A Matter of Duty Read Online Free PDF Page A

her shiver a little as it touched her bare arms. She drew her shawl more closely. ‘Why are you here, Kit? What’s happened?’
    ‘I have to go to the mainland tonight.’
    Her eyes widened. ‘In this weather?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘But it’s madness! What possible reason can you have that’s important enough?’
    ‘I can’t tell you here. Come aboard.’
    She was loath to agree, for she still felt angry with him for failing to join her at the concert, but she slipped her hand into his and alighted from the landau. The rain was cold and the wind snatched at her flimsy damson skirt.
    He led her quickly across the quay and over the gang-plank onto the deck of the cutter, ushering her toward the stern, where a narrow hatch led belowdeck to the vessel’s single, exceedingly small cabin. As Kit closed the hatch behind them, the noise of the storm was immediately stifled.
    The cabin was spartan, containing a narrow, curtained bunk, a small table and chair, and a sea trunk. During the day it was lit by a fine window in the stern, but now, in the darkness, light was provided by two gimbel-mounted candlesticks on the wall. The flames had shivered as the hatch was opened and the night air swept in, but they swiftly settled again.
    Kit untied his wet cloak, hanging it on a hook, then he removed his top hat and gloves, tossing both onto the table before turning to face Thea. He was wearing a plain, excellently cut brown coat and very tight buckskin breeches that outlined his fine form to perfection, leaving very little of his anatomy to the imagination. His top boots were the work of Hoby of St James’s Street, and his cravat was tied in the very latest fashion. He was above average height, with broad shoulders and slender hips, and always managed to look effortlessly elegant and graceful. There were centuries of breeding and quality in his lean, sunburnt face and clear blue eyes, and a hint of devil-may-care in his finely chiseled lips. His tousled fair hair was usually just a little wavy, but tonight, because of the downpour, it was wet and tightly curled. There was something of the prince and the Viking about him, and it was an exciting mixture that never failed to stimulate her. Looking at him now, she wanted nothing more than to submit to him, but she was still angry, and anger always made her contrary.
    She faced him haughtily. ‘Why did you ask me to come here, Kit? If there’s something so vastly important waiting for you on the mainland that you must up and go even on a night like this, I marvel that you bothered to send word to me at all.’
    He smiled a little. ‘You know full well that I’d never leave without good reason, and you also know that I wouldn’t go without seeing you first.’
    ‘Without sending for me like a lackey, you mean,’ she said petulantly.
    ‘Some lackey,’ he murmured, allowing his glance to move appreciatively over her.
    She flushed a little, pleased in spite of herself. ‘You presume, sir.’
    ‘So I do.’
    She felt her pulse quicken. ‘Why are you leaving Cowes so quickly?’ she asked.
    ‘I’ve received an urgent note from Tom Cherington. He needs me in London.’
    ‘ Needs you? What can that good-for-nothing wastrel possibly need you for?’
    ‘I know your opinion of him, Thea, but he happens to have recently become a very good friend of mine. He also happens to have got himself embroiled in a duel at dawn the day after tomorrow, with your husband.’
    She stared at him then. ‘He what ? A duel with Rowe ? Is he mad?’
    ‘Mad? No. Unfortunate? Yes, most probably, for he was unwise enough to detect Rowe cheating at cards. Anyway, the upshot of it all is that Tom has asked me to be his second. I regard it as my duty to go, and I must be there well before time if I’m to stand any chance of dissuading him.’ He met her eyes. ‘It has to be Tom who retracts, for we know full well that Rowe never will.’
    She looked away. ‘Any man fool enough to cross Rowe deserves all he