Chapter Ten #2
Leaning down, he cupped her face, staring at her perfect bow lips.
It was the last thing he saw as his lips met hers.
She opened to him, their tongues gently probing the other’s.
His cock wasn’t listening to him, as though it had a mind of its own.
He needed to stop this now before it went further.
Their first outing shouldn’t include lovemaking. Not yet. He pulled away.
“We can’t. Not today.”
“Am I not good enough for you, Your Grace? Isn’t this what courting couples do? Take liberties with their time alone?” Her voice had raised, and it was easy to see she wasn’t happy about the outcome.
“Yes, but let’s get to know each other better.”
“You could ruin me, and we would be expected to marry,” she said, pulling away from him.
He ran his hand through his hair. “Would you really want that following us throughout our marriage?”
“Isn’t it better than that toad trying to force me into marrying him? I’m afraid he’ll return and challenge you to a fight or something.”
“Are you now suggesting we elope?”
“That idea had occurred to me.” Her eyes were pleading with him. She was terrified the earl would force himself on her in order to marry her. He was that determined.
“Let me think about it. I’m not saying yes, let’s elope. I want to decide if it’s feasible and how to go about it.”
Her bottom lip was protruding from her pink mouth, making him want to kiss her and make it better.
Instead, he began to laugh. He couldn’t contain himself.
The entire situation was bizarre. When he first met her, she made it obvious she didn’t care for him, and now she was wanting to be his lover and wife.
“What’s so funny?” she demanded, her eyes shooting daggers at him.
He couldn’t quell the laughter, though he made some half-hearted tries. The laughter echoed off the walls of the cottage.
“Arthur!”
He caught his breath and reached out and took her hand. “I apologize. That was insensitive of me.”
“Are you going to tell me what’s so funny?”
“It’s really nothing. I would never have guessed a month ago I would be plotting how to elope with a beautiful woman.”
Nodding, Daphne squeezed his larger hand. “Neither would I. I have been rather mean to you, haven’t I?”
“Yes, you have.”
She pulled at his fingers with some force. “Arthur! You don’t have to agree with everything I say.”
He grinned, pulling his fingers out of her grip. “In this case, yes, I feel it’s in my best interest.”
“Touché,” she replied.
He wrapped his arms around her one more time. This time their lips met as though they had a thousand times before. If this was a dream, he never wanted to wake up. If it was love, he never wanted it to end. “I think we should go before we throw caution to the wind.”
“I know you’re right,” she replied. “We can ride over to the orchard. It’s a fun ride with a couple of walls to jump.”
“I hope you’re up to a challenge.”
“Always,” she replied demurely.
He kissed her one more time before letting her go. “After you, milady.”
Standing and watching her turn and walk toward the door with her hips swinging for dramatics, Arthur smiled and walked behind her.
He untied her mare and helped her to mount before mounting Midnight.
The pair walked a good distance back the way they came until Daphne led them down another path going another direction.
“Is this the way to the orchards?” Arthur asked as he pulled up beside her.
“It is. The first wall is not too far off.”
“Lead on.”
After both clearing the wall, they kept going at a brisk walk.
The second wall was as easy, and they continued to the orchard which was pretty much empty.
Except for some apples, the fruit belonged to the wildlife for the winter.
Finally, they arrived at the manor house.
He handed Midnight’s reins off to a waiting stableboy and escorted Daphne back to the front door which the butler opened as though he’d been standing on the other side waiting.
“I had a lovely outing, Lady Daphne. I’ll see you at the ball this evening.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed myself, Your Grace. I look forward to this evening.”
Watching her disappear into the house, he turned and, after mounting his black, Arthur started back home.
The outing had proven to be more than he’d anticipated, and once he’d pierced through Daphne’s defensive armor, he found her to be quite delightful.
She could hold her own with any man. This evening would prove to be a memorable one, though Arthur had no idea what lay ahead.
*
Arthur climbed out of his carriage rather than sit and wait for his turn to exit the vehicle. The drive wasn’t all that long that he couldn’t manage the short distance to the house. Before shutting the door, he picked up the mask which had been sitting on the seat beside him.
