The thrill of being singled out by such a dashing gentleman, both rich and in line for a title, restored her spirits. Tonight, she decided, she would make advances in properly assessing whom she’d consider a suitor. Aunt Antoinette’s words had bolstered her confidence. She’d said Katherine could have her pick of the gentlemen, but Katherine needed to assess who was worthy. It was important to discover what it felt like to kiss a gentleman with a moustache before she furthered that acquaintance. What did it matter that she’d only met Mr Marwick last night? After all, she had only a few weeks in London to make the most important decision of her life.
She had to start somewhere.
* * *
Surprisingly, her opportunity came earlier than expected, and immediately following her dance with Mr Marwick who’d held her thrillingly close. The unexpectedly soft brush of that magnificent moustache of his upon her jawline as he’d turned his head to point out something to her had caused her to jerk up her chin. His assessing gaze and the quirk of his lips told her he’d done it on purpose.
She couldn’t help herself, but her mouth turned up in secret acknowledgement and her heart seemed to leap about as he increased the pressure of his hand around her waist.
“Your mama is nowhere to be seen, and I can’t possibly leave you here alone,” he remarked, glancing at the supper table on the other side of the room, then leading her in that direction but hesitating as they approached. He scanned the room quickly, then said under his voice, “If you glide through that knot of people, there’s a door into the passageway beneath the Holbein and you won’t be noticed though it’s a public door, leading to the ladies sewing room.”
Katherine glanced down at her gown and he laughed. “Nothing torn. Everything in perfect order, in fact. But if slip into the passage, I’ll join you there in the shadows so we might…discuss our evening. We’ll only be gone thirty seconds, and your mama won’t even notice.”
Katherine wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass her by. She agreed with a quick nod, and within less than a minute, she was in the dark passage and in Mr Marwick’s arms, the pair of them tucked behind an imposing coat of armour, while Mr Marwick kissed her with haste and enthusiasm.
Katherine sighed with pleasure. She’d enjoyed kissing Jack, and this experience was an interesting contrast. Her body was doing all the same things: her heartbeat was growing more rapid, her skin felt heated, and there was an urgency all about her. But the moment he withdrew to take a breath, she wasn’t visited by the urge to throw her arms about his neck once more and drag his mouth back to hers. He was a very adept kisser, and the experience was definitely worthwhile, but she certainly had some more research to do before she decided on her future husband.
It was he who hurried her back into the throng once more, saying words that suggested he was as concerned for his own reputation as for hers.
But before he had the opportunity to remark upon their quick kissing tryst—which he was clearly about to do for his eyes kindled as he lowered his head to hers—Katherine was nearly startled out of her wits by a familiar hand upon her upper arm followed by a slight tug. Raising an indignant chin, she found Jack nodding at Mr Marwick and thanking him for his attendance to Katherine on the dance floor. His manner indicated clear dismissal.
Not that the older man was going to be fobbed off by such a greenhorn—at least, that’s the impression Katherine gained as the two regarded each other.
“And who might you be?” Mr Marwick asked, quite rudely, Katherine thought, wondering how Jack would describe himself.
“Mr Jack Patmore, Miss Fenton’s proxy cousin. My family accompanied hers to London and assigned me the duty of ensuring she was properly attended.”
Katherine liked that assessment. Yes, Jack was like a proxy cousin: stalwart and dependable and there to see to her interests. She wasn’t at all disappointed when Mr Marwick bowed in dismissal and left, she discovered.
“What have you been up to, Miss Fenton?” Jack asked with mock severity. “Tell me, or I shall have to report to your mama that you’ve lost one of the pearl earrings she lent you for this evening.”
Katherine put her hand to her earlobe with a gasp and grabbed Jack’s hand. “It’s in the passage just beyond. I have to fetch it. Come with me, Jack. Hurry!”
She was panting with terror when she reached the door beyond. Jack stopped in the passageway when she dashed behind the coat of arms.
“What were you doing with Mr Marwick all the way up here, alone?”
