Their gazes met, and she hesitated on the steps, one gloved hand gracefully holding the oak banister while her other hand settled on her stomach, as if to calm a sudden fluttering there. Was it similar to the bewildering commotion the sight of her set up in his own stomach? Although he’d never considered himself a fanciful man, he swore that in that instant something passed between them. Something warm and intimate, and certainly on his part filled with a longing he could neither explain nor deny.

He watched her draw a slow, deep breath, his gaze drawn to the delicate hollow at the base of her throat, which deepened as she inhaled… that fascinating bit of vulnerable skin he knew felt like a swatch of velvet and was scented with the hint of roses. She blinked several times, breaking the spell that seemed to have been cast between them. She then resumed her descent, but had taken no more than two steps when Colin spoke softly from directly behind him. “Exquisite, isn’t she?”

Nathan forced his posture to remain casual, but didn’t bother to turn around. He didn’t want to see the stark admiration he knew would be evident in Colin’s gaze. And he refused to give Colin the opportunity to see the stark longing he suspected still lingered in his own gaze. “Exquisite,” he murmured in agreement, as it was fruitless to deny anything so obvious.

“Pity she has those suitors in London,” Colin whispered. “Of course, I wouldn’t let that stop me.”

Nathan turned around at that. Colin was staring up the staircase with an expression of rapt fascination.

“Stop you from what?” Nathan asked through clenched teeth.

“From going after what I wanted.” He shifted his gaze from Victoria to Nathan. “And making certain I acquired it.” With that, he stepped around Nathan and moved to the bottom of the stairs. Extending his hand toward Victoria, who’d nearly reached the bottom, Colin said, “Lady Victoria, how lovely you look.”

It was not a promising beginning to the evening.

The torture had then continued during the carriage ride to Gordon’s estate. Victoria had sat between her aunt and Colin, while Nathan and his father sat opposite the trio. Colin spent the entire ride regaling the group with some story about what, Nathan had no idea, other than to guess it was apparently quite humorous based on the ensuing laughter. No, he’d been too busy trying-with no success whatsoever-not to notice Victoria smiling at Colin. Her melodic laugh at something he said. The way Colin’s thigh was pressed against hers in the close confines of the carriage. How his shoulder brushed hers with every bump in the road.

His stomach had clenched with an unpleasant sensation that couldn’t be called anything other than what it was: jealousy. It had been some time since he’d experienced the emotion, and he wasn’t happy that it was snaking through him now. And he especially didn’t like that it was his brother inspiring these envious feelings. While he couldn’t deny that he and Colin had occasionally competed while growing up, as brothers were wont to do, they’d rarely done so over anything other than racing their horses or a backgammon board, as their interests were so different. They’d never competed over a woman, as their tastes differed greatly in that area as well. Colin had always preferred aristocratic women, while Nathan’s tastes ran more toward women who didn’t put on Society’s airs. He was attracted to women whose interests reached beyond fashion, gossip, and the weather. In truth, he’d always preferred to spend an evening conversing with a homely bluestocking than engaging in small talk with the most beautiful woman in the room.

Until now, it seemed.

Victoria, with her lofty position in Society and all that entailed, her expensive clothing, her beauty, her numerous suitors who undoubtedly hung on her every word, epitomized the exact opposite of the sort of woman he preferred. Yet, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Couldn’t stop thinking about her. Couldn’t squelch the remembrance of kissing her. Touching her. Couldn’t control the deep ache of want and lust she inspired.

The torture hadn’t lessened at all during dinner-in fact it worsened with the addition of Gordon, who was also clearly besotted with Victoria. And she seemed extremely flattered by his regard. While she basked in the glow of the attention both Colin and Gordon showered upon her, Nathan’s father and Lady Delia kept up a lively discussion between themselves, leaving Nathan with a great deal of time to observe everyone and eat a meal that he supposed was delicious but tasted like sawdust.

And naturally the torture had continued when, after the interminable meal, the group retired to the drawing room for games. Nathan had been sorely tempted to fabricate an excuse to depart, but after Victoria, her aunt, Colin, and Gordon decided to play whist, Nathan’s father had invited him to share a brandy and a turn at the chessboard. Given the tension between him and his father, the invitation had both surprised and pleased him, and he’d accepted. While he was in no mood for chess, the brandy had sounded extremely welcome, as did the opportunity to perhaps ease the awkwardness between them.