Masquerade parties were over the top in his opinion.
Everyone wearing masks until midnight, each pretending they didn’t know who they danced with or spoke with.
The opposite was usually the case. It was easy to spot some of the more high-profile aristocrats because they never deviated from their usual circle of friends.
Graham pulled him aside the moment he stepped through the door.
He led him to his study where he locked the door behind himself.
“Sorry for the cloak and dagger show, but I thought you needed to know Black is back from London, and he was unable to secure a special license because the bishop was away.”
“Bloody hell!”
“Black is determined he’s going to marry Lady Daphne, no matter what her father says.”
“Does he know about Lady Daphne and myself?”
“I don’t know but I imagine he will before the night’s out. I just wanted you to be aware he’s here and not in the best of moods.”
“I appreciate the warning. Has he seen Lady Daphne?”
Graham shook his head. “To my knowledge he has not, but I believe Lady Daphne’s been held up in the ladies’ retiring room with her mother.”
“A sign she’s seen him.”
Graham nodded. “You might be right.”
“I guess there’s only one thing to do and that’s join the festivities. Thanks for the warning, Graham.”
The pair left Graham’s study and walked to the ballroom. Inside was a wave of people in all sorts of masks. Some had been specially made, a few Venetian masks were mixed in the crowd. Unless you could pick a person out by their movements, it was nearly impossible to tell one person from another.
He left Graham and walked about the room, trying to decide who was who.
A few of the men were easy to spot because of some idiosyncrasy in the way they dressed.
The ladies were not too hard to know who was behind the mask.
He nodded as he passed small groups of women holding court.
Obviously, they were gossiping about who they thought were behind the masks.
The music began to start after a short break. For once he was glad as the music drowned out most of the conversations. He kept walking until he neared the windows. Outside on the terrace were a pair of gentlemen engaged in a lively conversation. It didn’t appear to be a friendly one.
Almost immediately, Arthur recognized Black who was pointing his finger at the other man.
Black wasn’t hard to recognize. His portly stature gave him away.
He assumed the other man was Lady Daphne’s father, which could be a powder keg.
The earl was known for his angry outbursts, like the one he was having with the viscount.
He decided it wouldn’t be wise to walk out to them. Whatever they were discussing would be known the moment the pair stepped back inside.
Ever since his time with Lady Daphne at the cottage, he’d been playing out what had occurred.
With the earl now empty-handed of a special license, Arthur thought perhaps he should have plans to get her out of here.
At least for a while. While he had wanted to do things by the book and ask her father for permission to wed his daughter, that had been ruined by Black.
He wished the viscount hadn’t led Black on about marrying his daughter.
With the earl rushing to London, he hadn’t had the opportunity to make sure Black understood he had changed his mind.
He turned, thinking he should find his sister and see if she knew how Daphne was faring.
The idea of having her evening ruined by one man went against him.
Daphne had been looking forward to the ball and he wanted to see she had fun.
He wanted her to be able to look back and remember the evening with good memories.
In a sea of masks, one would think it would be virtually impossible to find a particular person, but Arthur knew his sister mask or no mask. When he found her, it appeared she was coming from the ladies’ retiring room. He caught her attention and motioned to an alcove just off the ballroom.
“How is Lady Daphne?”
“A mix of emotions right now. She was angry, and now she just wants to enjoy her evening,” Roxanne replied.
“That’s a good idea.”
“Graham said we’d just keep an eye on Black and see how he behaves.”
“He was on the terrace with the viscount. It looked like a heated conversation.”
She arched a brow. “The earl does not want to accept that Lady Daphne’s father is against the match.”
“He’s allowed. There were no documents signed, and no money exchanged hands.”
“I’m afraid what the earl might do once he finds out you’ve been given permission to court her.”
“Don’t worry. I can’t see him trying anything tonight in front of his peers,” Arthur replied.
She patted his shoulder as she turned to leave. “I certainly hope you’re right. Excuse me, brother, I need to mingle with my guests.”