Home For The Holidays

by Sherry Ewing

  His arm tightened around her. She watched in mild fascination as one side of his mouth turned up in a cocky grin. He knew exactly how her body was reacting to their close proximity.

  “I asked if you were hurt, although I might also beg for an introduction.”

  “I h-hardly think this en-encounter is a-appropriate,” Grace stammered. Was that actually her voice sounding so unsure of herself?

  He leaned down, and, for an instant, she thought he was about to kiss her.

  “How utterly charming that I have you all tongued-tied.” His words whispered gently in her ear were almost her undoing.

  Before she could comment, Moriah’s voice was heard above the noise of the crowd, and she quickly untangled herself from the man who did nothing to hide his disappointment.

  “There you are,” Moriah declared as she stared up at the stranger. Grace could only imagine what was going on inside her friend’s mind, given their recent conversation. “I am sorry I lost you. Are you all right?”

  Grace nodded. “Yes… of course. Thank you, sir, for your assistance this evening,” she murmured shyly to the gentleman whose lips turned up into a charming grin.

  He raised his fingers to tip his hat toward her. “It was my pleasure to rescue a fair damsel in distress.”

  Her eyes followed him through the crowd until he disappeared. Her heart hammered in her chest. What in the world had just happened?

  “Gracie? Are you sure you are fine?” Moriah questioned.

  She touched her lips almost as though she could imagine the feel of the gentleman’s mouth pressed intimately against her own. She looked at her friend. “I am not sure.”

  Her words lingered in the evening air and left her wondering what the remainder of the night would bring.

  Chapter 4

  Nicholas watched the woman whom he had held within his arms just a short while ago from across the crowded rotunda. She curtsied to her partner upon the dance floor. It was a shame really that she was already claimed by another. Something he had not felt in a long while stirred within him.

  He pushed away his earlier thoughts of jealousy when she had sat next to a gentleman while dining in a private supper box with another couple just a few boxes away from him. At one point, the other female occupant removed her mask, and her male companion did the same. He was not acquainted with the Marquis of Aldridge, but he was familiar with his reputation. The lady he knew as Mrs. Hernshaw was a widow fallen on hard times and appeared to have found her next benefactor.

  Nicholas had stifled the urge to intrude upon the lady he rescued but regretted it when he saw her take to the floor and follow, to perfection, the detailed patterns of a dance. He was almost at his limit of remaining uninvolved when another came and replaced her partner who, in turn, asked another woman to dance. He began to wonder, given her company, if she, too, was a lonely widow looking for companionship.

  He took a sip of his wine before adjusting the annoying domino stuck on his face. When George and Lord Hooper had asked him to accompanying him to Vauxhall Gardens, he had no idea that he would now be shamelessly staring at some unknown woman that he wished to know better.

  “She is lovely, is she not?” George asked with an amused grin.

  “Who?” Nicholas replied as indifferently as he could be in spite of the turmoil that roiled in the pit of his stomach when another claimed her.

  George’s burst of laughter caused several people to turn their attention toward the pair. “Why, the woman in the purple mask that you have been ogling the entire evening, that is who.”

  “I have no idea what you are talking about,” Nicholas grumbled. Was he so easily read that even George could see for himself who was occupying his thoughts?

  “Oh, yes, you do. It is about time that you are finally interested in a lady.”

  “I never said I was interested in her.” He took another sip while his gaze followed her when she made her way to the refreshment table.

  “You did not have to. Perhaps she is available to take as a mistress. She appears a little older than some of the other flirtatious women that are here this eve. Considering her company, she just may be the woman to keep you satisfied for a while. As least with this one, you would not have to worry about taking her to wife.”

  “Shut up, George.” Nicholas balled up his fist. From where in hell had come this emotion to defend a woman whose name he did not even know? Surely he must be going mad.

  “Ask her to dance before you lose the opportunity.” George slapped him on the back. “You may just decide you would like to keep her for a spell.”

  Before he could give a retort, George left him, chuckling all the while about how cupid’s arrow had found its mark. His retreat was probably in his best interest given that Nicholas would have liked nothing more than to plant his fist into George’s smirking face.

  Where was she? Even as the thought crossed his mind, their gazes locked across the crowded floor. He gave the briefest of nods and was pleasantly surprised when she returned it with one of her own. Nicholas stood and began closing the space between them, weaving his way between guests.

  A sense of satisfaction filled him while she searched the room until their gazes held one to the other once more. Her hand lifted to her throat as her chest rose and fell as though she were out of breath. Nicholas pondered if perhaps she was as taken by surprise from their brief encounter as he was. There was no better way to find out. He continued closing the distance between them, his determined approach as subtle as the lady was fair. Perhaps he should take George’s advice, for it had been some time since he had been with a woman, and this one appeared open to the possibility.

  He bowed. She curtsied. The musicians struck up a chord as if Nicholas had instructed them to do so for his own benefit. He held out his hand. A bold move, but one he was willing to take this night.

  “May I have the pleasure of this dance?” he inquired politely, already knowing her answer.

