He started his campaign in earnest when the musicians struck up for the dance for which he had engaged her. By careful manoeuvring, they were seated in a sheltered alcove, free for the moment of her swains. Schooling his features to grave disappointment, he said, “Dear Lizzie. I’m so sorry to disappoint you, but…” He let his voice fade away weakly.
Lizzie’s sweet face showed her concern. “Oh! Do you not feel the thing? Perhaps I can get Mrs. Alford’s smelling salts for you?”
Martin quelled the instinctive response to react to her suggestion in too forceful a manner. Instead, he waved aside her words with one limp hand. “No! No! Don’t worry about me. I’ll come about shortly.” He smiled forlornly at her, allowing his blue gaze to rest, with calculated effect, on her grey-brown eyes. “But maybe you’d like to get one of your other beaux to dance with you? I’m sure Mr. Mallard would be only too thrilled.” He made a move as if to summon this gentleman, the most assiduous of her suitors.
“Heavens, no!” exclaimed Lizzie, catching his hand in hers to prevent the action. “I’ll do no such thing. If you’re feeling poorly then of course I’ll stay with you.” She continued to hold his hand and, for his part, Martin made no effort to remove it from her warm clasp.
Martin closed his eyes momentarily, as if fighting off a sudden faintness. Opening them again, he said, “Actually, I do believe it’s all the heat and noise in here that’s doing it. Perhaps if I went out on to me terrace for a while, it might clear my head.”
“The very thing!” said Lizzie, jumping up.
Martin, rising more slowly, smiled down at her in a brotherly fashion. “Actually, I’d better go alone. Someone might get the wrong idea if we both left.”
“Nonsense!” said Lizzie, slightly annoyed by his implication that such a conclusion could, of course, have no basis in fact. “Why should anyone worry? We’ll only be a few minutes and anyway, I’m your brother’s ward, after all.”
Martin made some small show of dissuading her, which, as he intended, only increased her resolution to accompany him. Finally, he allowed himself to be bullied on to the terrace, Lizzie’s small hand on his arm, guiding him.
As supper time was not far distant, there were only two other couples on the shallow terrace, and within minutes both had returned to the ballroom. Martin, food very far from his mind, strolled down the terrace, apparently content to go where Lizzie led. But his sharp soldier’s eyes had very quickly adjusted to the moonlight. After a cursory inspection of the surroundings, he allowed himself to pause dramatically as they neared the end of the terrace. “I really think…” He waited a moment, as if gathering strength, then continued, “I really think I should sit down.”
Lizzie looked around in consternation. There were no benches on the terrace, not even a balustrade.
“There’s a seat under that willow, I think,” said Martin, gesturing across the lawn.
A quick glance from Lizzie confirmed this observation. “Here, lean on me,” she said. Martin obligingly draped one arm lightly about her shoulders. As he felt her small hands gripping him about his waist, a pang of guilt shook him. She really was so trusting. A pity to destroy it.
They reached the willow and brushed through the long strands which conveniently fell back to form a curtain around the white wooden seat. Inside the chamber so formed, the moonbeams danced, sprinkling sufficient light to lift the gloom and allow them to see. Martin sank on to the seat with a convincing show of weakness. Lizzie subsided in a susurration of silks beside him, retaining her clasp on his hand and half turning the better to look into his face.
The moon was behind the willow and one bright beam shone through over Martin’s shoulder to fall gently on Lizzie’s face. Martin’s face was in shadow, so Lizzie, smiling confidingly up at him, could only see that he was smiling in return. She could not see the expression which lit his blue eyes as they devoured her delicate face, then dropped boldly to caress the round swell of her breasts where they rose and fell invitingly below the demurely scooped neckline of her gown. Carefully, Martin turned his hand so that now he was holding her hand, not she his. Then he was still.
After some moments, Lizzie put her head on one side and softly asked, “Are you all right?”
It was on the tip of Martin’s tongue to answer truthfully. No, he was not all right. He had brought her out here to commence her seduction and now some magical power was holding him back. What was the matter with him? He cleared his throat and answered huskily, “Give me a minute.”
