by Nikki Poppen
“You can wager twenty pounds. I’ll wager a kiss.”
“If I win, I get twenty pounds. If you win, I’ll give you a kiss. Hmmm” Audrey pretended to contemplate the wager. “All right, I accept” The prospect of kissing Gannon again sent a delicious shiver through her. Their heads were so close, she could kiss him right now if it weren’t for her mother standing on the curb waiting for them. They’d already tarried by the carriage overlong.
Audrey wasn’t one to enjoy shopping, not the way the other women in Newport enjoyed it. But today, she was enjoying shopping immensely. Purchasing gifts for Gannon’s family was infinitely more entertaining than shopping for a never-ending procession of gowns. They strolled the length of the Casino shops, studying store windows and popping into shops that caught their attention. At one store, they purchased two sets of stereoscope slides depicting the sights of Newport and New York City for Andrew. They made a last stop at Worth’s boutique, where Audrey helped Gannon select lengths of fabric for Moira and trimmings for his greataunts. While they made their selections, Gannon regaled them with tales of his beloved greataunts’ eccentricities.
Audrey and her mother were promised for luncheon at Caroline Astor’s at two o’clock. Violet tried to persuade Gannon to join them. “Caro won’t mind another, especially when it’s you”
But Gannon refused. “I am promised as well. I told Lionel Carrington I’d meet him at the Reading Room. I’ll drop you off, though”
The idea of arriving in Gannon’s carriage with Gannon himself aboard placated Violet. Audrey gave Gannon a knowing look. He smiled back. They were co-conspirators at the moment.
At the entrance to Beechwood, Gannon handed them down. “I’ll look forward to the dinner and dancing at the Elms later tonight. Thank you for the help shopping.”
“Are you sure you won’t reconsider, Camberly?” Violet inquired one last time.
“I am certain.”
“Very well, then. I see a friend I must greet. Audrey darling, don’t be too long.” Violet swished off, calling to a woman under the enormous shade trees.
“She’s insatiable,” Gannon joked lightly.
“Again, my apologies.”
“No, truly, I don’t mind.” Gannon brought her gloved hand up to brush it lightly with his lips. “You have good parents, Audrey. I loved both of mine, and I miss them every day. Love them they way they are, and be glad you can do it.”
Audrey blushed and looked away. “You’re too good to be true, Gannon.”
“Until tonight, Audrey.” Gannon dropped her hand. “I’ll be looking forward to winning the wager.”
“You’re mighty cocky,” Audrey shot back. But it was all he had to say to ensure that the wager was all she thought about the rest of the afternoon too. She was starting to desperately wish she’d lose.
By eight o’clock that evening, her wish came true. Her mother had proclaimed Gannon’s noble acts throughout lunch, careful always to mention that she’d learned all this while he escorted them shopping. After lunch, they’d made the daily parade up Bellevue Avenue in Caroline Astor’s carriage, stopping to share the latest news with others. When Audrey and her parents arrived at the Elms for the supper ball, the drawing room was already abuzz with stories of the earl. By the time Gannon arrived, all those assembled were about ready to pin a medal of honor onto his chest.
“I see you’ve lost,” Gannon whispered discreetly into her ear after a gentleman stopped by their group to inquire about Gannon’s family and how much they must miss him while he was abroad.
“Yes, I do believe I have,” Audrey conceded quietly, turning to face him, a little smile playing coquettishly on her lips.
“I’ll look forward to collecting my reward later this evening.”
The look he gave her was half flirtation and half something else that Audrey couldn’t name. Whatever it was, it darkened his eyes and created such a longing in her that she didn’t want to wait. She wanted to drag him out to the balcony and kiss him right then.
Dinner was torturous. To Audrey’s dismay, they weren’t seated anywhere near each other. The hosts had arranged to have Gannon seated next to their visiting young niece in a last-ditch effort to claim Gannon’s attentions. Audrey took comfort in knowing that most of those assembled knew that Gannon’s attentions were firmly fixed in her direction.