Katherine stepped back into view and met his censure with defiance, though the truth was she felt a little embarrassed having to admit the truth. “Really, Jack, it doesn’t concern you, but since I’ve nothing to be ashamed of, I kissed him. Or rather, he kissed me. Just like you did.”
She glanced nervously up the passage to where the door was quite likely to admit any visitor heading to the mending room.
He gave her a considering look. “And?”
“And what?” Katherine fanned herself, returning to his side for the earring was not where she’d hoped to find it. “It was very nice, actually. I liked the feel of his moustache. If he’s going to be my husband, I’ll want to know that I like it.”
Jack looked startled. “But you only just met him.”
“Clearly the reason he’s in London is the same reason I am.” She pushed back her shoulders. “I’ve decided I need to kiss every man I think might be my husband. Naturally, I have to compare.”
Jack nodded, stroking his chin. Then he stared at the floor and took a few steps away.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for your earring, of course.”
“Aren’t you going to ask if I liked kissing Mr Marwick as much as I liked kissing you?”
“I’m not sure I want to.”
“I liked kissing you very much.”
He straightened, his bright smile suddenly taking on a decisively sly cast. “Do you not think that in order to make a truly considered assessment you ought to kiss me one more time?”
Katherine met his look and shivered in anticipation. With Mr Marwick’s kiss fresh in her memory, Jack’s suggestion sounded perfectly reasonable. Her gaze travelled the length of his long, lean legs and lingered on his mouth and without saying a word, she stepped into his embrace, closing her eyes as a sweet, pleasurable sensation poured through her at the touch of his lips.
His arms tightened about her, and she felt as if she were melting into him. He was more slender than Mr Marwick but of course at least six years younger, so that was hardly surprising. But she liked the strength of him, the width of his shoulders, and again she was flooded with happiness at memories of their long-ago shared companionship.
Until her body started to behave in a very strange manner, and suddenly the kiss seemed to only touch the surface of what she needed right now. Tiny prickles of sensation speared her all over, and there was the strangest roiling in her lower belly. As she deepened the kiss and ran her hands over his coat and down his back, she was delighted to hear his own breathing grow more laboured. Her breasts grew tingly, and she wished he would put his hands there but he was ever the gentleman.
Katherine desire for exploration soon had her running her fingers through Jack’s hair, contouring his waist, skimming his hips, but when her hand inadvertently came in contact with an unexpected swelling at the front of his trousers, she opened her eyes in surprise.
He broke the kiss, stepping away quickly. “Heavens, Katherine, you can’t do that to a fellow,” he protested, blushing furiously.
“Do what? What was I doing? And what was that?” Katherine was confused but before she could say any more he gripped her wrist and pulled her after him, back towards the ballroom which was just as thronged with people as before, and no one seemed to pay them any heed as they slipped past a group of gentlemen loudly talking politics.
“There’s your mama. I’ll leave you in her capable hands while I go back and look for your earring—properly,
this time,” said Jack, and was gone before she could stop him.
Chapter 6
“I don’t know where you find the energy to stay up so late every night and still want to go riding in the afternoon, Katherine?” her mother remarked as she and Aunt Antoinette idly went over Katherine’s various items of clothing to see what needed mending or cleaning. The late morning sun cast fingers of light across the counterpane which Katherine mused were rather like fingers of happiness. It was what she was feeling as she sat on the edge of the bed enjoying a discussion on the previous evening’s entertainment.
“I’m more interested in who Katherine has set her sights on,” murmured Aunt Antoinette, fiddling with the pearl earring on the dressing table which Katherine was praying she’d not pick up and then wonder aloud where the second one was. Jack had failed to locate it, and Katherine knew it would only be a matter of time before her mama asked for it back.
“Is Mr Marwick still a contender? He’s been very attentive the past two nights,” said her mama. “I know I took against him on account of his connection to his uncle, Lord Slyther, whom I was not very fond of, but Mr Marwick does seem rather a different kind of fellow.”
