by Kathy Heart
“I did not,” Maddi confessed, “because I was kept busy all evening with a full dance card.”
“He has told me that he is ready now to ask Papa for my hand in marriage,” she confided with a shy smile.
Maddi clapped her hands in glee. “Oh, Jane, what wonderful news! Shall I still be here for the wedding?”
“Oh certainly,” she replied. “It will not be a large affair at all.” She returned Maddi’s congratulatory hug, and then asked again, “What are your feelings for the duke?”
“I have only today admitted to myself that I wish to hear his suit,” Maddi said. “I find myself thinking about him at the oddest times. And when he looks at me, or speaks to me, I am all aflutter.” Her cheeks were already warm from merely talking about her growing attraction to the duke. “But we hardly know each other, and propriety requires that we spend no time in each other’s company that is not supervised by others. How is one to discover one’s true life companion if one never has a chance to converse alone with him?”
“Marriage is not meant to be about our feelings, cousin,” Jane said quietly. “So any feeling that we have is always welcome, but should not be expected. In my case, I have more than enough emotion for the two of us, though I am aware that he holds me in some affection. If you like the duke, and he likes you, then a marriage between you will at least be amicable.”
“My parents seem to rub along well together,” Maddi said, “as do yours. And there is clearly much affection between them.”
“If you wish to keep the duke’s attentions, I will help you,” Jane declared. “It is the least that I can do for you in exchange for what you have done for me.”
Maddi looked at her with a puzzled frown. “What have I done for you, cousin?”
“You fell in love with someone else.”
The smile that lit up Jane’s face made her shine like a diamond. And Maddi suddenly understood. Donald Campbell had been holding her cousin’s heart in his hand for months, apparently looking for a better alternative, and she was to have been his last chance to escape from a union he would tolerate but likely not enjoy. Her delight at Jane’s promise was dimmed by anger with the man who would most likely make her cousin unhappy in the long run.
“Oh Jane, why would you tie yourself to someone who treats you as he does?” Maddi was enraged for her cousin, where moments before she had been happy for her.
“I love him, Maddi,” she declared, “and I want to have children of my own.”
Maddi smiled sadly at her cousin. “I will pray that he will come to love you as you do him, then, cousin,” she promised.
“So, the duke will be gone by morning, and you will need to have a moment alone with him before then. Shall we say just before bedtime? I will let you know when.”
Jane winked at her as she spoke, and Maddi could not help but smile at her cousin’s enthusiasm. She nodded, excited at the thought of landing herself a duke.
Chapter 6
Dinner time came again, with the promise of entertainment by the ladies afterwards in the drawing room, and Drew found he could not wait for a further chance to see his beauty, and to breathe the same air as she. This evening he sat next to her cousin Jane for dinner, or rather, she sat next to him, greeting him with a smile as she sat down. To her left was Donald Campbell, with whom she seemed to have established some kind of rapport.
“Your Grace,” she began in a low voice, when conversation at the table was at its height, “I have it on good authority that the Lady Madalene would welcome an opportunity to speak with you privately.”
Drew almost choked on his soup. He dabbed at his lips and replied, “Is there something that her ladyship particularly needs my help with, Lady Jane?”
She smiled demurely. “I’m sure she will be better able to answer that question for you than I can, my lord.”
“I will be led by you, then, my lady,” he replied, and listened, over the whole course of dinner, while she gave him instructions for how to meet with his Beauty for a few precious moments alone. He found himself both amused and admiring of the seamless way in which she managed to keep up with the flow of conversation going on around her while providing him with the plan for his assignation with her cousin. No one could tell that she was having a sustained conversation with him.
“I will be ready when you arrive in the library,” he told her, “and thank you. I appreciate your assistance.”
“My cousin is a lovely young woman,” she declared, “and she deserves to be happy.”
The next few hours dragged by, and even though the after-dinner entertainment had been a delight, mostly because his Beauty sang and played so well, he was happy when finally the members of the household began to retire for the night. He slipped away to the library, after helping himself to a glass of whisky, and sat in the almost complete darkness, waiting for his lady to arrive.
At the sound of voices approaching, Drew stood to his feet, putting the glass of whisky, which had remained untouched, on the table next to the chair he had occupied. The door slid open, and a beam of light penetrated, followed by Lady Madalene, who closed the door quietly and walked forward. She did not see him until she was almost upon him, and she released a soft gasp of surprise.
“Your Grace,” she said, “we meet again.”
He smiled. “This time, by design, I think,” he replied. “May I say, you are exquisitely beautiful, Lady Madalene.”
“Thank you, my lord. I am flattered by your compliment.” Her cheeks burned, visible even in the dim light.
