Relief warmed her insides. “See that he gets a bath, will you?”

Simon frowned. “With great pleasure. I’ll throw him overboard myself after his stupidity. He’s brash, brazen, doesn’t follow directions . . .”

Scarlet smiled. She was thinking some of the exact same things, only her thoughts were more pleasurably inclined.

Simon added, “And therefore dangerous.”

Her eyes sharpened, and then she shrugged. She felt too tired to care. “Let us be off, Simon. England beckons.”

Chapter Five

Matteo held a piece of chocolate between two fingers. “You must try this, my lady. It is delectable.”

Scarlet and Matteo enjoyed a moment of leisure on the back terrace of her estate before Scarlet’s other house guests descended. They shared a table and breakfast while going through their correspondence or, in Matteo’s case, wishing he had correspondence. Thoughts of Potier and his other staff plagued him, moments alone with Scarlet his only solace.

The estate sat within an easy distance of London but was far enough away that Scarlet could enjoy a bit of land and gardens. Most relations would have asked her to move immediately into the dowager cottage, but her brother-in-law, knowing it to be her favorite, had insisted she maintain her residence in the home. Though Matteo enjoyed their company, he was grateful the marquess and marchioness lingered in their chamber during the morning hours.

Bored, he tried to distract her again. “You will never taste anything as delicious as this bite, right here.”

Lady Cavendish looked up from her reading, into his eyes. “Oh?”

“Yes.” Matteo moved his chair closer to hers. “Prince George had these delivered for you today. They are from my own France. I promise this will not disappoint.” He quirked up his eyebrow. She closed her eyes and then slowly parted her lips. Matteo swallowed. Steady, man. He placed the chocolate inside on the flat of her tongue, brushing her bottom lip with his fingers as he pulled away. She closed her mouth and then groaned in pleasure.

“Mmmm. Comte Durand.” She opened her eyes. “I am overcome.” After an exaggerated sigh of pure ecstasy, she lifted her eyebrows a couple of times, teasing. Sitting up taller in her chair, she said, “And your delivery of that little morsel was almost better than the chocolate itself.” She blushed. “Really, you are too much.”

Matteo sat back in his chair and laughed. “You, my lady, are delightfully candid.” His eyes memorized her features one more time. “I have discovered in my short stay here that beautiful truisms roll off your tongue night and day. I find I am quite captivated by them.”

Leaning back into the pillows on her chair, her eyes searched his own. “And I find that you are quite distracting.”

“Distracting? In what manner am I distracting?”

Lady Cavendish blushed again.

Matteo adored unsettling her. He raised his eyebrows, waiting for her answer. “Hmm?”