“If you wish to have speech with her, go to the second room off the gallery at eleven fifteen. I shall contrive that Sarah will meet you there. I trust to your address, Your Grace, to persuade her.”
“Thank you, Lady Holbrook.” He rose and offered her his arm to return her to the ballroom. He had just over an hour to wait until the appointed time of the rendezvous, and while it was tempting to request Sarah to dance, he did not. Instead, he returned to his mother and sister’s side with the intention of keeping a glowering eye on Ava’s partners.
He took the opportunity to have a word with Ravenshaw, who was propping the wall, watching the dancers.
“I’ll thank you to stay away from Ava,” he said abruptly.
Ravenshaw eyed him with his characteristic lazy smile and said, “Keep your shirt on, Rob, there is no harm in a little light flirtation, she has to try her wings sometime. Better me than some unscrupulous type.”
“Since when have you had scruples?” demanded Robert, realizing belatedly he was being a curmudgeon.What has got into me lately? I am not usually so testy.
Ravenshaw stiffened slightly. “She is your sister, Rob, I’ve known her since she was a lass. I might be all sorts of a blackguard, but absolve me of that, please!”
Robert flushed and apologized.Damn it, I am not myself. The sooner this business with Sarah is resolved the better.Bethinking himself of last night he added, but rather more mildly than he had originally intended, “What were you doing squiring Lady Holbrook and Miss Watson to the recital last night?”
“Daphne had a fancy to hear the performance, so I obliged.”
“Daphne, is it? I know it’s none of my business—”
“You’re right, it isn’t,” Ravenshaw cut him off.
Robert raised his eyebrows at him, and Ravenshaw flushed faintly. “Don’t get your tails in a twist, it’s just a harmless flirtation, nothing more. You wanted me to keep her entrained at Vauxhall, I did. She’s a lonely widow, I’ve done nothing more than make her feel young again.”
With that slight assurance, Robert returned his attention to Sarah who danced every dance. Not once did she appear to glance in his direction or even be aware of his presence, much to his chagrin. When she and Ava were in the same set, they talked in a friendly fashion, and he longed to ask what she had said but was afforded no opportunity to ask Ava, as she was barely back at her mother’s side before she was whisked off again.
At the appointed time for the promised rendezvous, he made his way to the room indicated by her ladyship and entered. The chamber was lit by one candelabra on the mantelpiece, and a small fire burned in the grate. It was furnished with a couch and a side table and had a window embrasure that gave onto the gardens with thick curtains in red velvet hung on either side of tall windows.
“Daphne?” Sarah entered the room looking about and stiffened at the sight of him. “Where is Daphne?” she asked.
“Lady Holbrook? Were you expecting to find her here?”
“Yes, the servant told me she was feeling faint and had come in here to lie down.”
“She is not here,” he said, stating the obvious.
“No, you are, which I find most odd,” she said. “I will bid you good evening, Your Grace.”
“Please, Miss Watson,” he said, coming forward and pushing the door gently shut behind her. “Grant me a few moments of your time, I beg you.”
“We can have nothing further to say to each other—”
“Lady Holbrook explained. I understand perfectly.”
“You do?” her eyes widened, and a pretty flush crept into her cheeks. He took her hands and led her gently over to the couch where he eased her down beside him, keeping a hold of her hands. They were both wearing gloves again, and he knew a moment’s irritation. It would be nice, just for once, to touch her skin.
She was lovely tonight in a gown of sapphire-blue satin. Her soft brown eyes stared up at him as her lips parted slightly on a faint gasp. A waft of roses and her natural scent teased him, and all the pent-up desire aroused from Vauxhall came flooding back in a rush.
“I do. Your trepidation is natural but unfounded, I assure you. You will make a magnificent duchess.” He let go of one of her hands to raise his to her face and cup her jaw gently. “I realize with hindsight that I went about my proposal in the wrong way. I led you to think that my only motive in making it was mercenary. Please let me show you that it wasn’t.”
“I don’t think I understand,” she said, her breath coming in short pants, her eyes wide.Is she going to flee from me again?
“Sarah, if I frightened you at Vauxhall, I’m sorry, but I thought, perhaps mistakenly, that when we danced you wished me to kiss you? Tell me I was wrong?”
She swallowed visibly and licked her bottom lip nervously; the sight sent a pulse of desire through him. “Sarah?”
“No,” she whispered. “You weren’t wr—”
He cut her off with a swift, decisive kiss, breaking it only to dive back for a longer, deeper kiss, hauling her slender, delicious body tighter against him.
