Pendragon. Catherine Coulter

“Good Lord,” Jeremy said, choking on the lemon cake. “Oliver, married? I’d believed him quite content in his single state.”

“He is thirty, I believe,” said Douglas. “I was leg-shackled at twenty-eight. Oliver is behind schedule and so I have told him. He is ripe.”

“Ah,” said Jeremy, and grinned a fool’s grin, “I am also ripe. Perhaps it is predestined.”

“That’s a nice thought,” Meggie said, and wanted to leap on him.

“Douglas wasn’t particularly ripe,” Alex said and toasted him with her teacup.

“Just thinking about it makes me want a brandy. Jeremy, will you join me?”

“No, thank you, Uncle Douglas. I must be going. I very much wanted to see you, to see that everything was going well, and I see that it is. And here’s little Meggie, all grown up now.” He rose, hugged Alex, shook Douglas’s hand, and walked to Meggie. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to take him right down to the floor and kiss him until he was silly with it. She wanted him to moan, something she had heard her father and Mary Rose doing when they didn’t think anyone was about. Jeremy took her hand, lingered just a moment—a bloody cousin’s linger—nothing more. “I wish you the best during your Season, my dear.”

Meggie realized in that moment that Jeremy wasn’t even close to feeling about her as she did about him. Well, after all, the last time he had seen her she’d been only thirteen years old, and she shuddered at that thought. He’d already been a young man. And he’d only seen her for the first time in many years just fifteen hours before. She had to give him a bit more time, to build memories she already had of him, and that meant creating the opportunity for him to fall tip over arse. She said with a guileless smile, “Uncle Douglas and Aunt Alex aren’t up as early as they used to be”—clearly a lie of the first order—”and I love to ride early in the morning before everyone is out and about. I would like to go riding with you tomorrow morning, Jeremy. Could you be here at seven o’clock? Is that too early?”

Jeremy said without hesitation, “I should like that very much. I would be delighted to observe an exceptional horsewoman in action. Tomorrow morning, Meggie.”

He squeezed her hand. And then he was gone. She heard him say something to Darby, heard the front door close.

Meggie said to her aunt and uncle, “He was only here for fifteen minutes.” Then she left the drawing room, humming.

“I don’t like this, Alex,” Douglas said and downed his brandy. “I don’t like this at all. He is too old for her. Indeed, I don’t think he even saw her—you know what I mean?”

“I wonder,” Alex said, nodding, “what he was going to tell us before Darby came in.”

“I don’t know. Maybe I don’t want to know. Hopefully it was something to do with his new stud. I heard he was dealing with Marcus Wyndham. Now, there is a man I would gladly drink with.” A black brow suddenly shot up. “When did we become too old to ride in the morning?

All right, so we didn’t ride this morning. On the other hand we didn’t get to our bed until nearly three o’clock.”

His wife rose and walked to him. She was wearing a lovely soft pink silk dress that was, he saw, cut far too low, displaying too much of a magnificent bosom. She touched her fingertips to his sleeve and said, eyes twinkling, “And then you were resolved to show me an excess of affection, Douglas.”

Douglas looked at her barely covered breasts, grunted, and poured himself another snifter of brandy. His fingers still tingled at the thought of touching her. It was amazing.

* * *

Chapter 4

MEGGIE WORE HER new dark blue riding habit with its beautifully worked lace spilling out over the bodice, fitted at the waist with a narrow cloth belt. The skirts were full and looked quite elegant spread around her as she sat atop Eleanor’s back, her black boots peeping out, waiting for Jeremy Stanton-Greville. Stanton-Greville. She’d always thought two last names sounded rather absurd, but realized that if everything came to pass as she wanted it to, as she prayed it would, why, she herself would have two names as well. She started, surprised at herself. Meggie Stanton-Greville. Yes, it sounded simply perfect. She pulled in a deep breath and wanted to be sick, but she wasn’t about to deny it. She wanted to marry Jeremy Stanton-Greville and she’d only known him as a man for less than a day. It was madness.