The aunts arrived and spent four days at Caverley Hall. In that flurried interlude they inspected and praised the staff, introduced themselves to the neighbors and left a scroll of instructions on how to refurbish the nursery. Not unexpectedly the new duchess became an object of curiosity in the village. Ladies and gentlemen, families large and small, trundled in dog-carts and chariots to Sunday church to make her acquaintance.

They flattered her. They gave her flowers on bended knee. They expressed their concerns about her husband’s frequent absences. She said she understood and promised to use her influence on Simon. She was a country lady born and bred who rode and fished and had brought the scowling duke home to take care of them.

Unfortunately she and Simon needed to return to London to greet her new nephew and atone to her cousins for the trouble she’d inflicted on the family. But her loyalty belonged here now.

The magnificent estate included seven hundred acres of arable and pasture land, a pleasure garden, a hothouse, an ice-house, and a brewery. There were shaded paths for summertime rides and walled gardens for winter airings.

Best of all, there was Simon.

The swaying of the great carriage enhanced the forbidden urgency of their coupling. Simon had received the luxurious low-hung vehicle the day before he left Essex. The silk-lined interior provided ample room to indulge in amorous interludes during country travel. The interior lamps provided light for Simon to read his newspapers, Ravenna her novels.

It was a relief not to worry about banging his head against the roof during unbridled exertions. Nor was he forced to hold up his arm like a handrail to keep Ravenna from sliding off the seat.

He was deeply indebted to the coachmaker for his skill as well as his perception.

He was also deeply embedded in his wife; she had locked her strong legs around his waist like a vise. At the moment neither of them were liable to go anywhere without the other.

“Sinful,” he heard her whisper as he withdrew from her only to reapply himself with renewed vigor. She was the most enticing travel companion he could imagine, her shift untied to reveal her soft breasts, her corset -- he wasn’t sure she had even been wearing one. Everything would be sorted out by the time they arrived in London.

Her nipples glistened from his kisses. He breathed in the potent aroma of sex and French soap on her skin. “What if Griffin’s coach overtakes us?” she asked belatedly.

“He is a married man,” he muttered. “I assume he understands what it means that I have closed the blinds.”

“That isn’t humiliating.” She flexed her left foot. “My back is cramped, Simon. Restrain yourself.”

“The heel of your slipper is digging into my rump.”

“What do you expect when you disturb me from a deep slumber to sate your desires?”

“Satisfaction.”

Which he received and returned in full measure, although it did cross his mind that his pummeling might send the carriage off the Great Northern Road and into a ditch. “Did you not do the same to me a few days ago?” he said. “You did not hear me complain.”

“It wasn’t a complaint, Simon.”

“I often forget myself when we are alone,” he said, sliding his hands under her posterior for leverage.

He did not hear her response. In his preoccupied state, the only sounds he discerned were the rumble of dished wheels on the road and his own labored breathing as she tightened in climax, encouraging his own release. He spilled inside her with a shudder that tore down his neck to his back.

“Wife,” he said and lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her until she nudged him off her with a rueful smile.

“That was invigorating,” she said.

“I have paid a price.”

“Oh?”

“Your shoe dug a hole in my bum,” he replied placidly and angled up to rearrange his rumpled attire.

“Explain the reason why to the surgeon,” she said without sympathy. “What if we had been beset by highwayman at the height of our unseemly lust?”

He reached his hand over her head to open the blinds. “Not a varlet in sight.”

“Except for you.” She swung upright to comb back her hair with her fingers and straighten her petticoats. “I must look frightful. Did I really stab you with my slipper?”

“Yes.” His throat went dry as he studied her, overwhelmed by the warmth he felt, the closeness. “Do you fancy cucumber by any chance? Sprinkled with salt and sugar?”

She regarded him in chagrin. “Is cucumber a euphemism for your appendage? It is not very romantic if it is, and I shall refuse to think of our having relations as … making a salad.”

“My what?” He laughed and tucked his shirt into his trousers. “I hope my manhood is more impressive than that. I was wondering if you were hungry. I worked up an appetite myself.”

“I’m unusually ravenous,” she admitted. “But not for a cucumber. Shall we tuck into the pies and cider that Cook packed in the hamper?”

“If you like. I wish we weren’t returning to town.”

“We’ll only stay until November,” she said. “It’s time for me to come down from my turret. There’s no longer a danger in presenting myself to the public. In fact, we have an obligation to use our rank for the benefit of Society.”

