by Julia London
“I am prepared to teach you.”
Her smile broadened at his hopeful look. “You seem to have thought of everything. I need only a moment with Mr. Digby.”
He nodded.
Kate returned to Digby while Darlington waited, and explained what Darlington had come for.
Digby nearly levitated. “If you are to ride off with the Duke of Darlington and his nephews, then you must make it very clear that you will expect some sort of payment in return!” he whispered excitedly.
“I most certainly will not!” Kate whispered.
“If you do not, you are a fool.”
“I am not a fool, and neither am I immoral!”
“This has naught to do with morals!” Digby complained. “This has to do with survival!”
With a roll of her eyes, she handed her reticule to him. “Will you please tell Aldous where I’ve gone?” she asked, and turned away from Digby before he tried to persuade her further.
She caught Darlington glaring into the interior of the carriage. He straightened up when he saw her walking toward him and seemed to hesitate before gesturing to the carriage door.
Kate looked apprehensively into the carriage. Two young boys were seated side by side on one of the benches, regarding her curiously.
Darlington looked into the interior, too, and said, “We have a guest, lads, and I trust you will be on your best behavior.”
The boys looked at Kate again.
Darlington offered his hand to her and helped her up. He took a seat beside her on the bench, his body pressed against hers. The boys stared at Kate.
Darlington smiled as he knocked on the ceiling to send the carriage on. “Miss Bergeron, may I introduce my nephews, Master Frederick,” he said, indicating the older one, “and Master Radcliff.”
Kate smiled and put out her hand. “How do you do, young sirs?”
The older one—Frederick—took her hand and shook it firmly.
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, madam,” Frederick said automatically, then looked at Darlington. “But who is she, Uncle Christie?”
“She is my friend, Freddie.”
“Is she Mummy’s friend, too?”
“Ah … well, not as yet,” Darlington said uncertainly.
“You can be Mummy’s friend, too,” Radcliff said to Kate as he swung his feet, knocking his heels against the bench. “She likes friends. She has lots of them.”
“That would be delightful,” Kate said. “Is that a horse, Master Radcliff?”
“It’s my horse,” he confirmed with a glare for his brother.
“Has he a name?”
“Leo.”
“He’s not Leo!” Frederick cried suddenly. “He’s Robbie.” He reached for the horse, but Radcliff quickly moved it out of his reach.
“Radcliff!” Darlington exclaimed, looking mortified, and reached across the carriage, wresting the horse from the young boy. “It would appear my nephews have quite forgotten their manners, Miss Bergeron. Here now, lads, look there and tell me what you see,” he said, pointing to the window.
Both boys instantly pressed their faces to the window, and began to call out the sights—a cart full of cheese wheels. A lady beating a carpet. A dog sniffing around a lamppost as a lamplighter filled it with oil.
Darlington winked at Kate. “They are young and very foolish,” he said softly. “They think nothing of disobeying adults and scuffing up floors. You must forgive them for having been raised quite poorly thus far.”
Kate laughed, and Darlington’s smile warmed considerably.
They were soon at Hyde Park. As they neared the ice skating pond, the boys could hardly be contained in the carriage. Once there, it took quite a lot of doing for Darlington to get them into skates, but when he had them securely fastened onto their feet, they were off, sliding around and at times colliding with other skaters.
“Pardon,” Darlington said, “but I really must ensure they do not harm anyone,” he said as he quickly strapped on skates. He handed the last pair to Kate. “I’ll return in a moment.”
He left Kate sitting on a bench. She looked down at the skates. Then at Darlington, who skated easily, the strokes of his legs strong and smooth as he glided along. And when he caught up to the boys, he twirled and grabbed their arms, pulled them close, and leaned down to have a chat with them.
As he led his nephews around the pond, Kate watched the other skaters. One man had his hands clasped behind his back and skated along in a rhythm, his face tilted toward the sun. Young couples held hands and twirled around one another as if they were on a dance floor.
