Scandal's Child by Sherrill Bodine Page A

wondered how they, as English, would be received by Jules’s people. Not, of course, that it really mattered for they would only be staying for a short time. Still, it was his homecoming and she would not wish to cast a shadow over it.
    Jules had decided not to press forward and had warned her that they would stop overnight at an inn near Reims.
    Les Hirondelles looked very much like an English inn; the painted wooden sign with two doves could have been a taproom sign in any English village. But inside the hospitality was very different. There was no private dining room, their party would have to be content to share a board with the locals. Kat found this prospect delightful, a chance to practice her halting French. Obviously Jules had sent instructions ahead for the innkeeper, and carefully following his French, Kat learned that he was delighted to welcome the comte and his party.
    “I have ordered us a light fare for tonight. I find it best when traveling,” Jules remarked after seating the ladies, Kat at the head, Caroline and Jacko on one side, Miss Hamilton on the other, and sliding himself into a chair at the foot of the table.
    “Have you traveled much, my lord?” Caroline inquired, her wide blue eyes bright with curiosity.
    “Yes. I have spent ten years on the Continent and in Greece, Miss Strange.”
    “Oh, how thrilling!” Caroline enthused. “Until I went to London I had never left Northumberland. Were you on the Peninsula?”
    “No, that was my brother, the Marquis of Aubrey. I did not take part in the French wars,” he returned flatly, and for the first time Kat noticed him absently run one long finger over his scarred cheek.
    Caroline cast a startled look at Hannah and then an even more knowing one at Kat. Her enquiring countenance was easily read by all around the table; if Saville had not received his wounds at war, how then?
    “Dash it, Miss Strange, regular chatterbox this evening.” Jacko laughed easily, very much like a man accustomed to dealing with sisters. “Let’s dine in peace. Need some wine to wash the dust away, Saville.”
    As if on cue two serving girls appeared with bottles and glasses.
    Kat was happy to see Caroline did not seem offended at Jacko’s words. She merely shrugged and took a tiny sip of wine.
    Not by any outward sign did Jules allow that Caroline’s prying was disconcerting. He knew his appearance evoked a lot of questions. He was only surprised they had not come much earlier and from Kathryn. She seemed to take his appearance almost as a matter of course, but then he knew she did not intend to go through with the marriage, so perhaps it held little import for her.
    He sat back, once again exuding his mysterious and detached air, not yet willing to deal with the interest that he sensed around the table.
    Kat suddenly had the most alarming desire to see beneath that facade. Instead, she picked at the omelet with mushroom sauce, the delicious cassoulet, the dish of peas, and the basket piled high with delicate pastries. She could not, however, resist the apple tart.
    She had spoken the truth when she told Caroline that Saville’s scars were of no concern to her because in all truth they did not distract from his appeal. And Kat realized he did hold a certain appeal for her; not simply because he was showing her such absurd kindness or because they were bonded together in this stratagem to thwart Society’s strictures, but for other reasons that she didn’t quite understand. It would be necessary to stay at least a fortnight at the château before she cried off. During their time together she determined to learn more about him.
    “Kat … Kat, stop wool-gathering!” demanded her insensitive twin. “Miss Strange has been asking you to walk in the garden while we have our port.”
    Kat glanced up to see Jules already standing to assist Caroline and Hannah from the table.
    He lifted that particular eyebrow and flashed her a small smile. “Lady Kathryn, are you all