What pettiness she had fallen to when she took comfort from her own sham! Audrey took a bite of the poached salmon. Would Gannon’s attentions be so assuredly fixed on her if their deal didn’t demand it? The question niggled at her throughout dinner as she watched him chat with the girl. She was passably pretty, if a little on the plain side. Audrey wondered what her conversation was like. What were she and Gannon talking about at the other end of the table?
“Darling, don’t stare so. People will think you’re jealous, or, worse, they’ll think you’re worried you can’t hold Camberly without a tight rein,” her mother said quietly from her seat on Audrey’s right side.
Audrey quickly averted her gaze. She hadn’t realized she’d been staring. She took another bite of salmon and turned to the young gentleman on her left, determined to shake the intruding thoughts of Gannon’s impending kiss.
At last the ballroom doors were thrown open to start the dancing. She was obliged to dance with her dinner partner, who’d turned out to be quite desultory at small talk and even worse at dancing. But Gannon was waiting for her when the first dance finished, having done his time gallantly with the Oelriches’ niece.
The next dance was a waltz, and she let Gannon lead her out onto the floor, incredibly aware of his physical presence-the warmth of his hand at her back, the length of his fingers in his gloves as they gripped her own. No one she’d ever danced with danced with Gannon’s grace and confidence. She wondered if that had to do with the difference in ages. Gannon was a man full grown, after all. At thirtythree, he wasn’t a young beau trying to figure out adulthood and all its tenets. Gannon was a seasoned man with experiences to guide him.
“What are you thinking?” Gannon said, sweeping them through a turn.
“I am thinking how the women in London must flock to you,” she said honestly.
“Well, some do,” Gannon replied modestly.
Audrey laughed at his humble response. “Dance me outside, Gannon Maddox.”
Gannon swung them through the open French doors and out into the gardens. Unlike English town houses, where ballrooms were on the second floor after a long climb up a curved staircase, these American mansions featured wide-open ballrooms on the lower floor so that the doors exited onto wide verandahs and gardens.
The gardens were well lit enough and as yet still un populated by guests, since the dancing had just begun. Feeling bold, Audrey drew Gannon down the shallow steps and onto a winding path. Strains of the waltz filtered out from the ballroom into the evening. “Dance with me here, Gannon.”
“Audrey, we must have a care,” Gannon warned, but he was smiling at her, his eyes sparkling with the fun and mischief of their escapade. Audrey reveled in the power of his arms as he stepped them into the dance.
They dipped and swayed over the brick pathways in time to the music inside. Audrey’s slipper caught on a loose brick, and she stumbled, only to be immediately righted by Gannon’s sure-footedness.
The music faded, and Audrey collapsed against him, breathless. It seemed more natural than stepping away. They were both laughing. Audrey looked up into the night. “The stars are coming out,” she said, raising an arm upward.
“Shall we wish on them?” Gannon asked softly, his hands riding gently at her waist, their bodies close.
“No, I don’t dare trust my luck,” Audrey said. “I made a wish earlier today, and it came true”
Gannon arched his eyebrows in inquiry. “What did you wish for?”
Audrey gave him a playful smile. “I wished I’d lose the bet”
“Why is that?” Gannon pressed, teasing.
“Can’t you guess?” A
udrey said, suddenly embarrassed by her confession. “Surely I don’t need to spell it out for you.”
“At last, I’ve managed to embarrass the outspoken Miss St. Clair.” Gannon chuckled. “No, don’t tell me why you wished to lose the bet. Let me believe it was because you wanted me to kiss you again. It will do my man’s ego good”
Just like that, her embarrassment evaporated. Her confidence restored, Audrey pushed forward, her arms moving around his neck. “So will you? Kiss me, that is?”
“Absolutely.” He dipped his head and obliged.
Audrey sank into the kiss, her mouth opening to his. Her hands found their way into the darkness of his hair. The kiss deepened, and she instinctively pressed her body into his, feeling the muscles and manly planes of him.
“Audrey, careful,” Gannon murmured between what had gone from one kiss to a series of kisses. “Whatever would your mother say?”