When she spotted Darlington again, he was leading the boys around the pond at a much slower pace, obviously instructing them. Within a matter of minutes, the boys were skating as well as Darlington, and Frederick even attempted to twirl around on one leg. Darlington continued to mind them, catching them if they skated too close to other skaters.
When he was, at last, apparently satisfied that the boys would not crash into anyone or otherwise cause themselves harm, he skated across the pond to Kate, sliding to a stop at the edge of the pond. He looked at the skates in her lap and frowned. “You’ve not donned your skates, madam.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Mmm,” he said. “That sounds a bit like an excuse.”
“It’s not!” she protested, but when Darlington gave her a dubious look, she admitted, “Maybe a wee bit of one.”
He stepped up onto the bank, knelt before her, and gestured to her foot. “May I?”
Kate lifted her skirt to reveal her boots. Darlington put his hand under her ankle and lifted her foot up. He placed the flat surface of the skate against her sole, then lowered her foot and strapped the skate into place. When he’d done the same with the second foot, he stood up and held out his hand.
Kate stood. She felt fairly steady as long as she was merely standing on firm ground, but when she tried to move her foot, she faltered and grabbed his outstretched arm to right herself. “Blast it,” she uttered unthinkingly, and righted herself.
Darlington laughed. “It will be easier on the ice,” he assured her. He stepped onto the ice, holding out his hand to her, but Kate stood rooted to her spot. “Just put one foot on the ice,” he urged her.
“I don’t think I can.” She felt wobbly, and was certain if she lifted her foot, she would lose her balance.
“Put your hand in mine,” Darlington said as a pair of boys rushed past them and jumped onto the ice.
Kate leaned forward as far as she dared, but couldn’t quite reach his hand. “Perhaps I should just wait—”
He surprised her by stepping up and grabbing her by the waist and lifting her out onto the ice. He slid backward with the force of her weight; Kate cried out with alarm and instinctively threw her arm around his neck. Darlington grinned and smoothly put her on her feet, his hands on her waist to steady her, his grip firm and possessive.
But Kate didn’t feel the least bit steady and clung to his arms. They were facing each other, still sliding, moving farther out onto the ice. Her legs were locked; other skaters swirled around them, but she could not move. Darlington’s nephews suddenly appeared on her right, almost colliding with her in their haste to reach her, and causing Kate to cry out with alarm again.
“Shall we hold her hands, Uncle?” Frederick asked as he skated in a circle around them.
“Thank you, but I’ve got her,” he assured them, and smiled down at Kate with great amusement. “Pardon, madam, but you do not seem as light on your feet as you were at the ball.”
“Would that I were at the ball at this very moment,” she said breathlessly.
“You must move your feet!” Radcliff exclaimed, squatting down to have a look at her feet.
“I’ll instruct her if it’s all the same to you, Radcliff,” Darlington said. As he moved backward, he moved his legs far apart and then together again, the motion giving him just enough momentum to move them slowly along in a straight line.
“It looks so easy!” Kate exclaimed. “On my word, my ankles will never hold me.”
“They will,” he assured her. “I have seen your ankles and they appeared quite sturdy.”
That brought her head up. For a moment. “And when have you seen my ankles?” she demanded, looking down again.
“I’ve had mere glimpses,” he said. “At the ball. And the opera. Moments ago when I was strapping on your skates.”
Kate looked up again, but it was a mistake; one foot slipped. She made a sound of terror as she slid into Darlington’s hard chest.
He steadied her with one arm around her back. It was not entirely necessary, as she was already clinging to him, her arms around his back. His strong, broad back. She could feel the strength in him, the hardness of his body, the easy way he held her.
“Perhaps you’d do better if I let go—”
“No, no!” she cried. Her hood slipped off, exposing her head and the severe bun at the nape of her neck.
“You’re awfully slow, Uncle Christie,” Frederick observed.
