6. Chapter 6
six
J enny followed him as meek as a lamb toward the back of the house, the spice of his cologne plucking at her senses and the warmth of his fingers cradling hers. She felt a little disoriented. It was as if now that she knew he was hers, his effect on her had become a hundred times more potent.
What would it feel like to bed him? To touch him?
A familiar couple stepped into the hallway, blocking their path. David’s hand settled on the small of her back, sending a frisson of electricity crackling over her skin and through her stomach. She caught her breath and forced a pleasant smile.
“Lord and Lady Aberdeen, good evening,” she said. “I regret I haven’t been able to speak to you for any length since you arrived.”
“Nonsense, dear.” Ishbel leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You had more pressing things calling to you. You were extraordinary tonight. Wouldn’t you agree, Lord David?”
“I would,” David said, his voice giving nothing away.
Jenny didn’t know why his praise meant anything to her. What was the fickle esteem of a libertine anyway? But she could feel herself straining toward him, quietly searching for more.
“Thank you,” she said to her friend.
Ishbel was around the same age as Jenny and her sisters, and the four of them had become friends throughout the course of the Season.
Though Ishbel had been born to nobility, she was well-educated and a staunch supporter of women’s rights.
She and her husband were even known to have the occasional meal with their servants.
She was one of the few who had embraced the Doves despite their rather ordinary lineage.
They spoke for a moment of Jenny’s performance and then opera in general. Then Ishbel surprised them all by turning to Lord David and saying, “Tell me you don’t intend to keep our songbird in a cage after your marriage. You will allow her to perform. I demand it.”
His grin only brightened and something devious twinkled in his eye. “I wouldn’t dream of it, my lady. In fact, she has plans to debut in Paris.”
“Truly?” Ishbel asked.
Jenny hadn’t expected him to announce her plans or even to remember them, truth be told. “Yes…well.” She cleared her throat, her mind fizzing with the excitement of what was to come. “I auditioned for the titular role in Le Petit Duc , an opéra comique debuting in Paris. We open in the autumn.”
“Well done.” Lord Aberdeen nodded and his wife gave a little squeal of happiness.
“And, of course, you’ll be there to lend her your support,” Ishbel said to Lord David.
“Naturally,” he said as if there would be no question.
Jenny realized they had never spoken about what life would look like after their marriage. The transactional nature of it all hadn’t lent itself to further discussion. Papers signed, money exchanged, then separate lives. Her in Paris and him here.
They spoke a little more about the opera but when Ishbel stifled her third yawn, it became apparent that she was fading.
The woman laughed. “My apologies, I am usually one for dancing all night but…” Sh e glanced at her husband and something silent passed between them.
He nodded. Ishbel smiled and leaned forward to say very quietly, “I’m with child. ”
“Ishbel!” Jenny tried to keep her voice low, but it rose a little in excitement. The couple were newly wed and this would be their first child. “Congratulations.”
Ishbel giggled. They embraced and Jenny asked, “When will the baby arrive?”
“The new year, but we haven’t announced it yet.
Your wedding will be our last public event and then I assume I’ll go into hiding as one does with these things.
” She spoke of the way women stayed out of society once their condition wasn’t easy to hide.
Though Jenny suspected Ishbel would thumb her nose at that tradition.
“Try to come to Paris to see a performance. But only if you feel up to it.” Jenny squeezed her hands.
“Yes, we wouldn’t miss it.” She glanced at her husband and he put his arm around her waist, his face aglow with love and pride.
“We look forward to it,” Lord Aberdeen said.
Jenny had never expected to be accepted as Lord David’s wife. Tolerated, perhaps, but never accepted. But it was gratifying to know that they could create their own small circle of acceptance. Not that they would be creating anything. They weren’t really a couple.
When the couple excused themselves, David took her elbow. “This way, Miss Dove.”
He guided her through the nearest door, a short hallway, and another door which he firmly shut behind them.
They were in a small conservatory at the back corner of the town house.
There were no lamps but moonlight filtered in through the windows, casting them in the shadows of the potted plants around the room.
The darkness reminded her of the night they had made their bargain in the carriage .
“We shouldn’t be alone,” she said, turning to face him.