A light breeze wafted the willow leaves and the light shifted. Lizzie saw the distracted frown which had settled over his eyes. Drawing her hand from his, she reached up and gently ran her fingers over his brow, as if to smooth the frown away. Then, to Martin’s intense surprise, she leaned forward and, very gently, touched her lips to his.
As she drew away, Lizzie saw to her dismay that, if Martin had been frowning before, he was positively scowling now. “Why did you do that?” he asked, his tone sharp.
Even in the dim light he could see her confusion. “Oh, dear! I’m s…so sorry. Please excuse me! I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Damn right, you shouldn’t have,” Martin growled. His hand, which had fallen to the bench, was clenched hard with the effort to remain still and not pull the damn woman into his arms and devour her. He realized she had not answered his question. “But why did you?”
Lizzie hung her head in contrition. “It’s just that you looked…well, so troubled. I just wanted to help.” Her voice was a small whisper in the night
Martin sighed in frustration. That sort of help he could do without
“I suppose you’ll think me very forward, but…” This time, her voice died away altogether.
What Martin did think was that she was adorable and he hurt with the effort to keep his hands off her. Now he came to think of it, while he had not had a headache when they came out to the garden, he certainly had one now. Repressing the desire to groan aloud, he straightened. “We’d better get back to the ballroom. We’ll just forget the incident.” As he drew her to her feet and placed her hand on his arm, an unwelcome thought struck him. “You don’t go around kissing other men who look troubled, do you?”
The surprise in her face was quite genuine. “No! Of course not!”
“Well,” said Martin, wondering why the information so thrilled him, “just subdue any of these sudden impulses of yours. Except around me, of course. I dare say it’s perfectly all right with me, in the circumstances. You are my brother’s ward, after all.”
Lizzie, still stunned by her forward behaviour, and the sudden impulse that had driven her to it, smiled trustingly up at him.
———
Caroline smiled her practised smile and wished, for at least the hundredth time, that Max Rotherbridge were not their guardian. At least, she amended, not her guardian. He was proving a tower of strength in all other respects and she could only be grateful, both for his continuing support and protection, as well as his experienced counsel over the affair of Sarah and Lord Darcy. But there was no doubt in her mind that her own confusion would be immeasurably eased by dissolution of the guardianship clause which tied her so irrevocably to His Grace of Twyford.
While she circled the floor in the respectful arms of Mr. Willoughby who, she knew, was daily moving closer to a declaration despite her attempts to dampen his confidence, she was conscious of a wish that it was her guardian’s far less gentle clasp she was in. Mr. Willoughby, she had discovered, was worthy. Which was almost as bad as righteous. She sighed and covered the lapse with a brilliant smile into his mild eyes, slightly below her own. It was not that she despised short men, just that they lacked the ability to make her feel delicate and vulnerable, womanly, as Max Rotherbridge certainly could. In fact, the feeling of utter helplessness that seemed to overcome her every time she found herself in his powerful arms was an increasing concern.
As she and her partner turned with the music, she sighted Sarah, dancing with one
of her numerous court, trying, not entirely successfully, to look as if she was enjoying it. Her heart went out to her sister. They had stayed at home the previous night and, in unusual privacy, thrashed out the happenings of the night before. While Sarah skated somewhat thinly over certain aspects, it had been clear that she, at least, knew her heart But Max had taken the opportunity of a few minutes’ wait in the hall at Twyford House to let both herself and Sarah know, in the most subtle way, that Lord Darcy had left town for his estates. She swallowed another sigh and smiled absently at Mr. Willoughby.
As the eldest, she had, in recent years, adopted the role of surrogate mother to her sisters. One unfortunate aspect of that situation was that she had no one to turn to herself. If the gentleman involved had been anyone other than her guardian, she would have sought advice from Lady Benborough. In the circumstances, that avenue, too, was closed to her. But, after that interlude in the Overtons’s summer-house, she was abysmally aware that she needed advice. All he had to do was to take her into his arms and her well-ordered defences fell flat. And his kiss! The effect of that seemed totally to disorder her mind, let alone her senses. She had not yet fathomed what, exactly, he was about, yet it seemed inconceivable that he would seduce his own ward. Which fact, she ruefully admitted, but only to herself when at her most candid, was at the seat of her desire to no longer be his ward.
