Chapter Ten #2
Veronica smiled to herself all the way to the veranda, which she thought would be the most likely place for Geoffery to find her.
Veronica had noticed the cool temperature during Robert’s reprimand for her scheme, and it was even cooler now.
There was only one other couple taking the air.
She rubbed her arms and took a deep breath of determination.
She would stay as long as she needed to.
The other couple left after a few minutes, and she was staring into the garden, waiting for him, when suddenly he was there. Behind the roses, just to the right of the wisteria arch.
She glanced behind herself to ensure that no one was watching, then took the east steps to the garden path. By the time she reached his location, he was gone again, but a quick look toward the most shadowed part of the garden showed the flash of a white cravat.
Her entire body was tingling with excitement as she took the looping garden path in that direction until she felt a light touch on her arm as she passed a lilac tree.
Without looking, she stepped backward toward that touch, then turned on her heel and was face to face with the elusive Geoffery Meyers.
A flurry of butterflies took flight in her belly as she smiled at him.
“You are here,” she breathed as he took both of her hands in his own and gave them each a kiss that thrilled her to her very toes.
“As are you,” he said, taking a step closer to her. The slightest cloud of breath billowed between them from the cold. Just enough cold to keep people inside, though the shadows were an additionally good place to hide.
They stared at one another for several seconds, and then he began to lean toward her, just like it happened in those novels.
The words on a page could not capture the alertness she felt throughout her body now that this was her first kiss, however.
Every part of her felt open and warm and wanting as his face neared hers.
Everything outside of them dimmed, fading to become inconsequential.
It didn’t matter that any minute Mother would realize she wasn’t in the ballroom.
It didn’t matter that this was her brother’s best friend and, if they were caught sneaking around in a garden together, it would be an awful scandal.
Nothing mattered except Geoffery, and this moment, and—
“Blankenship!” she suddenly said, causing Geoffery to pull his head back in surprise.
She immediately castigated herself for ruining the moment—their moment.
She’d barely dared to dream of something this romantic, and she’d done it all wrong.
But she’d also wanted to show that she’d succeeded in putting together the clues of their game.
She could block out everything else except the mission he’d given her.
“I’m sorry, uh, I didn’t want to forget. ”
He lowered his chin and looked at her straight on, moving his hands to her shoulders. “Is that from Mr. Norton?” he asked.
She nodded, confused about how very serious he’d become.
Geoffery moved from serious to surprise in the space of a blink. “I knew it,” he breathed.
“What?”
He let go of her shoulders and took a step back, raising one hand to rub his chin. He began to pace within the confines of the shadow where they stood. “It will take a few days for me to get the information to the right people.”
“Wait, what?”
He stopped his pacing to face her, his mood still serious. “I have to pass it on as soon as possible; there are people waiting.”
“Waiting?” she repeated. “Aren’t you finished with your work?”
“Well, not quite,” he said, giving her an apologetic look and small smile.
“My brother met me in Andover, and we’ve created my exit plan, but there are a few loose ends I must tend to before I can truly step away.
It is a greater risk to involve someone new than for me to finish the deliveries back and forth between specific parties.
I expected Mr. Norton to get me the answer tomorrow at White’s—we had a meeting time.
He must have found you trustworthy enough, and the information important enough, to cut out any delay. ”
“This was real?” She felt her eyes go wide. “The note . . . Mr. Norton, it was . . . for the home office?”
“I shouldn’t have involved you without telling you the whole of it,” he said, taking her other hand again and pulling her close. “I just thought . . . based on our conversations, and how well we worked together, I assumed you would find it—”
It was real!
She stepped forward, went onto her toes, and cut him off with her lips on his—unable to resist a moment longer.
She’d never kissed a man before, but somehow, she knew just what to do as she slid her hands from his and put her arms around his neck, turning her head slightly and deepening the kiss.
Geoffery made a sound like a sigh against her mouth, and his arms were suddenly around her waist, pulling her up against him so tight that she was breathless.
This kiss was as amazing as anything she could ever have imagined.
Shared with a man more thrilling than anyone she’d dared to dream up.
He’d included her in a real mission. He saw that much ability in her; nothing could be as enticing as that.
His lips parted, and she followed along, making a sound she could only explain as a whimper against him.
That feeling she’d had in the woods—that awareness she thought might be attraction—was exploding within her alongside an absolute knowledge that this man was meant to be hers.
This man, who had known her as a silly little girl.
She’d been that silly girl until just a few weeks ago, hadn’t she?
But their adventures on Bayhurst Road had changed her forever.
The man holding her against him and kissing her senseless was exactly the man she wanted.
This would be her future. This would be her life. Not only a wife and mother one day, but someone capable of more and fully seen by this man.
He pulled back first, breathless and blinking. “Oh, but you are a passionate creature, aren’t you? How did I never see you this way?”
“I know precisely what you mean,” she breathed, looking at his lips and wanting more of them. Instead, she released the grip she had on him and took a step backward, taking hold of his hand in the process. “How long will you be gone?”
He blinked twice, remembering the topic she’d interrupted. “Oh, uh, three days, I think.”
“Where are you going?”
“I best not tell you,” he said with a frown and a shake of his head. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” she said, loving that she’d been a part of something so important he couldn’t share the details.
He took another step back from her, their hands slipping apart. “I will call on you Tuesday when I’ve returned,” he said as he began to disappear into the shadows. “And, if you agree, I would like for things to move quickly from there. Is that too bold?”
“Not at all,” she said with a laugh. “I am in full agreement with moving quickly forward; this is more than I had ever dreamed possible.”
“Tuesday,” he said.
“Tuesday,” she said into what was only shadow now. She moved forward, just in case she might catch another glimpse, but found only a gap in the hedge and the sound of retreating footsteps.
Tuesday came, and within the month, their engagement was formalized, and both returned to Andover—in separate carriages—so that their mothers could flutter about with wedding plans that neither of them cared a fig for.
The banns were read the requisite number of times for propriety’s sake while secret notes led to secret meetings and secret kisses.
When the wedding day arrived, Veronica felt none of the nerves she’d have otherwise expected until the wedding supper was finished, the speeches had been spoken, and Geoffery pulled closed the door to his bedchamber, which was now hers.
Only then, in the light of the gas lanterns turned low throughout the room, did her anxiety rise.
He took her hand, planted a kiss on her palm, and then used his fingers to trace the letters of a message. “You are safe with me.”
And just like that, the butterflies fled, his arms were around her, and she knew, again, that it was true.