‘And you can breathe in the garden.’
‘Exactly.’ His eyes drifted upwards to contemplate the night sky. Despite the cold, it was perfectly clear and he seemed content to lapse into silence again.
‘I do understand. I also like to look at the stars when I am not feeling myself. They remind me how insignificant I am. It puts all of my woes and worries into perspective. When I look at all of those lights in the sky and realise that they are probably millions of miles away from me, I realise that, like them, I am just one speck in the entire universe and there is probably somebody out there who has worse problems than I have.’ Amelia had never told anybody that before and she was not sure why she had just told him. It had been hard to see the stars in Seven Dials. It was too built-up, too overcrowded and too polluted to see much beyond the rooftops, but occasionally she had caught glimpses and those glimpses had always soothed her.
He regarded her thoughtfully. ‘Do you have a love of astronomy?’
‘I know nothing about it really. I can identify the moon and the North Star, but I do wish that I knew more.’
Chapter Ten
Do not allow your passions to control your decisions. Passion soon dies, attraction fades, but a pragmatic union to an obedient wife will stand the test of time...
‘Can you point out the North Star?’ Bennett asked with a hint of challenge. He watched her scan the night sky until she found the one that burned the brightest and pointed at it triumphantly.
‘There it is! Just to the left.’
‘If you move your eyes slightly above that, do you see the constellation that resembles the letterWturned upside down?’ She nodded slowly, her eyes fixed on the heavens. ‘That is Cassiopeia. In the winter we get the best view of this constellation as it is directly above us.’ As a boy, he had enjoyed staring at the sky through the telescope Uncle George had bought for him. How long had it been since he had done something like that, just for the pleasure of it? At least ten years. That was a sobering thought.
‘Do the skies change with the seasons?’
‘Indeed they do.’ She grinned then and he felt a ridiculous sense of pride at having told her something that pleased her. ‘If you look back at Cassiopeia and then move your gaze slightly to your left, there is a larger constellation called Andromeda. She was Cassiopeia’s beautiful daughter. Many of the constellations were named after the characters from Ancient Greek mythology. The brightest star is her head.’ Bennett traced the shape of the constellation with his hand in the air. He was probably boring the poor girl but couldn’t seem to stop. ‘Her arms are outstretched.’
She frowned delightfully. ‘If those are her legs below, she is not in a very ladylike position.’
‘The poor girl had been chained to a rock and was about to be eaten by a monster. I doubt she cared overmuch about correct posture.’
A little bubble of laughter escaped and she might have just given him the moon. ‘Didn’t Perseus save her?’
‘He did.’ Bennett began to trace the shape of the other constellation in the sky to help her to find it. ‘There he is. He is flying towards her with his sword outstretched.’
‘I can’t see it.’
Without thinking, he moved closer and took her hand. The effect it had on him was instantaneous. Just one touch and all at once it wasn’t enough. He wanted to pull her into his arms and trace the sensitive skin on the undersides of her wrists, place a kiss directly where her pulse beat, but such a thing was simply not done and, if it was, not with a companion. So instead he helped her to trace the constellation in the sky and then swiftly dropped her hand in case he acted on his urges.
‘I think it is lovely that those old legends are used to such great effect. Are there others?’
She was staring intently up at the stars, a position that exposed the pale column of her neck. Bennett found his eyes drawn to it, wondering what the skin there would taste like. All at once, he was not quite as frozen as he had been. Part of him immediately began to warm at the thought.
In an effort to distract himself, Bennett spent several minutes pointing out every constellation he knew and, to his complete delight, she apparently knew every myth that had earned them their names and was able to find the ridiculous in all of them. Far from making him feel as if he were lecturing her on something dull, she appeared genuinely engaged in the topic. In silent agreement, they both began to stroll slowly back through the shadowy garden towards the house as he continued to point out the things that he hoped she still found interesting.
‘You are very well read, Miss Mansfield.’
‘I used to work at a circulating library and made good use of the stock.’ The smile on her face faltered as soon as she said this, then returned, a little forced, as she gazed purposefully back up at the sky. ‘If it was not the middle of winter and the ground was not so cold, I would be lying on the grass now to look at it all properly.’
‘Like you did in my hallway? I fail to understand why you would need to do that when you can see just as well simply by moving your head back.’
She rolled her eyes and sighed in mock exasperation. ‘Yes—but you only ever get to see a fraction that way. Your perspective is distorted. You miss things because the picture is disjointed.’ She stared deeply into his eyes and Bennett found that he was unable to look away. ‘Only when you can see the whole thing in its entirety do you fully appreciate it. Your wonderful ceiling mural is an excellent case in point. It is beautiful when you turn in a circle to look at it, but it is quite breathtaking when viewed from the floor.’
Breath-taking.Two words that perfectly summed up Miss Mansfield in such close quarters. She was breath-taking. Had he ever thought that about a woman before? Pretty, certainly. Even beautiful, occasionally, but to see a face that made your words catch in your throat and your heart race at the mere sight of it? That had never happened to him. Bennett found himself staring at her lips as she spoke and wondering how they tasted too. What would that trim womanly body feel like pressed close to his? Even better, what would her bare skin feel like next to his? Would it be so terrible if he succumbed, just this once, to temptation so that he could find out?
She was staring at him with such intensity, her lips ever so slightly parted, and he was sorely tempted to just give in and kiss her. When the tip of her tongue nervously traced the top of those lush lips he almost did...until the sounds of the ballroom began to drift towards him, reminding him that they were not really alone and he panicked.
‘Well, I shan’t be lying on any floors soon.’ The words came out as an admonishment because her presence unsettled him. Bennett instantly regretted his harsh tone. Unfortunately, his brain and vocal cords did not appear to be aligned because more of the same nonsense came from them. ‘I have a perfectly good perspective of the world without having to sprawl on the floor like a commoner.’ Now he had offended her. Her feline eyes narrowed and her lovely mouth flattened. He tried to save the situation, but his wayward mouth had gained too much momentum. ‘And it has not escaped my notice, Miss Mansfield, that despite my previous admonishment you were once again out in the dark. Alone.’
Even with her father lurking within a stone’s throw, and despite the fact that he was also a member of the aristocracy, Amelia had been enjoying the Duke’s company.
Had.