“I make large anonymous donations and support social reform. I have not shirked my duty in that regard.”

“But I have to do my part. Anonymity is all very well, but how do you encourage benevolence in others if you don’t set an example? Every member of my family sponsors a charity or the arts. My cousin Chloe is a passionate supporter of a female penitentiary.”

“Good God. What is wrong with Chloe? You are not going to gaol. Why do you put me through these trials? Haven’t I fretted enough? Do you think I want you socializing with thieves and prostitutes? Can’t you amuse yourselves with corsets instead?”

“Jane and Grayson host suppers for the impoverished and fund charity schools. The idea is to assist lost souls.”

“We shall have to compromise.” He did not add that a trace of his concern for her lingered. He trusted that in time his misgivings would subside, and he’d be free to dedicate himself to love and duty. Marriage might not be an ethereal cloud on which husband and wife floated above the world’s turmoil. Nevertheless, it was a promise to enter the fray together and stand back to back until the end. And while Simon concluded that striving for the good of mankind was a noble cause, he saw no reason why he and Ravenna could not first devote their energy to the necessary pleasure of producing a family.

In all truth, he had done nothing to prevent a natural occurrence.

From the evening they arrived in London, they were drawn back into the smothering bosom of the family. As one of the brood, Simon was subject to the same rules the Boscastles seemed to obey only when necessary. Everyone demanded answers, from the aunts and Harriet to Heath, who seemed not entirely satisfied by Simon’s recount of the story, as if a piece of a puzzle were missing.

Simon wasn’t sure why. Perhaps Heath had other concerns on his mind. All Simon knew was that he and Ravenna were benumbed after three days of explaining every Who, What, Why, and Where of their ordeal to the family. Finally, the duke and duchess received a blessing to resume a normal life -- if one considered intrigue and sophisticated pleasures standard fare.

The Earl of Bruxton’s death caused little comment in Society. It emerged that he had not been well-liked even by his political supporters or racing cohorts. The nephew who inherited his worldly goods did not so much as bother to arrange a memorial service for his uncle.

Nor did this heir seem curious about the circumstances of Bruxton’s death. He made arrangements to move his household to the manor as soon as legalities were settled. The local authorities had accepted Simon’s claim that the fatal shooting was an act of self-defense. Kieran was not charged. Determined to atone for his past, he brought Susannah’s horse to Caverley House.

“It is calm for once in our lives,” Simon told Ravenna as he reclined in bed, smiling at the sight of her slipping out of her cherry-silk robe behind the curtains.

“You’ve cursed us now,” she said and slid naked under the coverlet to settle in his waiting arms.

Indeed, two days later Heath shared a secret with his siblings and closest cousins that sent a jolt of unprecedented excitement through the House of Boscastle: The Home Office had confirmed that Heath’s youngest brother Brandon had been seen riding on the beach in Edinburgh.

“Brandon was initially sighted in England,” Ravenna explained to Simon after a celebratory dinner in Park Lane. “If Heath knows more, he is keeping the information to himself.”

“I deduce he knows quite a bit more,” he said once they had retired to their suite. Their nightly confidences had become a ritual that unburdened Simon and reminded him how he treasured his friendship with Ravenna.

She stood patiently to allow him to unbutton her long gloves, then gown. “It explains why Heath has been more distracted than usual since our return. That and anticipating the birth of his first child.”

“In any event, it is good news.” But Simon had refrained from asking Heath the obvious: Why hadn’t Brandon contacted his relatives? Was he hiding from them? Surely he understood the anguish his family had endured, not knowing his fate for years.

“Perhaps he lost his memory,” Ravenna said as if guessing his thoughts.

Simon walked behind her to the dressing closet. “That would be too simplistic. A man who can’t remember his past would not have the wits to erase all signs of his existence.”

“Heath will unearth the truth,” she said as she removed her jewels, carefully placing her sapphire bracelet in a drawer. “For now we shall gather close in gratitude and expect a season of impatient waiting. The prodigal will find his way home, or he will be found.”

In the interim life would continue its unpredictable course. Between family and ducal issues, Simon feared he’d soon have to make an appointment with Ravenna to ensure an uninterrupted encounter.

But he had not fallen in love with an insipid woman. Her enthusiasm for the matters of life that he had taken for granted had reinvigorated him.

Why else had he agreed they would participate in a charity masquerade at the end of the week? He had not become affable. He simply wanted to give his wife everything she desired.