It was not that she had any wish to join the demimonde. But face facts she must. She was nearly twenty-six and she knew what she wanted. She wanted Max Rotherbridge. She knew he was a rake and, if she had not instantly divined him standing as soon as she had laid eyes on him, Lady Benborough’s forthright remarks on the subject left no room for doubt. But every tiny particle of her screamed that he was the one. Which was why she was calmly dancing with each of her most ardent suitors, careful not to give any one of them the slightest encouragement, while waiting for her guardian to claim her for the dance before supper. On their arrival in the overheated ballroom, he had, in a sensual murmur that had wafted the curls over her ear and sent shivery tingles all the way down her spine, asked her to hold that waltz for him. She looked into Mr. Willoughby’s pale eyes. And sighed.
———
“Sir Malcolm, I do declare you’re flirting with me!” Desperation lent Arabella’s bell-like voice a definite edge. Using her delicate feather fan to great purpose, she flashed her large eyes at the horrendously rich but essentially dim-witted Scottish baronet, managing meanwhile to keep Hugo, Lord Denbigh, in view. Her true prey was standing only feet away, conversing amiably with a plain matron with an even plainer daughter. What was the matter with him? She had tried every trick she knew to bring the great oaf to her tiny feet, yet he persistently drifted away. He would be politely attentive but seemed incapable of settling long enough even to be considered one of her court. She had kept the supper waltz free, declaring it to be taken to all her suitors, convinced he would ask her for that most favoured dance. But now, with supper time fast approaching, she suddenly found herself facing the prospect of having no partner at all. Her eyes flashing, she tinned in welcome to Mr. Pritchard and Viscount Molesworth.
She readily captivated both gentlemen, skilfully steering clear of any lapse of her own rigidly imposed standards. She was an outrageous flirt, she knew, but a discerning flirt, and she had long made it her policy never to hurt anyone with her artless chatter. She enjoyed the occupation but it had never involved her heart. Normally, her suitors happily fell at her feet without the slightest assistance from her. But, now that she had at last found someone she wished to attract, she had, to her horror, found she had less idea of how to draw a man to her side than plainer girls who had had to learn the art.
To her chagrin, she saw the musicians take then-places on the rostrum. There was only one thing to do. She smiled sweetly at the three gentlemen around her. “My dear sirs,” she murmured, her voice mysteriously low, “I’m afraid I must leave you. No! Truly. Don’t argue.” Another playful smile went around. “Until later, Sir Malcolm, Mr. Pritchard, my lord.” With a nod and a mysterious smile she moved away, leaving the three gentlemen wondering who the lucky man was.
Slipping through the crowd, Arabella headed for the exit to the ballroom. Doubtless there would be an antechamber somewhere where she could hide. She was not hungry anyway. She timed her exit to coincide with the movement of a group of people across the door, making it unlikely that anyone would see her retreat. Once in the passage, she glanced about. The main stairs lay directly in front of her. She glanced to her left in time to see two ladies enter one of the rooms. The last thing she needed was the endless chatter of a withdrawing-room. She turned purposefully to her right. At the end of the dimly lit corridor, a door stood open, light from the flames of a hidden fire flickering on its panels. She hurried down the corridor and, looking in, saw a small study. It was empty. A carafe and glasses set in readiness on a small table suggested it was yet another room set aside for the use of guests who found the heat of the ballroom too trying. With a sigh of relief, Arabella entered. After some consideration, she left the door open.
She went to the table and poured herself a glass of water. As she was replacing the glass, she heard voices approaching. Her eyes scanned the room and lit on the deep window alcove; the curtain across it, if fully drawn, would make it a small room. On the thought, she was through, drawing the heavy curtain tightly shut.