“It is no more than the truth, my lady,” he replied gallantly. “Would you like to know what I call you in my mind?” He had not moved, for fear of frightening her if he made a wrong move, like hauling her into his arms and kissing her ripe mouth.
“”Lady Madalene?” she inquired, teasing him.
He laughed quietly. “No. Something somewhat more original than your name. I call you Beauty.” She gasped, and her parted lips became the temptation he could not refuse. He stepped closer, and pulled her chin up so he could look into her eyes. “I find myself wanting to be as close to you as a man can be to a woman without making love to her, my lady, but propriety dictates that we first become better acquainted, at the very least.”
Her breath ghosted over his skin when she replied, looking into his eyes, “I would not be averse to discovering what it would be like to have the man I choose be that close to me, my Lord.”
She was flirting with him by being direct and honest about her feelings and needs. By God, but he found it exhilarating. She had more or less asked him to kiss her, though she did not seem to know she had, and he would oblige, because if he had anything to do with it, she would not sleep any better than he would tonight. And when he was gone, as he would be on the morrow, she would not be free of the taste and scent of him.
“Offer me your lips, my Beauty,” he said.
She did as he bid, raising her chin and presenting her lips to him, and he kissed her softly, leaving the heat and heaviness of his own against hers for a long moment before introducing her to the feel of his tongue against them. He licked her lightly, and the soft sound that issued from her throat made his body tighten impossibly behind the fall of his breeches.
Pulling himself away from her, he stepped back and said,
“You had better find yourself something to read. That was the plan, was it not?”
“It was, my lord,” she replied, bemused, her tongue still lingering on her bottom lip, as though to capture the flavor of his that he had left behind.
The sight of her pink tongue drove him wild with need. He stepped further away from her and said, “Then you must be seen to have a book with you when you leave this room. The novels are over there.”
He pointed to the shelves by the window, and she held the candle high so she could see. He watched her peruse the rows of books, and gritted his teeth when she finally bent to choose one from the lowest shelf. She was half turned towards him and he could see h
er creamy breasts, and the dark valley between them. He fought the desire to keep her there until he could discover the secrets that they hid from his view.
“I have found a book to while away the hours, my lord,” she told him as she approached him again. “Thank you for your help.”
“You may call on me at any time, my Beauty,” he said, aware that his voice was hoarse with longing, and quite unable to do anything about it.
She turned to walk away, and just as she reached the door, she turned back to say, with a shy smile, “I enjoyed my first contact with you, my Lord. I would be pleased to have it repeated.”
Drew knew she had not meant to ask for a second kiss in that moment, but her very innocence was as alluring to him as everything else about her, and suddenly, he was impatient to teach her more. He covered the space between them in a few strides and pulled her in for a second kiss, this one deeper than the first, and when her mouth fell open, he let her taste his tongue on hers for a long moment before her groan and the feel of her shuddering in his arms brought him back to his senses.
“You must go now, my Beauty,” he implored her. “I cannot be held responsible for what will happen if you linger longer here.”
She trembled where she stood, and then she gathered herself and smiled at him. “Good night, my lord,” she said as she opened the door and walked out, closing it quietly again.
Drew took deep, calming breaths, letting his body cool, before he picked up his drink and took a deep swallow. She had tasted as delicious as she looked, and the flavor of her innocent desire still lingered on his tongue. She wanted him as much as he did her, he had discovered. And though she was shy, she was not coy, which pleased him. She would take what she wanted when she felt confident enough to do so. It would be up to him to let her know that she could be free with him.
He stayed in the library for another hour before finally going up to bed. Even the servants had already retired for the night, but he was grateful for that, as he could not bear the thought of his actions causing grief to the woman he was growing to care for. He undressed and lay across the bed his hands behind his head, thinking of their first kisses and wanting more.
He left the next morning before breakfast. He deemed it wisest to avoid a meeting with her so soon after their first illicit assignation. He would spare her blushes at every chance he got, so though it pained him to do so, he left without seeing her again. He did, however, manage to slip her cousin a note from him which he hoped would let her know how deeply he was coming to feel for her.
Chapter 7
“My dearest Beauty, (Maddi read softly to herself), duty calls me away from your side, but I could not leave without letting you know how deeply you have touched me. I wish that I could ever be with you, that not a moment would separate us, and that you were mine in truth. Never have I felt as I do with you, and it is my sincere hope that your feelings match my own. I cannot wait to be with you again, and pray that we will be able to taste each other again. Take care, my Beauty, until I see you again. Yours, Drew.”
Maddi’s cheeks were warm and her heart was racing as she read for the third or fourth time, the letter which had become her most prized possession. She had never been in love before, but this feeling that was growing inside her must be as close to it as she had ever been. She carried with her the memory of his kisses, the first she had ever received, reliving them in moments when she missed him most.
