The Viscount and The Virgin. Valerie Parv

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      Chapter Three

      “I wish I could say you’re welcome,” she said stiffly, her senses returning.

      His glittering gaze mocked her. “But you still think I’m a cultural vandal.”

      She took satisfaction in throwing his own words back at him. “You said it. I didn’t.”

      “Touché. While we’re working together, I will hold you responsible for civilizing me,” he said. “You can teach me about the collections, and the history of the castle.”

      She’d been hoping they wouldn’t see enough of each other for that. “Didn’t you study those things when you were growing up here?” she asked.

      His expression darkened. “I didn’t grow up here.”

      In her head she conjured up an image of the de Marigny family tree. Rowe’s grandmother had been sister to the grandfather of Carramer’s present monarch. “As the son of Angelique and James, surely—”

      “If you know my family’s history that well, then you know that I was eight when my father went scuba diving and never returned.”

      She did know the tragic story. To this day, people speculated that the previous Viscount Aragon, James Sevrin, was still alive somewhere, perhaps living abroad after spying for another country. She didn’t believe any of the fanciful explanations. More likely, he had been carried out to sea by one of the notorious riptides off Carramer’s beaches. “It was a terrible tragedy,” she murmured.

      He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Not an international conspiracy?”

      “I don’t believe so.”

      “Then you’re in the minority. After my father disappeared, my mother took me to live at one of the royal estates in Valmont province. She made sure I had a suitably royal education there, but she never wanted to return to the castle. She hoped to escape the rumors about my father, although they followed us even to Valmont.”

      Having had her share of family tragedy, Kirsten knew only too well how hard it was to deal with the loss of loved ones, and she hadn’t had to cope with sensational headlines and sidelong looks from people who thought they knew the truth.

      “I’m sorry,” she said.

      “You sound almost sincere.”

      She bristled at the doubt she heard in his tone. “Believe it or not, I am. I’ve also lost people I care about, and it’s never easy, no matter who you are, or what the circumstances.”

      “No.” He half turned away, exposing his impressive profile.

      He may not have grown up in the castle, but his birthright was there in his every move, she thought. His bearing, his manner, his speech, all bespoke a self-assurance that few people possessed. “I would have thought Merrisand Castle was the last place you would want to return to,” she said.

      “As Rowe Sevrin, I can live with it. Max and his family were incredibly supportive when my father disappeared. Helping them is the least I can do to repay him.”

      She wanted to ask if he could shed his personal history as easily as his title, but decided it was none of her business. Nor had she any interest in his problems. He had done more to hurt her family than he knew, and she couldn’t forgive him for it. She didn’t want to feel compassion for him, and it bothered her to find her basic sense of decency at odds with her antipathy toward him.

      He wasn’t going to be an easy man to hate.

      “I’d like to go over my plans for the race with you over dinner,” he said, startling her.

      Picturing herself seated across a table from him, the subdued lighting playing on his aristocratic features, she felt heat suffuse her. She felt foolishly tempted to accept, in spite of all the reasons she shouldn’t. What would it like to be the focus of his attention, to feel the touch of his hand on hers across the table as he made some point, maybe to dance with him after dinner, his body aligned with hers as they moved to the music?

      Stop it, she ordered herself. If they were to work together, she had to remember who and what he was, and the threat he represented if he should discover his relationship to her son. Thinking of Jeffrey strengthened her resolve. “Thank you for the invitation, but I’m not free tonight.”

      Interest gleamed in his flinty gaze. “Another date?”

      Tempted to remind him that her private life was none of his concern, she said, instead, “A family commitment.”

      “Ah, yes, your son.”

      She’d been right—he had been reading her file. How else would he know she had a child? “I have to collect Jeffrey from school in ten minutes.”

      He picked up a file from the desk and tucked it under his arm. “I’ll walk with you.”

      Having him meet Jeffrey was the last thing she wanted. “My workday finished half an hour ago,” she reminded him.

      He seemed unperturbed as he held the office door open for her. “Mine, too. I’m staying in the state apartments, so the school is on my way.”

      To go through the door she had to brush past him. As she did so, a force like electricity crackled through her, sensitizing her nerves to an alarming degree. Despair quickly followed. How could she work with him and remain aloof when he had such a disturbing effect on her?

      It seemed she had no option but to let him accompany her. She could hardly deny him the freedom of the castle grounds when he had more right to them than she did. Perhaps she could convince him not to wait when they reached the school.

      She had no more luck with that than with denying his powerful impact on her, she found when they reached the building housing the school for the children of castle employees. Once a hunting lodge, the late-nineteenth-century building was as large as many mansions. Built of creamy Carramer sandstone, it was two stories high with mullioned windows, heavy timber doors and ornate wrought-iron gates. A garden of fragrant rambler roses edged a large swath of lush green lawn where children played. One fenced-off area was reserved for the smaller children, and it was here she often found Jeffrey playing with his toy cars in the sandpit. The playground was empty today, the children still inside.

      “I mustn’t keep you,” she said by way of a hint to Rowe that it was time СКАЧАТЬ