“You are getting very good at paying me compliments, Clarence. Be careful. I might grow to expect it.”
“I shall do my humble best not to disappoint.”
“Harrumph, there is absolutely nothing humble about you.”
“Why, thank you.”
“That was not intended to be a compliment.”
“Nevertheless, I shall take it as such.” He chuckled at her affronted expression, but could tell she was still on edge. Hardly surprising. The last time she had set foot in a ballroom, she had been abducted from it. “Relax, sweetheart. This is your night to shine. Forget about everything else and enjoy yourself.”
“Is that not what I should be saying to you?” She flashed him an adorably wicked smile. “After all, I know how to relax. You do not.”
“Then I shall rely upon you to teach me.”
The crowd swirled around them as they made slow progress across the room. Many congratulations were sent their way, some people even applauded. Twice he was briefly accosted by politicians keen for a private word. He frowned, making it clear this was neither the time nor the place. He could see Annalise did not appreciate the interruptions, but she made no comment about them. It occurred to Clarence he could hardly blame the men since he had made a habit in the past of entering society specifically for the purpose of talking to such people away from the hotbed of gossip at Whitehall.
“There is von Hessel,” Annalise said, tensing again.
“Ignore him, smile, and let him wonder,” Clarence replied, tapping the hand still resting on his arm.
“Oh no. Lord Roker is heading in our direction. I’m not sure I can face him at this moment.”
“Then you shall not.”
Clarence effortlessly steered her in another direction. The crowd swallowed them up, and Lord Roker disappeared from view.
“Thank you,” she said.
“My pleasure.” They continued to stroll and Clarence sensed her relax her rigid pose, just fractionally. “Are you familiar with the layout of this house?”
“No, I have never set foot in it before. Why do you ask?”
“I ask because you look far too anxious. I am told I have many skills, but relieving young ladies of needless anxiety is not one I recall being called upon to employ.” He smiled at her. “Frankly, I don’t have the first notion how to go about it.”
Her eyes widened and she sent him a teasing smile. “I have discovered something you do not excel at?”
“Ah, that we have yet to establish. Just because I have never had to do it before, it does not follow I am inept.”
She rolled her eyes. “I am sure you are not.”
“Even so, the only way I can think of to remove the haunted look from your lovely eyes is to take you somewhere private and kiss you witless.”
“Lord Romsey!”
“I did warn you I’m a novice at this, but admit it, sweetheart,” he said, offering her a wicked smile, “you are intrigued.”
“I am not sure how to answer such an arrogant assumption without insulting you.”
“Ah, but you are now so cross with me you have forgotten to be anxious.” This time his smile was imbued with smug satisfaction. “I rest my case, and I reserve the right to claim my kiss. We are, after all, engaged to be married.”
“We are engaged, nothing more.”
“Even so, that makes a kiss permissible. We must do everything we can to maintain appearances.”
“If you say so.”
“Oh, I do.” A rich chuckle rumbled in his chest. “I most assuredly do.”
Lord Jenkins appeared before them and bowed. “I understand I am to congratulate you both,” he said stiffly.
“Thank you, Lord Jenkins,” Annalise replied with the sweetest of smiles.
“You are a lucky man, Romsey.”
“I am well aware of that.”
“With your permission, Romsey, may I have the pleasure of this dance, Lady Annalise?”
Clarence was most reluctant to let her go, but knew he had no choice. He surrendered her to Jenkins’ care and stood at the side of the room, watching them without appearing to do so. Amelia Hardgraves appeared at his elbow without his noticing her approach, so intent had he been upon watching Annalise.
“So, Clarence, you have fallen prey to the parson’s mousetrap. She is an enticing package, but still, I must confess to being surprised.”
“Thank you for your congratulations, Amelia.”
Amelia chuckled. “I was unaware your tastes ran to virginal heiresses.”
Clarence was sorely tempted to point out that was because it had been so long since she had been one herself. Naturally, he did not give voice to such a vulgar thought. He and Amelia had enjoyed a casual affair some months previously. Clarence had ended it. Amelia had wanted it to continue and had been a thorn in his side ever since.
“You know where to find me when the bloom fades from the rose,” she said, sounding a little desperate. “Shall we join the dance?”
“Thank you, but the sets are already complete.”
“I shall not take offence.” Amelia deployed her fan somewhat aggressively, possessive jealousy imbued in the gesture. “I can understand why you do not wish your name to be associated with mine at this precise time. I also know marriage will not suit you. You are not cut out for it, which is why you and I rubbed along together so well.”
“We had an enjoyable time, Amelia, but we both understood there was nothing permanent about it.”
“Precisely my point. Neither permanency nor monogamy form part of your character.”
“Perhaps you do not know me as well as you imagine,” Clarence replied, bringing all his diplomatic skills to the fore to prevent himself from giving Amelia the replied she so richly deserved.
“On the contrary, I understand you perfectly.” She paused. “I must say, I am surprised Winchester allowed you to address his beloved sister.”