In her moment of panic, Kate had forgotten the boys were even there.
“Thank you, Frederick, for that helpful comment. I have a farthing for the first one of you to reach the far side of the pond.”
That was all the invitation the boys needed; Frederick pushed Radcliff in an effort to get ahead of him, which caused Radcliff to shout in anger and chase after his older brother.
“As for you, Kate, as agreeable as I find our present arrangement, it does not serve the purpose of actually teaching you to skate.”
“That’s quite all right. I don’t want to know how to skate any longer.”
“You do.”
“I do not. You can put me back on the shore, and I should be delighted to watch you and the boys.”
“I am going to hold your arms out—”
“No, no, I can’t!” she cried in a panic.
“I won’t let you fall,” he assured her, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
Kate stared into those eyes. Trust did not come easy to her, but with him … it felt different. She reluctantly released her tight hold. He held out one of her arms. Then the other. She could feel the warmth of his hands even through the wool of her cloak. Still holding her, he smiled warmly.
Kate looked down.
“Look at me, not your feet,” he said. “Now push with your right leg.”
Kate did as he suggested.
“Wonderful. Now the other.”
She did it again and gasped with delight. “I’m skating!” she cried, and looked down at her feet.
“Look at me,” he reminded her. “Now then, let us have you skate of your own power.”
“Christie, no!” she cried, but he’d already let go of her. Kate instantly started to whirl with her arms, but felt her balance slipping. Darlington quickly moved behind her and put his hands on her waist to help steady her. “Slow and easy,” he said into her hair, his breath warm on her ear. When she’d found her balance, he let go of her completely.
Kate was suddenly gliding, her arms out for ballast, her legs wide apart. But she was skating. She was skating! With a laugh of joy—which momentarily unbalanced her, but from which she was able to regain her balance with a bit more frantic whirling—Kate continued on, methodically pushing with one leg, and then the other.
Unfortunately, she had not yet learned the art of turning, and realized she was headed directly for a group of women who were skating with their arms linked.
“Turn to the right, Kate,” Darlington called from behind her.
“How in God’s name shall I do that?” she exclaimed frantically.
“Turn to the right!” he said, a bit more urgently.
The women were unaware of Kate hurtling toward them. She would have collided with them headlong, too, had Darlington not grabbed her by the waist at the last moment and veered sharply right. But in saving the ladies from injury, if not death, Darlington’s skate tangled with Kate’s, and down the two of them went, Kate landing directly on top of Darlington. The fall knocked the air from Kate’s lungs for a moment. She looked at Darlington wide-eyed, aware that her breasts were pressed against his chest, and her body stretched the length of his, her feet tangled with his. She suddenly felt awfully warm in her cloak.
Darlington suddenly began to laugh. He cupped her face with his hands. “Are you all right?” he asked laughingly.
“Me? Are you?”
“Perfectly fine,” he said, and laughed again as Kate struggled to get off of him and help him up. He didn’t need her help; he leapt to his feet. “You may think me a wretched dancer, madam, but you are the most wretched skater in all of London!” he exclaimed.
“You might have at least instructed me how to stop before hurtling me across the pond!”
“I did not hurtle you. You were listing along like a great galleon across the high seas. Here, put your arms around my neck,” he said, leaning down to help her up. He finally managed to get Kate on her feet, but in doing so, he’d had to take firm hold of her, holding her to him in a loose embrace.
“A galleon?” she asked, a little breathlessly.
He looked down at her with clear blue eyes; a strand of hair fell over his forehead. His cheeks were rosy from the cold and his lips … oh, his lips, those magnificent lips that had created such fantasies in her, were only a few short inches from hers. “A galleon. Clearly, you require more instruction,” he said, and his mouth seemed to drift closer to hers.
Kate felt her body go soft, felt the tingling of desire and the instinctive need to yield to the softness. “I should have warned you that I don’t take instruction well,” she said.
