Chapter 27 #2
What exactly is the man offering and why is he so enraged by his best friend’s courtship of a woman who can surely bring nothing but embarrassment to his distinguished family?
Georgiana stared at the horrid scandal sheet with her cheeks burning.
How could they?
How could they fight over her in a public place like dogs with a bone!
She thanked goodness that Alex had been called away early this morning and Céleste was still abed. She didn’t think she could face anyone for a while. How she was going to attend any of the dozens of formal functions she was committed to over the coming weeks was beyond her.
The constant stares and whispers had been grating enough before, but now this! She screwed the revolting sheet up and flung it across the table before putting her head in her hands.
A scratch at the door indicated the presence of the butler before he opened it and stepped into the room.
“His grace, the Duke of Sindalton, is here to see you.”
She nodded, smiling at the anxious look in the old man’s eyes.
The earl was away from home and all the staff knew his feelings about the duke.
Yet they all knew the gossip, just as well as the ton, and she had a feeling the old man didn’t want to stand in the way of a love affair, if that was what this was.
“It’s quite all right,” she said, giving him a reassuring smile. “Please show him in.”
“Should I send Miss Sarah to accompany you?”
“No, thank you. His grace is quite the gentleman I assure you.”
The butler looked totally unconvinced by this statement, and she knew he was quite right. She should not allow Sebastian to be alone with her in the circumstances, but he went away and did as he’d been instructed.
Georgiana took a breath and smoothed down the silk of her Mexican blue morning dress. It was trimmed with white Peruvian lace and she had been more than pleased with the effect when Sarah had arranged her hair and added her favourite slim row of pearls around her neck.
She had dressed with care, bubbling with excitement at the expectation of his call upon her. But now she was not certain whether to be furious or disappointed, or every bit as anxious and happy as she had been on waking.
She stood and dipped a curtsey as he entered and on looking up was arrested by the look in his eyes.
He gave a little surprised huff of laughter and shook his head.
“I’m sorry,” he said, smiling. “I am just struck every time I see you. I think each time we part that I have committed every particular of your beautiful face to my mind, and every time I see you, I find you far lovelier than I remember.”
“Perhaps you just have a poor memory,” she replied a little sharply, though in truth she was charmed by his words. But his behaviour as reported in the scandal sheets could not be forgiven without comment. How could he have been so thoughtless?
His smile fell away, and he stepped a little closer to her.
“I cannot be surprised that you’re angry with me,” he said, his voice quiet.
“In truth you cannot be more furious than I am at myself. I ... I’m afraid I was very drunk, not that it is any defence, but Beau and I argued and .
.. I’m afraid I was extremely jealous. The idea of you with him .
..” His voice became harsh and he shook his head, turning away from her.
“I’ve made everything worse I know. But I am here and if you think you can forgive me for my terrible behaviour, there .
.. there is a question I would ask you.”
Her breathing hitched and she watched as he turned around to face her again.
“Ask it,” she whispered.
He smiled and crossed the room, his hands finding her waist and pulling her closer to him, their bodies almost touching.
“Georgiana,” he whispered. “I have loved you since the day you scolded me so soundly in that cave. I love you to distraction, to the point where I wanted to murder my best friend for daring to consider he could make you his. You’re mine, darling. We belong together.”
His grip on her waist tightened as she stared up into his eyes, which were grave and more serious than she had ever seen them.
“It won’t be easy, my love, my ... my mother is going to make life hard for us I’m afraid but .
..” He took a deep breath and sank to one knee, and he took her hands in his.
“Please, Georgiana, tell me you’re brave enough to face it all.
Tell me we can laugh in the faces of our parents’ scandal and bring something good and right out of the chaos they threw us into.
I love you with all my heart. Please, love, marry me and make me the happiest of men. ”
He looked up at her, anxiety and expectation in his dark eyes as she gave a little choked laugh and nodded as her eyes blurred.
“Yes,” she said, her voice thick. “Yes, yes, of course yes!”
He laughed and got to his feet, pulling her into an embrace and kissing her. His lips were tender, and she felt the smile against her mouth as she heard him laughing again.
“Thank God,” he whispered. “I was so afraid I’d ruined everything.”
She clung to him, her head on his shoulder as the enormity of what they faced filtered through to her.
“Will your mother be very angry?”
He was silent for a moment and she knew then that Beau had been right. He was afraid of what the news would do to her.
“Yes,” he said, his voice full of regret. “Though I’m not sure anger is the right word.” He looked down at her, his handsome face troubled. “She’s not a strong woman, Georgiana, and ... I’m afraid to tell her.”
“Would it help her to meet me, do you think?”
“My God, no!” he exclaimed, letting go of her and turning away.
“She’ll have to, sooner or later,” she said, dismayed by the vehemence of his reaction.
“Yes, of course she will,” he agreed. “But I need time to talk to her, to ... to try to make her understand.”
There was such anxiety, such obvious doubt in his voice that she knew just how unlikely he believed the possibility of her ever understanding was.
“Can you really do it, Sebastian?” she asked, terrified that he would change his mind even now.
Her hands clutched at each other, the fingers twisting together as she began to fear he couldn’t face hurting his mother so badly.
“Can you really tell her you’d make Lady Dalton’s daughter your duchess? ”
He swung around then, and any doubts fled as he closed the distance between them and kissed her. His kiss heated her skin and set her senses on fire as desire blazed to life. She had longed for this for so long. This was what she needed to know.
Nibley had offered her security and friendship, Beau a sensual world of physical pleasure devoid of love, but this ... this was everything.
Sebastian was everything they offered and more. She liked him as fully as she loved him. She felt safe in his arms and wanted to tear the clothes from his back with a passion even Beau couldn’t have aroused, because there was nothing headier than friendship between them.
Her awareness in Sebastian’s arms seemed heightened and dulled at one and the same time. She was acutely aware of him, of the heat of his mouth, the insistent slide of his tongue as he wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her as tight as was possible without squeezing the air from her lungs.
Georgiana was aware of the weight of him, the disparity of his harder, larger body crushing her own softer frame and the urgency of his hands as they slid over her. Yet everything beyond him and his touch fell away.
The sound of the world beyond the walls of this room, the ticking of the clock on the mantle, the impropriety of kissing him with such passion in Falmouth’s home ... all of that was gone.
He released her with obvious reluctance, his breathing as harsh as her own.
“My God, Georgiana, we must marry as soon as it can be arranged,” he said, the frustration in his eyes almost comical and indeed she struggled not to laugh.
He huffed out a chagrined chuckle of his own, as she’d patently failed to disguise her amusement.
“Did I answer your question fully enough, love?” he whispered. “Do you see that we cannot be parted? I’ll face anything for this, anything at all. Wouldn’t you?”
“Yes!” she exclaimed and then stilled as an awful thought occurred to her and she felt the colour drain from her face.
“What is it?” he demanded, taking her in his arms again, clearly shocked by her sudden pallor. “What are you thinking?”
“This is how they felt,” she whispered. “Your father, my mother ... this is what drove them.”
“No,” he said, his voice implacable, his strong face full of surety. “It won’t happen to us. We are both free agents. We are hurting no one save my mother, and I will do everything in my power to make it easier for her, as will you I know. It isn’t the same, love. You know it isn’t.”
She nodded and smiled at him, trying to feel reassured by his words, but the sense of unease lingered and only grew once he had left her alone.