Chapter 10 #3
Susanna couldn’t speak, her reason shattered.
Only her senses were wildly alive to the sensual wonders of the man who held her: the iron strength of his arms; the hard, solid feel of his body pressing against hers; the incredible depth of his eyes which made her feel as if she was drowning.
She had never before felt such an acute disappointment as when a soft rap came at the door and Corliss’s voice called out to her.
“Miss Camille, your guests have been asking for you. Shall I tell them you’ll be coming down soon? And I’ve a message here from a gentleman who just arrived. He said for me to deliver it to you straightaway.”
“Damn. Saved again, my love,” Adam murmured, releasing her as reluctantly as Susanna, still dazed, wanted to be free of his arms.
But when Corliss knocked more loudly a second time, Susanna disengaged herself from his embrace. Walking shakily to the door, her skin still feeling as if it burned from his touch, she hoped her voice didn’t sound too breathless or strange.
“I’ll be right down, Corliss. Mr. Thornton and I were just finishing our” —she glanced at him, thankful for her sudden irritation at the conspiratorial smile on his handsome face— “business discussion.”
“All right, Miss Camille, but I don’t dare return to the hall without giving you this message first.”
Annoyed that anyone would order her maid around, Susanna quickly smoothed her skirt, flipped a slightly mussed curl over her shoulder, and opened the door.
“Who is it from, Corliss?”
The maid shrugged, though she smiled secretively. From her excited expression, she didn’t appear to be upset that one of the guests had sent her on such an odd mission.
Susanna quickly broke the blood-red wax seal and read the carefully inscribed note:
My dearest Miss Cary,
If you will kindly grace me with your presence, you will see the gift I have brought for you, which I hope will be only the first of many tokens of my esteem and affection.
Yours,
An ardent admirer
Susanna folded the fine cream paper, curiosity and excitement building within her. Who could have sent this?
“Well?” asked Adam.
Susanna glanced at him. He seemed to be glaring at the letter in her hand.
“It says to step out onto the balcony. Someone has brought me a gift,” she said, not sure why she felt the need to offer him an explanation and wishing she hadn’t when his expression darkened.
It angered her that he would show his resentment so openly.
Their agreement to keep their courtship a secret was still very much in effect.
“Come on, Miss Camille,” Corliss urged, paying no heed to Adam as she flung open the latticed doors to the balcony. “Oh, will you just look at that…”
As Susanna stepped outside and leaned on the wooden banister, her breath caught at the sight of the most beautiful thoroughbred mare she had ever seen, prancing friskily in place almost directly below her.
A bewigged black man in splendid silver brocade livery held the reins, while encircling him and the restless animal was a crowd of her guests.
From the curious, expectant looks on their faces, everyone was enjoying the unusual spectacle.
“Miss Cary, I present this filly to you on behalf of my master, Mr. Dominick Spencer,” the groom announced. “Her name is Sheba, and she bears the finest quarter-horse blood to be found in the Tidewater.”
“Dominick Spencer?” Susanna breathed. “Of Raven’s Point?”
Corliss nodded excitedly. “That’s right, Miss Camille. I told you he had the finest racehorses around. That Sheba’s just one of them.”
“Which gentleman is he?” she asked, scanning the crowd.
“Oh, Mr. Spencer’s not down there. He’s waiting for you in the ballroom. He said to tell you he didn’t want no thanks for the mare. All he wanted was the first and last dances of the evening.”
How intriguing, Susanna thought, impressed by the planter’s extravagant gift and its grand presentation.
“Well then, I suppose I should go downstairs and meet my ardent admirer,” she said, turning eagerly back into the room. She was surprised to see that Adam was gone, the door to her room left open.
Then again, he had said earlier that he didn’t want any other man hounding her, and if her woman’s intuition was any gauge, she imagined Mr. Spencer intended on doing just that, and maybe more. Corliss had told her that the rich widower was looking for a wife.
Adam had shown he was jealous just by hearing that someone had brought her a present, and it had probably made him even more resentful to hear that his latest rival was his former employer.
From the one time they had discussed Dominick Spencer, followed by Adam’s stubborn reluctance to answer any of her questions about his former life at Raven’s Point, she was certain that there was bad blood between them.
But whatever that might be, it didn’t matter to her, Susanna thought defiantly as she took a last look at herself in the mirror, determined to forget the scorching memory of Adam’s lips upon her breasts.
All that mattered was that she meet this gentleman who had gone so out of his way to impress her.
Adam might soon discover that he had good reason to be jealous.