  Her gloved hand slipped into his, and he felt as though he had waited his entire life for her to say yes. Yes to the dance. Yes to anything else he might propose, be it for one night or something they might both wish to be a longer commitment.

  She was an accomplished dancer. He had already witnessed her talent, yet it was far more pleasurable to watch her when she was now his partner. He wished to know who she was, but the fast-paced dance was hardly a place to carry on a meaningful conversation about getting to know one another.

  Was it two dances later or maybe three? Nicholas lost track of time but finally, he placed his hand about the lady’s waist to expertly guide her out into the garden. It had been some time since he had allowed himself the pleasure of enjoying a woman’s company, especially in the moonlight.

  The evening was cool, and when he saw her shiver, he shrugged out of his jacket since he had left his cape behind in the supper box. He placed the garment about her shoulders. She took hold of the lapels and brought it closer. He swore he could hear her sniff the edges as if she were committing to her memory the smell of his cologne for when he was gone.

  Nicholas reached out to remove her mask so he could finally see all of her features.

  “No.” She held out her hand to stop his efforts. “The mask stays in place if you wish me to remain here with you.”

  “If that is your wish, so be it.”

  “It is,” she answered quietly.

  Nicholas did not remember it being this difficult to kiss a lady in the moonlight, but she must desire to be with him, too, else she would not be standing outside with him now. He could no longer stand the distance between them. Surely some form of spell had been cast upon him to be acting so rashly.

  “Who are you?” he asked, taking hold of both her arms and bringing her closer.

  “Does it matter?”

  “How else am I to call upon you tomorrow if I know not your name tonight, my lady?”

  This unknown woman who teased his senses gave a careless shrug but took a step closer.
She placed her hand upon his chest. “Let it be enough that for tonight I am free to do as I please.”

  He grinned at her response. One moment Nicholas was staring into her mask and brown eyes, and the next he was lowering his mouth to meet her lips.

  Grace was unsure if it were the moonlight that drove her to such reckless behavior or the thought of having just one moment in time to treasure with a man who wanted to be with a mysterious and, perhaps, desirable woman. In either case, nothing prepared her for the instant their lips met. She supposed, since she did not protest going down the garden path with him, this would be the natural course of what would happen. But still… surely she was slipping at the very brink of tasting heaven itself from their first kiss.

  Such a kiss was at first like an introduction when his mouth slowly slid over hers as though he were searching for some hidden meaning to their attraction to one another. There was nothing demanding or urgent in seeing the matter over and done with. No, the kiss was a mingling of breaths. It was two souls connecting in the night. A simple kiss, yet there was nothing simple about it. He stopped as quickly as he started then stared into her eyes, yet she knew the mask hid her features well enough that he would be unable to identify her in the light of day.

  Adrian would be mortified if he had any idea what she was up to with a complete stranger. Thinking of her brother conjured an image of her deceased husband. Although his kisses had been pleasurable, they could not compare to what this stranger made her feel.

  “Tell me who you are,” he urged again. He tucked behind her ear a stray lock of hair that had fallen from her coiffure and then cupped her cheek. “You must tell me.”

  She leaned into his palm. The sensation of his thumb tracing her skin had her resolve weakening but not enough to reveal her identity. “I cannot, for I will not have you think less of me from my actions here this night. I am not what I seem.”

  “I see a desirable woman I wish to get to know better,” he declared with a grin and an appreciative glance at her heaving bosom. There was no way she could mistake his meaning given the proximity of their bodies and the bold glare he gave her down the length of her body.

  “I am sorry if I have misled you, good sir. I will be no man’s mistress.”

  The gentleman holding her gave a laugh. “Mistress? I did not think our slight acquaintance went so far as to me offering such a long-term arrangement. Given your association with a particular widow, I thought you might be amicable to spending the evening together.”

  She gasped, pushing herself from his arms. “You mean you only wanted… wanted just one… one night with me?”

  He folded his arms across his chest as if to make a point. “I hardly doubt it would take an entire evening, my lady, but if you are so inclined, I can procure us a room so we can satisfy one another until the dawn.”

  “You boorish cad! How dare you assume I would agree to such a… a… I am too much of a lady to even finish whatever thoughts you may have had going on inside your head.”

  “Come now. You can hardly put all the blame on me when you gave me such an open invitation with those glances and smiles while we were dancing. You came outside with me willingly enough with nary a protest. What else is a man supposed to think?”

  “You, sir, are no gentleman,” Grace huffed, although she knew that he was completely right in his assumption.

  The lady deep within her refused to listen to another word he said. She began making her way back to Moriah and Lord Aldridge even while she heard him calling her to come back. Thank heavens Adrian was not here tonight. He had encouraged her to socialize, but he did not think much of Moriah because of her scandalous reputation and the company she kept. If he knew Grace had shared a supper box with the notorious Lord Aldridge, he would lock her away in her room, and she would never see the light of day again.

