The imposing entrance was only a taste of the luxury to be discovered in the vast house, and Emma had swiftly given up the effort to estimate what the oil masterpieces framed on the walls and the various objects of art spread throughout the home might be worth.
And then she had been introduced to the Duke and Duchess of Huntley.
Stefan, with his dark hair and lean, autocratic face that would cause any woman’s heart to miss a beat. His dark blue eyes had held a cunning intelligence that seemed to pierce to her very soul. And at his side the lovely Leonida who had at first glance seemed as frigidly beautiful as the tundra in winter.
She would have fled in terror if Dimitri had not stepped close to run a comforting hand down her back.
Then, with a surprising laugh, the duke and duchess had moved forward, warmly welcoming her to their home and assuring her that they would do whatever possible to help retrieve her sister.
Leonida had whisked her away to her chambers where she had insisted on hours of fittings with her dresser while Dimitri had mysteriously disappeared with Stefan.
Now she gazed in the mirror in amazement at the transformation that Leonida had achieved.
The evening gown was a spangled crepe draped over a satin slip of shimmering silver. The bodice was cut off the shoulders with tiny puff sleeves and a silver velvet ribbon tied snuggly beneath her bosom. With her honey curls piled loosely atop her head and her cheeks flushed with pleasure she had never appeared more elegant.
Almost as if she truly were a proper lady, she acknowledged with a rueful sigh.
Hesitantly her hand reached to touch a diamond-crusted button.
“It is lovely, but—”
“No arguments,” Leonida interrupted, turning Emma to meet her determined expression. “You look exquisite.”
Emma grimaced. Since her mother’s death she had precious little time to fuss over her appearance. Not that it truly mattered. She had more important concerns to occupy her attention.
“Hardly exquisite,” she muttered.
Leonida shook her head in disbelief. “Emma, how can you not realize you are extraordinarily lovely?”
Discomforted by her companion’s insistence that she might be more than passably pretty, Emma paced across the Persian carpet. She had fallen in love with the amber bedchamber with its canopy bed and lemonwood furnishings covered with English chintz the moment she had entered the room, but she was too restless to fully appreciate her surroundings.
She blamed her unease on being so far from her familiar village and in the home of an English duke. Any woman in her position would be unnerved.
A voice in the back of her mind, however, whispered that the skittish sensation was entirely due to Dimitri Tipova and his reaction when he returned to the town house to discover she had demanded separate bedchambers.
Chiding herself for allowing her thoughts to once again be distracted by the bothersome man, she turned back to meet Leonida’s curious gaze.
“Anya has always been the beauty of the family,” she admitted.
“No doubt because you were willing to disguise your own beauty and allow her to shine.”
Emma shrugged. She never considered the sacrifices she had made or allowed self-pity to embitter her. She was a great deal more fortunate than many people.
“Most would tell you I was born a tyrannical, ill-tempered spinster,” she said ruefully.
Leonida smiled. “Well, there is no one who will mistake you for a spinster in this gown.”
“Leonida speaks the truth, moya dusha,” a dark, whiskey-smooth voice murmured. “There is not a man who will gaze upon you and not wish to possess you.”
Sharp excitement jolted through her as Emma turned to discover Dimitri strolling into the room, his elegant ruby jacket and black waistcoat unable to disguise his raw masculinity.
“Dimitri,” she breathed.
“You need not thank me for my efforts, Dimitri,” Leonida drawled with obvious amusement. “It was a pleasure to assist Emma. She is a guest that I am glad to have in my home.”
The smoldering golden gaze never shifted from Emma’s wary face. “I will speak with Emma in private.”
Leonida placed an arm around Emma’s shoulders, making it clear she was willing to stand up to the dangerous cutthroat.