“No one cares, we’re already betrothed. I can’t ruin you.” His voice was soft, his steps toward her even softer.
She took a step back.
“Are you frightened?” he asked, his voice impassive.
Realizing what she was doing, she dug her heels into the wood floor. “No.”
All signs to the contrary. Her heart fluttered like a mad thing in her chest. She pushed her palms against her skirts to hide they were damp. Those acrobatic butterflies were back to their tricks in her stomach.
He came to a stop in front of her, not even a foot of space between them.
His scent wafted over her, and a pleasant tingle started at her nape and worked its way down her back.
He reached out slowly and took hold of the velvet cord that decorated her waist between his thumb and forefinger. The gentle tug reverberated within her.
“I think you’re a little afraid,” he said, his voice soft and intimate.
She suppressed a shudder, but not one of revulsion…unfortunately. “I’m not. Not of you.”
“I wouldn’t hurt you.”
She didn’t think he would hurt her. No, she suspected he’d make her feel very good and that is what would ultimately leave her broken.
“I shouldn’t have taken your hand under the table,” he said when she stayed silent, a rare moment of reflection for him.
“No, you shouldn’t have.” But she’d almost let herself feel him until she’d come to her senses. “W-what did you want to discuss?” she asked.
He made a soft hum in the back of his throat. It vibrated around them and down her spine.
“You have a very exemplary voice, Miss Dove. I am glad you came to me for your troubles. I would have been very sad indeed had you gone to another man who tried to stifle you. ”
And just like that, her pique returned. “Are you attempting to remind me of my luck in this agreement?”
A soft laugh escaped him. “Not at all. I think you know how lucky you are.”
“You’re an ass.” This was who she had aligned herself with.
He laughed again. “I’ve never denied that.”
She stepped away, needing distance. Her physical desire and her perpetual irritation with him were once again at odds.
Hours earlier, she’d been convinced he was about to deliver the biggest humiliation she’d ever experienced; now, here she was trembling and needy and he hadn’t even touched her.
She despised how attracted she was to him. What a silly goose she was.
“If that’s all you have to say, then we should return before people notice we’re missing.”
He stared at her, the shadows stealing his expression.
She got the impression that he was mulling over his words and a knot began tightening in her stomach.
What if he planned to make this more difficult for her?
He could ask for anything and she’d have to give it to him.
He held so much of her life, her future in his hands.
Oh, Lord, what had she done? Eliza better be forever grateful for the sacrifice she’d made.
“I’d like to make a minor amendment to our agreement.” His tone was charged and hushed, the weight of what he wasn’t saying lowering his voice. “You are not required to agree. But it’s something I want…something I’ve been thinking of since we first spoke of this.”
Everything inside her stilled. This was about their night together. “What happens if I don’t agree?”
“Then we will go on as before. Nothing changes.”
“You won’t punish me for not accepting? ”
He stepped close to her again and she could see the slight quirk of his lips. “I’d never punish you…for that.” Though his tone made it clear he might punish her for other things, and his eyes made her believe she might even like it.
Crossing her arms over her waist, she nodded. “Let’s hear it then.”
He took in a long, slow breath through his nose. Reaching out, his fingers caressed the fringe of feathers along her bodice, so very close to her breasts. She hated how her nipples tightened.
“I want to take you bare,” he said without any warning whatsoever.
She gasped, almost certain she knew what he meant. Still, she asked, “What does that mean?”
“It means I don’t want anything between us…no barrier. I’ve always worn a condom, but for this night…I’d like not to.”
“Always?”
He stared at her, his gaze seizing hers like a magnet.
“Not always. Not when I was fourteen and Alfred caught me with an older girl from the village. We’d been engaged in…
vigorous activity for nearly two days straight before he caught on.
He gave me a very stern lecture about decorum, diseases, and bastards, followed by an endless supply of prophylactics. ”
Fourteen? Two days? She had barely been aware of boys at fourteen.
“Um…what about…?” She almost said bastards but their child would be legitimate.
She was marrying him. They would be married soon.
She broke his gaze and looked down, moonlight caught the shine of his shoe. “Neither of us wants a child now.”