His brow arched in surprise. She felt his hands on her arms. “An unruly student, are you?” he asked softly. “I will have to discipline you accordingly, I suppose.”
Kate smiled. She wished she could remove her cloak and feel the cool air on her very warm skin. “I don’t take discipline as well as I give it.”
His eyes went dark and his grip of her arms tightened. “That sounds like a challenge,” he murmured.
Kate’s heart began to flutter; she didn’t care that they were in the middle of a public place, that people were sliding by them, laughing and twirling around them. She lifted her face to his …
But instead of feelings his lips on hers, she felt a pair of small hands grab her around the knees. “Race with us, will you?” one of the boys shouted. “Madam, will you race?”
Darlington’s hands fell away from her; Kate’s eyes flew open as she thrust her arms out to balance herself. Radcliff caught one of his uncle’s hands; Darlington held out the other to Kate, his dark gaze was still upon her. “We’ve been challenged to a race, madam. Prepare to set sail.”
Kate’s skating skills improved only marginally over the course of the next hour, but her ankles, legs, and hips ached from the physical exertion. She begged to be freed from the pond and was grateful when Frederick and Radcliff escorted her off.
Kate sat on the bench and removed her skates. A few moments later, she was joined by Darlington, who had skated off the pond as if he’d only just arrived. “Well then,” he asked as he took a seat next to her. “What do you think of skating?”
“Exhilarating,” she said and shifted to face him, but the movement caused a sharp pain in her muscles. “Ow, ow, ow,” she hissed.
“I forgot to warn you about that,” Darlington said with a chuckle.
Kate rubbed her calf. “I must thank you for this, Christie,” she said sincerely. “I have wanted to try skating since the first time I first saw people skating on the Thames when I was a girl.”
“Grayson,” he said.
“Pardon?” She glanced up at him as she continued to rub her calf.
“My given name is Grayson,” he clarified. “Rarely used, I grant you, as my family and close acquaintances seem to prefer Christie. But I thought you should know.”
Kate slowly straightened up. “Does th
at mean you consider me a close acquaintance?”
His eyes flitted over her face. “I believe I do.”
“How far we have come since our first meeting.”
“How far, indeed,” he said with a slow smile. He glanced out over the pond, his gaze finding the boys. Kate noticed they’d found a stick and were trying to poke through the ice at the pond’s edge. “I have not as yet called on the prince,” Grayson said.
Kate kept her gaze on the boys. “Oh,” she said airily, “have you not?”
“No.” She looked at him then, and he smiled with charming diffidence. “I wanted—want—more time.”
Warmth swelled in Kate.
“I wouldn’t be the least surprised if you are on the verge of vapors,” he said self-consciously. “Wondering how you might send me politely on my way.”
She admired his fine profile. “Not at all,” she said. But in truth, she wasn’t precisely certain what she should say. Benoit had signed a contract for her services. Even though she’d been completely beguiled by the Duke of Darlington and his interest in her was far too exciting to ignore, she was painfully aware of all she risked by even thinking about him.
He looked at her questioningly, and Kate smiled. “Perhaps we might practice skating some more now that I have come so close to mastering it,” she suggested, but then shifted and winced at the surprising pain in her hips.
“Oh no,” he said, frowning. “Your butler may very well call me out if you look so pained when you return.”
Kate laughed.
“I’ll be thinking of a suitable second, but in the meantime, I think you should walk. It will help keep your limbs from stiffening.”
“I can’t possibly walk,” she complained.
“Come now,” he said, standing and offering his hand. “We can’t have your newfound mastery of skating meet such an early demise.”
She couldn’t help but smile and put her hand in his. He closed his fingers possessively around hers and helped her up.
Chapter Twenty
His Grace, the Duke of Darlington, Master Frederick Carlisle and Master Radcliff Carlisle,” the butler announced at the door of Diana’s salon.