Clarence was grateful when others joined them, saving him from responding. Von Hessel held him in a death glare from the opposite side of the room. Whimsically, Clarence nodded in his direction, suppressing a chuckle as he did so. Clarence never revealed his hand, or antagonised opponents without good cause. The gesture was so out of character he wondered what had come over him. Annalise’s influence must be rubbing off on him, he supposed. Von Hessel acknowledged him in similar fashion and finally averted his gaze.
The dance came to an end, and Jenkins returned Annalise to Clarence, expressing polite thanks before walking away. Clarence glanced down at her face, glowing with animation. She did not glow in a similar fashion for him—a situation Clarence had every intention of rectifying, if only he could decide how to go about it.
“Miss Anderson must be delighted,” Annalise remarked, nodding across the room to where she was being entertained by Lord Roker. “I do hope she enjoys poetry.”
“You really are a romantic at heart,” Clarence observed.
“Certainly I am. Everyone deserves to find true love.”
Clarence wanted to laugh at her naivety but refrained from doing so for fear of offending her. It was evident she really believed what she said. The poor child had not seen enough of life beyond the close-knit circle of her family to understand its realities.
“Ah, a waltz,” he said. “Just what I had been hoping for. And so early in the evening, too. May I have the pleasure, Lady Annalise?”
“Why, of course you may, my lord.”
Clarence led her onto the floor and swung her into his arms. Was she, like him, thinking of the only other occasion upon which they had waltzed together, and all that had happened subsequent to that?
“Don’t!”
“What have I done?” she asked.
Clarence held her a little closer as they circled the floor. “You are not permitted to think about anything other than enjoying yourself this evening. As your future husband, I absolutely forbid it.”
“Ah, so you intend to be a tyrant. Thank you for the warn
ing.”
“Not a tyrant, my dear. Just a man who cares very much about your wellbeing.”
“Only cares?”
What the devil did she want him to say? Before he could decide, she spoke again.
“Oh look, Vince is waltzing with Frankie. I had thought Zach would take the opportunity.”
“He cannot take the risk.”
Annalise arched a delicate brow. “Why ever not?”
“He waltzed with her at the last ball they attended. Were he to do so again today—”
“Ah, of course, the wagging tongues.”
“One or more of your brothers has not left Frankie’s side since we arrived at this ball.”
“You noticed that when I did not?”
“I am trained to notice things.”
“What have you noticed about von Hessel?”
“Absolutely nothing. He is behaving just as he should, but is intrigued by your presence, and wondering about our sudden engagement.”
“He is not the only one,” she replied sweetly.
God’s beard, he had had enough of this. The dance ended and he all but dragged her from the room.
“Where are you taking me?” she cried breathlessly.
“Somewhere to make you see reason.”
He pulled her along behind him, opening doors randomly on either side of the corridor they found themselves in. Eventually finding an unoccupied sitting room, he took her into it, closed the door behind them, and leaned against it to prevent anyone interrupting them. Then he pulled Annalise into his arms and subjected her to the searing kiss she so richly deserved.
Chapter Sixteen
Anna felt a surge of power ripple through her when Clarence lost his composure and dragged her from the ballroom. But that was nothing compared to the swirling mix of sensations she experienced when his strong arms closed around her and his lips claimed hers with a bold assurance that made her senses reel. He did not ask permission, but kissed her as though he had earned the right. After all the trouble she had caused him, he very likely had. In any event, Anna had no intention of putting up protests. She had never been kissed before and was most anxious to discover what all the fuss was about.
She was not left in ignorance for long.
He slanted his mouth above hers and kissed her with heart-stopping precision. Well, she was almost certain the ambiguous ecstasy flooding her body, as his hands roved her back and he coerced her lips apart with his skilful tongue, was sufficient to stop her heart from beating. Surely, it was not designed to withstand such devastating pleasure? Her breasts were pressed against his coat, her nipples raised, solid and sensitive against the friction caused by his movements. She wound her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his thick hair as she, probably inexpertly, attempted to return his kiss.
Her reaction appeared to be all the encouragement he required. His tongue slid past her parted lips and explored the contours of her mouth with lazy expertise, familiarising himself with the taste of her. Not seeming to find her wanting, he deepened a kiss that appeared to go on forever. Anna wasn’t complaining about its quality or its length, even when her head started to swim and her breathing fractured. In fact, she could not seem to breathe at all, and boldly stole air from his mouth. With her lungs no longer protesting, she pushed herself closer against the solid planes of Clarence’s body. She savoured the tingling exhilaration that cascaded through her, already wanting more, much more of him than she had any right to demand.
Yet.
A small moan of protest slipped past her lips when he finally broke the kiss.
“I did warn you what to expect if you provoked me,” he said, his eyes flashing with a silent message of conquest as he gently untangled her arms from around his neck.
“I did not intentionally provoke you,” she replied, her voice sounding shaky and most unlike her own. “But if that is to be my punishment, I cannot give my word I will not deliberately do so in future.”
He sent her a wicked smile. “The next time you provoke me I shall put you across my knee and spank you.”