Yet now, working his way through his second brandy, and though he stared at the chessboard, all his attention remained focused on the laughing group across the room. Giving up all hope of concentrating on the game, he moved his rook.

Based on his father’s raised brows, he judged he’d made an unwise move, which was proven seconds later when his father said, “You seem to have lost your skill for this game, Nathan.”

“Er, not at all. I’m setting an elaborate trap from which you will not escape.”

Doubt was written all over his father’s face. Another burst of laughter came from across the room, and Nathan’s gaze involuntarily shifted to the merry whist players. After he pulled his vision back to his own disastrous game in progress, he noticed that his father’s attention remained fixed across the room with a speculative expression.

“Remarkable woman,” his father said softly.

Nathan stilled, then barely controlled the urge to look heavenward. It appeared Victoria had made yet another conquest. How bloody delightful. “Remarkable?” he repeated with feigned indifference. “I find her rather… tiresome.” He again resisted the urge to look heavenward, this time to see if a lightning bolt would smite him for uttering such an outrageous lie.

His father’s surprised gaze flicked toward him then resettled again across the room. “I wasn’t aware you’d spent enough time in her company to form such an opinion.”

As far as his peace of mind was concerned, he’d spent far too much time in her company, and before her visit to Cornwall was over, he’d be forced to spend much more time with her. And damn it, he couldn’t wait.

“One need not spend days or weeks with a person to form an opinion, Father. First impressions tend to be fairly accurate.” A frown pulled down Nathan’s brow as he realized that his first impression of Victoria had been that she was utterly… charming. Too innocent for him, too aristocratic, but charming nonetheless.

“I completely agree,” Father said, nodding.

Nathan pulled himself from his brown study. “You agree? With what?”

“What you just said. That it isn’t necessary to know someone very long to realize they are… special.”

“I said that?” Good God, he needed to stop drinking brandy. Immediately.

“Perhaps not in those precise words, but that was the idea, yes.”

“You might not need to spend much time, but certainly at least a private conversation is necessary, Father.”

“Again, I agree. We had a delightful chat this morning in the garden, then again this afternoon over tea. Can’t recall the last time I was so delightfully entertained.”

Nathan’s brows puckered further. “I thought you spent this morning with Lady Delia in the garden.”

“And so I did. As I said, a remarkable woman.”

Nathan blinked. “You think Lady Delia is remarkable?”

His father looked at him strangely. “Yes. What on earth did you think I was saying? Has your hearing become afflicted along with your chess playing ability?”

No, but clearly his mental capabilities were not all they should be. “I thought you were referring to Lady Victoria,” he muttered.

Father stared at him hard for several seconds. “I see. A man would have to be blind not to notice that Lady Victoria is comely.”

“I never said she wasn’t.”

“No. You said she was tiresome. Chit doesn’t strike me as such. Clearly, neither your brother nor Alwyck find her objectionable, either.” He studied Nathan over the rim of his crystal snifter. “Not the sort of woman you used to be attracted to.”

Damn it all, when had he turned into a book his father could read so accurately? “I wasn’t aware that ‘tiresome’ was synonymous with ‘attracted to,’ ” Nathan said, keeping his tone light.

“Normally it’s not. However, sometimes…” Father’s voice drifted off, then he added, “A woman of her rank is a much better match for Colin. Or Alwyck.”

The bitterness he’d spent years holding at bay twisted Nathan’s lips. “As opposed to an untitled second son who is a lowly country physician with a dubious reputation. I wholeheartedly agree.”

His father’s gaze hardened. “I harbor no objections to your choice of profession. Indeed, being a physician is respectable for a man in your position and far preferable to having you risk your life and your brother’s life as a spy. But I neither approve of nor understand the decisions you’ve made regarding where and how you live and the way you left Cornwall.”

Nathan hiked up one brow. “Little Longstone is a quiet, charming place-”

“Where people pay you with farm animals and you live in a shack.”