A firm clearing of a throat brought the moment to an abrupt halt. Audrey looked past Gannon’s shoulder with unfeigned horror. The object of Gannon’s remark stood on the garden path, tapping her foot ominously on the bricks. “She would say, we’d better talk about your intentions, Camberly.”
Audrey stifled a gasp and would have jumped if Cannon’s firm grip hadn’t steadied her. “It’s not what you think,” Audrey said hurriedly.
“I beg to differ, dear,” Violet said coolly. “It’s exactly what I think it is.” She managed a brittle smile. “But I have no worries. I am certain Camberly knows what needs to be done. I’ll take you home, Audrey, so Camberly and your father can have a long talk.”
Audrey began to protest, but a warning pressure from Gannon at her waist caused her to reconsider. “Audrey, I’ll manage things,” Gannon said with a quiet strength beside her.
Audrey knew she had no real choice. At least Gannon was her ally in this. Of all the people in Newport who would protect her interests, there was only Gannon. But he didn’t know the whole of it. He’d asked her on at least two occasions what she wanted her freedom for, and she’d neglected to give him a direct answer. She wished she had confided in him.
Gannon did not seem upset, Audrey noted, as he masterfully guided them through the ballroom to the card room where Wilson St. Clair was talking with business friends. From the moment her mother had appeared in the garden and demanded her brand of satisfaction, Gannon had efficiently taken charge of the situation, calling for the carriage and seeing to their wraps.
Audrey admired Gannon’s subtle maneuverings, all of which should suggest to her mother that he would not be managed like an errant schoolboy called before the headmaster, nor would he walk back into the ballroom like a whipped cur. No one decided anything for the Earl of Camberly. He decided for himself. He alone was responsible for the turns his life took.
Unlike her. Her life evolved at the whim of others, no matter how much she railed against such machinations. Gannon handed her into the St. Clair carriage and shut the door. Impulsively, Audrey reached for Gannon’s hand before the carriage pulled away from the curb. There was so much she wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t come. Now that they were out of public view, hot tears threatened to overwhelm her. She wanted nothing more than to lay her head against Gannon’s chest and sob out her frustrations into the black depths of his evening coat.
He squeezed her hand and pressed a swift kiss to her knuckles, his eyes holding hers. “Everything will be fine, Audrey. I promise. Get some sleep. I’ll call on you in the morning.”
Gannon called up to the driver and then stepped back to let the vehicle pull away down the long driveway of the Elms. Audrey fixed her gaze on him until the curve of the drive took him from her view.
“You’ve done well, Audrey,” Violet said from her seat. “Your father and Camberly will work out the details, and we can announce the engagement tomorrow” Her voice took a sterner tone. “However, you were lucky it was I who found you two and not someone else. The results would be the same but not without the attending scandal. What were you thinking? You should have told me what you had planned.”
Audrey’s blood ran colder than it already was. She could feel her body start to tremble with the shock of all that had transpired. “I did not trap him,” she ground out in forceful words.
Violet waved her fan negligently. “Of course not, darling. Trap is too strong a word for a man like Camberly. He’s not a man to be trapped. No one coerces him into a corner without his willingness to be put there”
“It’s not like that, not with him,” Audrey said staunchly. But her mind roiled with a thousand thoughts at once. Did Gannon think she’d set out to compromise him? She’d certainly behaved boldly and obviously enough to create that impression.
When she looked back over the evening, her actions seemed so obvious; asking him to take her outside, to dance with her alone, and then she’d practically begged to be kissed. Seeing that kiss in her mind’s eye now was mortifying; the way she’d put her hands in his hair, pressed herself up against him in what could only be considered a most unladylike manner. Only, it hadn’t seemed unladylike at the time. It had seemed natural, and it had seemed mutual.
Mutual. That was even worse when she thought about their actions in the context of the conversation they’d had at the picnic. They had not talked about it since, but Gannon had not made any secret of his desire to officially change the nature of their association, to make the courting ruse real. Would Gannon look upon her actions tonight as a signal that she’d changed her mind? That she wanted to make the courtship real?