  Her mind on the insufferable man she had just left, she was surprised when her arm was clasped in a firm grip. Oh, my Lord, no! Adrian is here. Her brother tore off his mask, his eyes blazing with fury that she was in attendance at such a risqué event. Grace began to wonder how he knew her identity but felt foolish when she realized her cleft chin would have given her away. She practically ran to keep up with him when she was informed he would escort her home.

  It was not until she was securely placed within her brother’s carriage that she realized she still had the man’s jacket around her shoulders. She hastily folded the garment, not caring that her redingote had been left behind. The coat would be a fleeting reminder in the months to follow of one night when she was kissed beneath the moonlit stars and briefly fancied herself falling in love.

  Chapter 5

  September

  The clip clop of the horses’ hooves as they made their way over the cobblestone road had Nicholas lost in thought. Over the past month, he had pondered what had caused him to be so importunate with the young woman who obviously was a gently bred lady and not a woman with looser morals who would be amicable to a slip on the shoulder. He had watched her from the shadows when a gentleman with an angry expression had taken her by the arm and escorted her from the ball.

  Nicholas did not want to admit—even to himself—that, for a few minutes, he had forgotten himself and his resolve to remain forevermore a bachelor. She had brought something out in him. Jealousy. Hot desire. Protectiveness. Even a burning need to taste her lips once again.

  He swore. The thought of her mouth beneath his made Nicholas want her all over again. Damn his stupidity for making light of a situation that had obviously meant more to the young woman than he himself had been feeling, at least at the time. Given her reaction to their kiss, she must be an innocent lady, despite Nicholas’s earlier thoughts of her being an experienced woman.

  The carriage halted, and Nicholas came out of his musings to stare at the building before him. He wasted no time exiting the carriage and entered his brother’s home with a hurried stride when the door was opened for him by the butler.

  Caroline, Jonathan’s wife, rushed across the floor to greet him at the door. “Nicholas, how good it is to see you,” she beamed as she reached him, tugging on the lapels of his coat.

  He leaned down so she could place kisses upon both cheeks. “Your Grace,” he murmured returning the gesture.

  She slapped at his arm with a light hearted laugh. “Oh, please. Stop with the titles, for heaven’s sake. I have told you a thousand times to call me by my given name. I am so glad you came.”

  “I could hardly stay away and disobey your summons, Caroline,” he teased with a wink.

  She linked her arm through his and began guiding him toward the breakfast room. “It was more your brother’s summons. I only carried out his request,” she declared softly.

  Nicholas took a good look at his sister-in-law and saw the dark circles under her eyes. Not a hair was out of place, but something seemed not quite right. “Are you unwell, my dear?”

  She forced a laugh. “Everything is fine, Nicholas. There is nothing for you to fret over.”

  His brow furrowed. “What has my esteemed brother done now?”

  “It matters not,” she whispered. “Please do not make a fuss.”

  The giggling laughter of young women gathered together rushed through the hallway, and Nicholas hoped that one of those sweet voices had been his daughter’s. As he entered, his eyes swept the bright room. Jonathan sat at the head of the table and was surrounded by his three daughters, and, of course, Blanche. The moment she espied him, her bright smile fell, and her eyes became downcast.

  “You are late,” Jonathan stated matter-of-factly before giving him a look of disapproval.

  “Then you should have sent a messenger earlier than this morning if you wished me to be on time.” Nicholas took his seat next to Blanche. “How are you, sweeting?”

  Blanche barely raised her eyes while she pushed her food around upon her plate. “I am well, Father.”

  Her voice was barely above a whisper with only the hint of confused tone t
o convey she knew not what to say to him. He had no one to blame but himself for the strain between them, since he had been absent from her life for the past two years.

  Nicholas accepted a cup of tea from a nearby servant. “What is the occasion that required I arrive here with such haste this morning?”

  Jonathan put his napkin down upon the table. “I promised the girls an outing today but had a conflict in my schedule and cannot accompany them. I thought you could go in my place.”

  “What sort of outing?” Nicholas asked with a fair amount of worry. Who knew what his brother had planned?

  Jonathan’s eldest daughter, Elinor, leaned forward so she could see him better from the same side of the table. “It is ever so exciting, Uncle Nicholas. There is a meeting I would like to attend at Miss Clemens’s Oxford Street Book Palace and Tea Rooms today.”

  “I have never heard of this book palace, I am afraid.” Nicholas took a bite of his eggs. “And what, pray tell, is so important about some meeting at a book shop?”

  “Several women are proposing a charity ball on New Year’s Eve, and I hope to be on the planning committee,” Elinor continued. “I have heard that some of the ladies organizing the event went to an academy together, and they hope to further women’s education.”

  “If you could accompany the girls to the book shop, I would be most appreciative,” Jonathan drawled. From the look he threw in his direction, Nicholas knew without any doubt it was more of a silent order.

  He understood his brother’s meaning, and maybe it was time he began spending more time with his daughter. “Perchance we could stop by Gunter’s in Berkeley Square afterward for ices. Would you like that, Blanche?”

  His daughter’s blue eyes lit up for an instant, and the expression reminded him so much of his deceased wife that his heart seized in his chest.