It had been two weeks since the house party, and she had had no further word from him, although she supposed it might be improper for him to address her in a letter if he had not first received the permission of her father to woo her. She admitted to being somewhat disappointed in not having heard from him again, but she supposed a man such as he, with holdings in Scotland and in England, was a busy man on a normal day. She had watched him leave the morning after he had shown her what it could be like when two people were attracted to each other. She missed him, though they had not had the chance to spend much time together. His letter became the way that she kept him close.
Today, however, they had received an invitation to dinner from the duke and his mother, and she was getting ready for the event. She wore the prettiest gown she owned, a coral blue silk and taffeta creation with a low cut bodice and long sleeves. Her hair was swept up atop her head in playful ringlets, and she had chosen to wear some light makeup. This was going to be an important evening in her life, she was sure of it.
After a half an hour’s ride in open carriages, the family arrived at Claybourne Abbey to a very warm reception. Maddi liked Drew’s mother, the Dowager Duchess, very much.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace,” she told that lady with a polite smile. “Thank you for the kind invitation to your home.”
“Think nothing of it, child,” the lady said. “Andrew has been champing at the bit to get this dinner party going since he returned from your uncle’s home. And now I can see why.”
Maddi managed to stop herself from blushing, especially when his was the next hand that held hers, and followed her family indoors. Everything indoors bespoke the family’s great wealth, and though she could see that whole sections of the house were cordoned off and blackened by soot, the part that had been restored was resplendent.
They sat down to drinks before dinner in an elegant parlor, and while the Dowager Duchess regaled them with stories of her late husband’s work on the original west wing, Maddi took the opportunity to observe the man she had been missing. He was engaged in a clearly serious discussion with her father, and she could only hope that it involved getting to spend more time with her.
When dinner was announced, she was none the wiser as to the subject of their discussion, and as she was not sitting next to him, she couldn’t ask. But she could feel his eyes on her all through dinner, and the need for his touch was growing stronger as the evening wore on. She was quiet for most of the meal, because she was so tense from holding her body in tight control. And she didn’t wish to say anything to give away the feelings she was having such difficulty controlling. The gentlemen remained in the dining room after dinner, and Maddi repaired with the ladies back to the drawing room where the older ones played whist, and she and her cousin watched them.
When the men rejoined them, she noted that Drew stood close to her, and her mother turned to smile at her knowingly. She didn’t understand what was going on, until her father drew her aside, with the duke, and said,
“His Grace has asked for my permission to address you, Madalene. What say you? Do you consent to his request?”
Maddi held her father’s gaze for just one moment before turning her eyes to the duke and saying, “Yes, Papa, I do.”
“Splendid!” He pulled her toward his and kissed the top of her head. “Your mother and I are very proud of you, Madalene.”
He walked away, and Drew spoke quickly before she was forced to step away from him. “I long to feel your lips against mine again, my Beauty. Will you come to me tonight before you go? I will arrange it with Jane if you say yes.”
Maddi nodded and moved away at once, afraid that everyone would know that she had just agreed to another tryst with Drew. No one seemed to notice that she had stayed a few moments too long by his side after her father moved away, and she rejoined her cousin on the couch they shared. Jane looked her over and smiled.
“What?” Maddi asked, petrified that she had been observed by someone other than Jane.
“Nothing,” Jane said, “except that you have a certain look about you. Has the duke made you an offer?”
“He has told my father he wishes to address me,” she said. “
“I think an offer cannot be far behind then, cousin,” Jane said. “I am so happy for you!” her smile was wide and Maddi returned it.
“He wants to meet me. He says he will arrange it with you.”
Jane glanced over to where Drew sat with his mother, and he looked up just then, as though he knew she was looking at him. “Will you excuse me, cousin?” s
he asked, and without waiting for a reply, she walked out of the drawing room.
Maddi watched her leave, and sat in quiet anticipation of the next move in the game she knew was about to begin. When Jane returned a few minutes later, Maddi felt an acute disappointment wash over her. Perhaps as they were not staying the night, it was not possible for her to meet him.
Then Jane leaned over and said, “Would you like to come and see the observatory? I have been there before, and it is beautiful at night.”
“If it’s all right with everyone, certainly,” Maddi said, and followed Jane out of the room, where they were joined by Drew, who led them along a narrow passage to a set of spiraling stairs then ended in a room completely enclosed by heavy glass windows. There was a telescope set in the middle of it, and Jane walked over and set her eye to it.
While she fiddled with it, Drew walked up behind Maddi and pulled her back against him into the shadows of the room away from Jane. He leaned in, making sure their bodies never touched, and whispered, “I have missed you, my Beauty. Have you missed me?”