“Audrey, are you off daydreaming about your wedding already? I don’t think you’ve heard a thing I’ve said.” Violet’s voice broke into her thoughts. “I am thinking of a November wedding. We’ll still be able to get good flowers. If we press Worth for the dress before we leave for New York, it will be finished in time. If not, we’ll have no choice but to put the wedding off until spring. Spring is so tricky, trying to schedule around Easter and Lent…
“He’ll want to be home for the harvest. The earl can’t stay until November,” Audrey interrupted.
That seemed to stymy Violet for a moment. “We could try to pull something together sooner. Oh, dear, it’s already August” Violet shook her head.
Audrey didn’t hear the rest of the one-sided conversation. She sank back into the seat and closed her eyes. An hour ago, life had been much simpler. It was entirely unreasonable that the price of one kiss should be so high. Well, to be honest, it wasn’t just one kiss. There had been others with Gannon before tonight. And tonight hadn’t been the exchange of a chaste peck on the cheek either.
For all her best intentions to avoid falling in love, she’d landed herself in the middle of her very own summer romance. It was little consolation that she’d been right-that falling in love now would be ill timed. She’d told herself that from the start. But it hadn’t seemed to help. She took a modicum of comfort in her mother’s words that Gannon wasn’t a man to be forced into anything. But Gannon was also a man of honor and responsibility, two characteristics nobly demonstrated in his concern for his family. She could easily imagine Gannon telling her father they would not marry just as easily as she could imagine him asking permission to marry. In truth, while she knew Gannon would do what he thought was best, she didn’t have a clue what that would be.
The only certainty was that tonight she’d been caught kissing the Earl of Camberly in a very intimate manner, and now she was going to pay.
Audrey was going to pay-that was the only thing that was clear to Gannon as he settled into a chair across from Wilson St. Clair in Lionel Carrington’s study. Lionel offered them both snifters of brandy and folded his long form into the remaining chair.
Lionel made banal small talk with St. Clair, giving the meeting the veneer of friendliness. Gannon sipped from his glass and used the interlude to rapidly gather his thoughts. He needed a strategy, quickly. Several strategies had suggested themselves on the drive over from the Elms. All of them were viable, depe
nding on what Audrey wanted. That was his biggest concern tonight. The sight of his confident, self-assured Audrey paling in the moonlight at the words of her mother’s declaration had unnerved him.
While he would have preferred that his proposal be received under different circumstances, it was a proposal he had intended to make, with Audrey’s permission. He was not disappointed at having to offer for Audrey. He had discussed his desire for them to marry with her before. But Audrey had been ambiguous in her response to that idea. In spite of that, she had kissed him intensely tonight, an equal partner in the passion that had sprung between them in the Elms’ garden. Did that mean she’d changed her mind? He would not be coerced into marriage unless Audrey wanted to wed.
“Gentlemen, let’s get down to business,” Wilson St. Clair said during a lull in Lionel’s conversation. “Camberly, you have something you want to discuss? Something that couldn’t wait until morning?” Wilson cut straight to the point.
“Yes. I want to offer for Audrey” This seemed the best way to buy them some time, time to get things straightened out between them and figure out what they wanted.
Wilson St. Clair steepled his hands and studied Gannon. “Is that so? Is there a reason you need to offer for her tonight as opposed to ten o’clock tomorrow morning?”
Gannon decided Audrey got her penchant for straight talk from her father. He didn’t bother to skirt the issue or to dress it up. Wilson St. Clair could ferret out a half truth with the best of them. “Your wife, sir, caught us in an embrace in the garden. For the sake of Audrey’s reputation, I wanted to speak with you right away”
Gannon hoped his response sounded like that of a grown man. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d somehow been called on the carpet. No wonder a large number of his friends waited until their mid-thirties to marry. They wanted to put off the meeting with the prospective father-in-law as long as they could. He was glad Lionel was there, quiet support in the background of this conversation.
“Compromising my daughter, eh?” Wilson St. Clair eyed him with disdain. “I thought you’d be above such antics, Camberly.”
