by Matilda Hart
The women set up and began to play, and as they played, Maddi began to relax. Jane won the first game easily, because Maddi had been distracted by thoughts of Andrew Dunn watching her play. The second game went better for her, but after Jane won the third game, they took a break and sat on a convenient bench. A servant, who must have been waiting for them to break, brought out two parasols and a tray with lemonade. They accepted gratefully, and then sat making desultory conversation until Jane asked,
“Are you enamored of Andrew Dunn?” Her tone was void of any emotion, but as Maddi turned to look at her, she wondered why the question had been asked. And more, she wondered how truthful she should be in her reply.
“Why do you ask?” she said, instead of replying to the question.
“Oh, do not fear, cousin mine. I have no interest on him myself. I outgrew my girlish fancies about him years ago.” She smiled at Maddi’s surprise. “He is only three years older than I am, you know? And I suppose it would have been a great coup for Mama had I been able to snag his attention.”
Maddi smiled. She now had one more piece of information about him. If Andrew Dunn was thirty years old, he had a great deal more experience of the world than she did, and had probably broken a few hearts in his time. Though it would appear that her cousin Jane’s was not one of them. She turned her focus back to what her cousin was saying.
“I only ask because I have been observing him since his arrival, and it seems that he has developed quite an interest in you.”
Maddi’s hand trembled around the glass she held. “What makes you say that, cousin?” she asked, striving to keep her voice clear and steady.
“He could not keep his eyes off you last evening at dinner,” Jane announced. “Everyone but you noticed it, too.”
She sounded amused by the fact, and Maddi blushed as she recalled how she had caught him staring once. And she freely admitted now that she had known subconsciously that he had been doing so all along. Had he chosen to sit across from her so that he could watch her? That would most likely mean that Jane was right, and that he also was enamored of her.
“I do find his Lordship attractive,” she said demurely, not wanting to give too much of her feelings away too soon. Although she and her cousin had never been hostile to each other, they had never been particularly close, either. This would be the first time in Maddi’s memory that Jane had ever spoken to her in more than a few words about anything other than a welcome or a greeting.
“Every woman finds that man attractive, my dear,” Jane said with a quiet chuckle. “What I am asking is whether or not you want him to find you sufficiently attractive in his turn as to make an offer for your hand. In other words, do you wish to marry him?”
Maddi was shocked by the question, though she knew that she wanted him to ask for her hand. One did not wish for a man to pursue her unless one wished to marry him, it seemed. Still, Maddi was unsure.
“I haven’t really thought about him in those terms, cousin,” she replied. “I do confess to thinking about him far more than is probably good for me. Is that important?”
Jane sipped her lemonade before replying. “Do you remember the man who danced with you last evening who was also somewhat older than the other young men on your dance card? A rather large man, with an air of experience?”
“I do,” Maddi said at once. “He made me feel somewhat uncomfortable, and I was glad when out set ended.”
“That is the man I intend to marry,” she announced. “He doesn’t know it as yet, but he is mine.”
Maddi eyed her cousin in frank astonishment. “Who is he, Jane, and what makes him so special to you?”
“His name is Donald Campbell,” she replied, “and he is the second son of a neighbor. He has been to war and back, and is now a proper country gentleman. I find his size and strength terribly appealing. And the way he holds me when he dances...firm and decisive, and a little bit arrogant.”
Maddi watched as her Plain Jane cousin’s face was transformed before her eyes into a picture of almost painful beauty.
“Does he know of your feelings?” she asked.
“He has known for some little while now,” she replied without elaborating. Her gaze took on a dreamy aspect for another moment, and then she said, “So, are you enamored of the duke?”
“Wait a moment, Jane,” Maddi protested. “Does it not bother you that he was so...familiar with me at the dance?”
“He meant nothing by it,” she answered. “It is just his way. Did you not notice that he only danced with you and me, and that he danced with me more than once?’
“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 b
egan 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 her 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 mi
ssed 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.