She gasped. “You would not dare!”
“You have spent the entire evening smiling at other gentlemen,” he told her in a low, stirring voice containing a hint of censure. “It is not a course of action I would recommend you continue to take.”
“I have not!” But she had. She had done so quite deliberately, simply to invoke his jealousy. She appeared to have succeeded better than she would have imagined possible. “I always smile. It is what young ladies are supposed to do in ballrooms.”
He wagged a finger at her. “Not in the way you smiled at Jenkins when you danced with him.”
“How would you know? You were talking to one politician after another the entire time and didn’t spare me a glance.”
“You mistake the matter,” he said, somewhat coldly. “But I am perfectly serious. If you wish to flirt, then do so with me. I am not a patient man and do not share what is mine.”
“You have endless patience. You are a diplomat.”
He shrugged. “Not when it comes to you, apparently.”
“No, when it comes to me, you seem to think you can dictate my every move. I advise you against such a course. Ask my brothers if you doubt me. They christened me Trouble for a reason.” She sent him the sweetest of smiles. “I think it only fair to warn you, I do not take orders well. That is why we cannot go through with this farce of a marriage. You will want to control everything I do, stifle my character, and that would make us both miserable.”
“I don’t understand what it is you want from me, Annalise,” he said, softly running a finger down the curve of her face. What she wanted was to fight with him, but her heart melted when she saw the tenderness and bewilderment in his expression. “You have me, we shall be married soon, and there’s an end to the matter.”
She looked at him for a long time without speaking, nibbling absently at her index finger as she did so. He really didn’t understand and she found that enduringly sad. He was a very passionate man. She knew that after having been kissed by him. And yet he was incapable of committing to her emotionally by telling her he loved her. That was all she needed to hear. Was it so very much to ask? At that moment, she wished his father had been alive just so she could tell him precisely what she thought of him for the damage he had inflicted upon his highly intelligent, beautiful, yet emotionally deprived son. Anna thought he probably did love her, or came as close to loving her as was possible for a man who had no real notion of love, but that would never be enough for her. Nor could she tell him what she needed to hear. He might say the words, but she did not wish to hear them unless they were heartfelt.
“Tell me about growing up with your father,” she said, turning away from him. “What was it like? What was he like?”
“Demanding,” he replied succinctly.
When he said nothing more, she swung around to face him again. “Is that all you can say?”
“Annalise, you really don’t want to know, and I don’t want to talk about him.” He sighed. “He is gone, and I hope I am a better man than he ever was. God knows, that would not be a difficult ambition to achieve.”
“He beat you?”
“For the smallest of reasons. He enjoyed it.”
She gasped when he told her about having to speak down the length of the dining table in a foreign language and being flogged in front of the servants if he made the smallest mistake. “He did it for the last time when I was fourteen. I was as tall as he was by then, and considerably stronger. I grabbed the birch from his hands, snapped it in two, and told him if he ever laid a finger on me again, I would use a birch on him. After that, I only had to suffer from the lash of his tongue, and that was hard enough to endure.”
Anna went to him and took one of his hands in both of hers. That small explanation told her so much about his character; and made her love him even more as a consequence. She had thought him to be just lonely. Now she knew that in spite of his int
elligence, he could never live up to the expectations of a father he went out of his way to impress.
“He sounds perfectly horrible,” she said lightly.
Clarence’s eyes were clouded with the pain of remembering, but Anna suspected talking about his dark secrets might help him to recover from them. She was willing to wager he had never told another living soul about his humiliation and felt glad he had chosen to confide in her. There had to be so much more he wasn’t telling her, and now was not the time to press the issue. But she would at a more appropriate juncture. She would force him to talk about it, and make it all go away.
“He did what he thought was right.”
“No, he took sadistic pleasure from being a bully.”
Clarence twitched a brow. “Very possible, but it doesn’t matter now.”
“Is that why you decided not to marry? Because you thought you might be like him?”
Clarence sighed. “We should not be having this conversation. Not here. Not now.” He shrugged. “Perhaps not ever. I cannot think why I spoke about it at all, come to that. It does no good to dwell upon the past.”
“I disagree.” She was still holding his hand and ran her thumb across his palm, drawing intricate patterns upon it as she tried to formulate exactly the right words of reassurance. She wished he would sit down so she could slide onto his knee, wrap her arms around his neck, and comfort him. Concerns about creasing her gown seemed unimportant in the face of the admission Clarence had just made. “You are not your father. Never think for a moment you are anything like him.” She stood on her toes and grasped his face in both of her hands. “I did not know him, but I don’t need to have, to know that much. You are a far better man than he ever was. Never lose sight of that.”
“And yet, I just threatened to beat you,” he said lightly.
“You did not mean it, and even if you did, I wouldn’t permit it.” She laughed. “All of my brothers have made similar threats at one time or another. I probably gave them good reason.”
“No.” The corners of his lips lifted and the grip of winter left his eyes. “I don’t suppose you would permit it.”
Ducal Encounters 02 - With the Duke's Approval Page 18
