very, very carefully. The earl could still have a change of heart regarding her cousins’s secret.
“I’m flattered to be considered for such an exalted position,” Keely said “However, I cannot possibly accept.”
Unused to having his desires thwarted, Richard refused to believe what he’d heard. Rejection was unthinkable. “What did you say?”
“Any woman would feel proud to call you her husband,” Keely went on, “but I traveled to England to find my—His Grace. I couldn’t possibly marry at this time and leave him.”
“You’d be living next door, child,” Duke Robert said. “Devereux is England’s most sought-after bachelor, and a woman without a man is incomplete. Besides, younger girls than you are happy mothers made. Isn’t that true, Chessy?”
Keely remained determined. “If you’d like me to leave, I can return to—”
“What th
e hell is wrong with me?” Richard snapped, losing control for the first time in his well-ordered adult life. How dare this little nobody refuse the renowned Earl of Basildon.
“You’re English,” Keely said as if that explained everything, her anger rising to meet his.
“You’re almost as English as I am.”
“I’m Welsh.”
“A woman in your position should be grateful for any offer, much less dare to refuse England’s premier earl.”
Keely paled at his insult. She knew what he meant. She’d heard that same epithet hurled at her before. The earl merely phrased himself more politely than most. For some reason, she’d expected better from him.
“Watch your words, Basildon,” the duke growled in his daughter’s defense.
Keely rose from her chair and faced the earl. “Of what position do you speak?” she challenged, her voice and her expression filled with contempt.
Richard glared at her. “Your position as a noble bastard.”
“Enough.” Duke Robert banged his fist on the desk.
“All dragons do breathe fire,” Keely said, finding her voice through her pain. Without another word, she walked in graceful dignity to the door.
In an instant Richard was after her. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, grasping her forearm to prevent her escape. “I didn’t mean what I said.”
It was then that Keely gifted the earl with his second humiliating shock of the day. She raised her violet-eyed gaze to his. “Remove your odious paw from my person.”
“You aren’t accepting my apology?” Richard asked.
“No.”
Being rebuffed twice within the span of several minutes didn’t sit well with Richard. “Do you realize any woman in England can be mine for the asking?”
“All but one.” With her head held high, Keely quit the chamber.
Duke Robert rose from his chair and crossed the chamber. “I’ll speak to her,” he said, and disappeared out the door.
Uncertain where he’d gone wrong, Richard stared at the door blankly. The chit had rejected his proposal of marriage and refused to accept the first apology he’d ever given anyone.
“So that’s the fabled Devereux charm,” the countess purred behind him.
“Very funny.” Richard turned around. “Tell me, Cheshire. When one offers an apology, isn’t the other person required to accept it?”
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