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Several hours later, Sebastian leaned against the window overlooking the gardens of Percy Taylor’s drawing room in Portman Square, watching his wife indulging in a rousing, raucous game of charades. Fanny was the most delightful creature in the room, and he couldn't stop staring at her. She wore a turquoise gown trimmed with gold embroidery and delicate golden slippers, and her hair was upswept high on her head with ringlets caressing her shoulders. A few times Percy arched a mocking brow, as many would consider his female companions to be of the demi-monde. Selina, a fair-haired beauty with a willowy frame, was an actress, and Josephine, dark-haired, and petite, with a large, vivacious personality was a French opera singer. Both women had excellent qualities but would not be considered acceptable to be in society. They seemed delighted and amused by his regard for his Viscountess. His other two friends, Richard Plymouth, a country gentleman of no small means, and Theodore Dunn, a solicitor seemed equally bemused by his enchantment with his wife.
Though Sebastian lectured himself severely on staring at her, several times she caught him in the act, blushed prettily and then glanced away. Her reaction seemed to delight his friends even further. And as Sebastian had expected, they all liked her. He knew there had been some anxiety to meet her, and yet he had not doubted her reaction to mingling with people from a class she was not accustomed. Their dinner had been simple with only a few courses, but Fanny hadn’t displayed any airs or discomfort. She had been all charm and genuine grace, and the tension had vanished before it had even formed.
Now she hopped on one leg and spun in a full arc, and for the life of him, he couldn’t deduce what she pantomimed. Selina and Josephine were laughing without any decorum, and Richard scrubbed a hand over his face in evident bafflement.
“She’s not what I expected,” Percy murmured, pushing a glass of brandy into Sebastian’s hand.
“Isn’t she?” Sebastian asked, frowning when his wife now started to hop on two feet. For God sakes, what was she acting?
She stopped, laughing, her cheeks red with her merriment. Had he ever seen her so relaxed and happy at the balls he'd spied her at over the season?
“Yes. I thought she would have been stiff and proper and...and less enamored of you.”
That got his attention and Percy smirked.
“You think her enamored of me?”
“I daresay she sneaks more glances at you and stares just as stupidly. Several times I thought to grant permission to use my guest chambers to burn off the passion simmering in the air, but I did not want to mortify her sensibilities with my ribald humor.”
Sebastian sent his friend a black frown. Laughter pealed from Josephine, and they glanced toward the center of the room. She was holding onto her side and laughing with such vigor her shoulders shook, and his wife fisted her hand atop her hip scowling.
“Did no one guess an owl?”
Theodore shook his head slowly. “An owl? Why in God’s name were you hopping?”
Selina joined in with the laughter and Fanny grinned sheepishly.
Sebastian smiled.
Percy sipped his brandy. “Dare I believe your uncouth upbringing finds no disfavor with your Viscountess?”
“I’ve seen no evidence of it.” Except we’ve only made love once, and it had been in the dark. But he was coming to see it was perhaps natural shyness on her part and not a disgust of him and his baser urges. Or at least he fervently prayed it wasn’t so. Today in his office, her passion had flowed over his fingers and perfumed the air. She had been a beautiful flame, whipping desire over his skin, and had almost pushed him to take her in his office. Sweet mercy, how impossible it had almost been to restrain himself.
“I believe we should play some music,” Josephine said.
Fanny clapped her hands. “How marvelous. Sebastian is simply wonderous at the piano. You must play for us,” she said hurrying over to him.
His friends stared at him astonished.
“Good God man, you play?” Richard asked, rising from where he had been seated on the sofa by the fire. “And we had no notion of this.”
His wife’s beautiful eyes widened.
“I have some skills.” His mother had taught him, and he had developed a love for it.
At the heckling of his friends, he moved over to the grand piano and lifted the lid. And he played, acutely conscious of his wife by his shoulders, her scent rousing his senses, and the entire evening taking him away from the woe of business and the mess he would have to sort in the following week in calming both his workers and the other owners. Many of the factory owners felt it would be like the Luddite riots all over again, so hated was the idea of machinery replacing jobs. Sebastian didn’t believe it would be that severe, but he could take no chances, but for tonight, he removed all those concerns until the morning and played for his wife.
For it was for her, and only her he played. Then she started singing. Fanny's voice was warm and rich and…sultry. The harmonious blend of their skills had the room behind him hushed. They complimented each other in so many ways, if only it extended to the bedchamber. Her passions were buried beneath years of propriety lessons. Sebastian acknowledged then he was falling deeply for her and he needed to start peeling away all her layers more, for he did not want to be a damn fool in love while she barely tolerated him.
A couple of hours later, Sebastian and Fanny strolled along the fashionable Grosvenor Street, and his Viscountess seemed quite delighted with life. And Sebastian was pleased. She was a beguiling complexity he hungered to unravel. So shy and sweetly innocent but she held her own tonight like a queen at court. They had enticed her to be brazen, and she had challenged his friends to be genteel. Her voice as she sang held them enraptured and Selina had stared at his wife with such hunger and envy Sebastian had feel for his friend who struggled for the limelight on the stage. Fanny would steal every show and conquer the heart of every gentleman if she had been a showgirl and Selina had seen it.
Somewhere in their journey home, Sebastian had impulsively rapped the carriage roof and alighted. Now they sauntered breathing in the crisp night air. Carriages lined the streets, and up ahead, gaiety spilled from one of the townhouses.
“Tonight has been delightful. I think your friends liked me, well I certainly enjoyed their pleasant company.”
“They loved you.”
She shot him a brilliant smile which dazzled his senses. “I do hope so.” A small frown marred her face. “It struck me tonight I have not met any of your family, Sebastian.”