“He’s very charming,” Katherine agreed, sorting through her jewellery box for a chain to wear about her neck.
“Well, I’d say that doesn’t augur well for him at all given that degree of indifference.” Aunt Antoinette stood up to help Katherine with the clasp of the chain she’d chosen. “What about Lord Derry? He’s not as rich, but although he is very intense, he has displayed a nice sense of humour on occasion, and that’s most important for a gentleman. Remember, you’ll be spending a very long time keeping each other company.”
Frustrated, Katherine sat back down and sent them both a plaintive look. “Exactly! And that’s what’s so troubling. I expected it would be easy to find a husband, but it’s not at all. There are many, many charming gentlemen, but none of them makes me want to spend the rest of my life with them. How did you know, Mama? And you, Aunt Antoinette?”
Her mother smiled. “You’ve been in London barely three days.”
“Well, I’ve never found anyone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with,” said her aunt. “But that hasn’t stopped me having the most enormous fun!”
Katherine still couldn’t fathom why her Uncle Quamby was so tolerant of his wife’s many gentlemen callers.
“Enough said about that!” her mama said with a smile. “As for me knowing that your papa was the right one. Well, I knew it instantly!” She tempered her pleasurable recollection with a frown. “I was very reckless though, and I don’t recommend doing half what I did, though I shouldn’t even say it. I was just lucky my high-spirited antics didn’t get me into terrible trouble and ruin my reputation. A young lady only has one of those, and I certainly hope you’re behaving yourself, Katherine.”
“Oh, I’ve made sure Katherine knows to be careful,” said her aunt. “No disappearing into darkened chambers alone. Isn’t that right, Katherine?”
Katherine smiled weakly and stood up again. She felt suddenly stifled in her small bedchamber and was afraid she’d feel similarly stifled in tonight’s ballroom, which surprised her, because before she came to London, she thought she’d never get enough of dancing and ballrooms.
Her request for someone to accompany her for a walk in Hyde Park was met with lukewarm interest from her mother but her perceptive aunt stood up, saying, “Just a short one for I daresay a little fresh air would be good for your complexion—though not mine at my age. I daresay you’re hoping you’ll see Lord Derry”
“I like Lord Derry, but I hardly imagine I’ll know if I want to marry him before the end of two weeks,” Katherine grumbled, later, as they promenaded along the neatly brushed gravel paths beneath the oaks, garnering a good deal of attention. “These things take more time than two weeks, surely?”
Her aunt gave her arm a comforting squeeze and sighed. “My poor Katherine. I can see that in your case you’ll need to be struck by lightning if you’re to be satisfied you’ve chosen the right man. Clearly, you are more like your mama than you are me, and a good thing that your mama was so fortunate and did find her match.” She touched her niece’s cheek as they continued to stroll. “And you don’t have to make any decisions this season.”
“If I like the way a gentleman makes me feel when he kisses me will that tell me if I’m making the right choice?” Katherine sent Aunt Antoinette an anxious look. “That’s how you said I should test if he’s the right husband. Because obviously there’ll be a lot of kissing if we’re going to be married for the rest of our lives. And as long as he kisses nicely then I can feel confident in my choice. Am I right?”
Aunt Antoinette slanted her a troubled look and Katherine pounced. “I knew there was something you weren’t telling me. Mama said she’d sit me down for a long talk on marriage responsibilities after I got an offer because different husbands needed managing in different ways.”
“She’s right about that.” Aunt Antoinette looked up at the sky as if she was going to leave it at that but Katherine persisted. “There’s more than just kissing though, isn’t there? When I was kissing Jack, I felt”
“You kissed Jack!? Good lord, Katherine, you’re not falling in love with Jack, are you?”
“Of course not,” Katherine protested. “I just asked him to kiss me so I had something to compare it with when the man who asks me to be his wife kisses me.”
Aunt Antoinette looked dubious then said almost crossly, “Fanny asked me specifically not to talk details to you about everything—or anything—involved in marriage as she believes that, given your nature, you’ll behave just as recklessly as she did.”