In silence, her heart beating in her ears, she listened as the voices came nearer and entered the room, going towards the fire. She waited a moment, breathless, but no one came to the curtain. Relaxing, she turned. And almost fell over the large pair of feet belonging to the gentleman stretched at his ease in the armchair behind the curtain.
“Oh!” Her hand flew to her lips in her effort to smother the sound. “What are you doing here?” she whispered furiously.
Slowly, the man turned his head towards her. He smiled. “Waiting for you, my dear.”
Arabella closed her eyes tightly, then opened them again but he was still there. As she watched, Lord Denbigh unfurled his long length and stood, magnificent and, suddenly, to Arabella at least, oddly intimidating, before her. In the light of the full moon spilling through the large windows, his tawny eyes roved appreciatively over her. He caught her small hand in his and raised it to his lips. “I didn’t think you’d be long.”
His lazy tones, pitched very low, washed languidly over Arabella. With a conscious effort, she tried to break free of their hypnotic hold. “How could you know I was coming here? I didn’t.”
“Well,” he answered reasonably, “I couldn’t think where else you would go, if you didn’t have a partner for the supper waltz.”
He knew! In the moonlight, Arabella’s fiery blush faded into more delicate tints but the effect on her temper was the same. “You oaf!” she said in a fierce whisper, aiming a stinging slap at the grin on his large face. But the grin grew into a smile as he easily caught her hand and drew it down and then behind her, drawing her towards him. He captured her other hand as well and imprisoned that in the same large hand behind her back.
“Lord Denbigh! Let me go!” Arabella pleaded, keeping her voice low for fear the others beyond the curtain would hear. How hideously embarrassing to be found in such a situation. And now she had another problem. What was Hugo up to? As her anger drained, all sorts of other emotions came to the fore. She looked up, her eyes huge and shining in the moonlight, her lips slightly parted in surprise.
Hugo lifted his free hand and one long finger traced the curve of her full lower lip.
Even with only the moon to light his face, Arabella saw the glimmer of desire in his eyes. “Hugo, let me go. Please?”
He smiled lazily down at her. “In a moment, sweetheart. After I’ve rendered you incapable of scratching my eyes out.”
His fingers had taken hold of her chin and he waited to see the fury in her eyes before he chuckled and bent his head until his lips met hers.
Arabella had every intention of remaini
ng aloof from his kisses. Damn him—he’d tricked her! She tried to whip up her anger, but all she could think of was how wonderfully warm his lips felt against hers. And what delicious sensations were running along her nerves. Everywhere. Her body, entirely of its own volition, melted into his arms.
She felt, rather than heard, his deep chuckle as his arms shifted and tightened about her. Finding her hands free and resting on his shoulders, she did not quite know what to do with them. Box his ears? In the end, she twined them about his neck, holding him close.
When Hugo finally lifted his head, it was to see the stars reflected in her eyes. He smiled lazily down at her. “Now you have to admit that’s more fun than waltzing.”
Arabella could think of nothing to say.
“No quips?” he prompted.
She blushed slightly. “We should be getting back.” She tried to ease herself from his embrace but his arms moved not at all.
Still smiling in that sleepy way, he shook his head. “Not yet. That was just the waltz. We’ve supper togo yet.” His lips lightly brushed hers. “And I’m ravenously hungry.”
Despite the situation, Arabella nearly giggled at the boyish tone. But she became much more serious when his lips returned fully to hers, driving her into far deeper waters than she had ever sailed before.
But he was experienced enough correctly to gauge her limits, to stop just short and retreat, until they were sane again. Later, both more serious than was their wont, they returned separately to the ballroom.
———
Despite her strategies, Arabella was seen as she slipped from the ballroom. Max, returning from the card-room where he had been idly passing his time until he could, with reasonable excuse, gravitate to the side of his eldest ward, saw the bright chestnut curls dip through the doorway and for an instant had thought that Caroline was deserting him. But his sharp ears had almost immediately caught the husky tone of her laughter from a knot of gentlemen nearby and he realised it must have been Arabella, most like Caroline in colouring, whom he had seen.
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