Katherine widened her eyes. “Isn’t it better to know what to beware of? I mean” She stopped to reassure herself they were far from being overheard but, as it was not yet the fashionable hour of the day for promenading and the avenue was empty but for them, went on in a rush, “When I was kissing Jack I noticed that I felt like it was not enough. That there was something more. And Jack was definitely affected…in unexpected ways.” She blushed hotly. “I may be an innocent, Aunt, and I know Mama and Papa have taken every care to ensure I’m sheltered, but I’m not stupid. What about the farmyard animals? Of course, I know what stallions do to mares to produce a foal. Only, when I mentioned it to one of my governesses, she said animals and human beings are entirely different.”
“So they are.” Antoinette smiled. She paused to take her niece’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “And now I’m going to tell you everything your mother is so terrified of you knowing because, right now, I believe your understandable curiosity is more important than her unfounded—in my opinion—fears.”
Relieved, Katherine looked enquiringly up at her aunt as she halted in the middle of the gravel walkway. “So, my future husband will want to do more than just kiss me?”
“If you choose the right husband, you’ll want to do those things, too.”
Katherine thought of the way her heart had skittered all about her chest when Jack had kissed her. She’d wanted him to touch her all over. Even the thought of their brief tryst in the passage made her breathless.
Her aunt sent her a knowing smile. “I won’t go into details—for the sake of my promise to my sister—but suffice to say that it’s only when a certain…nakedness…is achieved, that the marriage act is consummated. Very coy, I know, but I trust you’ll use your imagination.”
Katherine looked about to make sure that not another living person was in sight before she asked, “What does consummation involve?” She tried to recall her history lessons in the school room. “I’ve heard it used in a way where I thought it was a legal term and nothing about being in love.”
Her aunt laughed. “You might say that the physical act where the husband lies on top of his wife, just as the stallion does the mare, is the legal side of consummation, whereas any love and pleasure that goes with it is just good fortune. You, my dea
r, are in the very happy position of having a substantial dowry, which means you can choose a suitably connected husband who makes your heart do all the right things. In other words, you can marry for love.”
Katherine nodded and pressed her lips together, glad she was talking about this to her aunt and not her mama. “I think I understand. I remember learning about King Henry VIII who tried to have his marriage to Katherine of Aragon annulled so he was free to marry Anne Boleyn in order to have a son. Miss Matterson wasn’t very good at answering my questions because of course I knew King Henry and Katherine of Aragon already had a daughter. But you’ve explained it much better. So, I understand that a marriage needs to be consummated in order to have a child.” She bit her lip as she reasoned it out, adding, “Which, of course, means you’ve consummated the marriage act twice, and so has Mama because both of you have two children each.”
“Stop! No, there’s something missing.” Aunt Antoinette, looking flustered, put her hand to her bonnet as a gust of wind threatened to blow it away. “Goodness, Katherine, I’ve never considered myself the slightest bit prudish, but we live in less…liberal times, now, perhaps. And it certainly is no easy task talking about this to an innocent, particularly when that innocent is the gently reared child of my sister, who is adamant your delicate ears aren’t sullied by my crude talk.” She drew in a deep breath, then said, “There is enormous pleasure in the marriage act though, ideally, a child only results when it is desired. Otherwise, my nursery would be overflowing,” she added with a smile. “So, suffice to say that you must choose a husband who makes your little heart want to shoot to the stars—and if you want to minimise your nursery, you can talk to me about that later.”
She said this under her breath but Katherine, thoroughly excited by her candour, tugged at the lace of her aunt’s modish mauve silk gown and asked, “Please tell me now. I…I’m not sure I want to start my nursery the day I marry. Truly, I had great reason to consider this when I stayed at my friend, Miss Larson, at the vicarage in Tunley. Her mother had nine children, and when I heard her bemoan the fact she was soon to have a tenth, I wondered why she didn’t do anything about it.”
The Accidental Elopement (Scandalous Miss Brightwells Book 4) Page 4
