She simply stared at him for a moment, her dark eyes troubled as she gazed deeply into his. ‘You really are a silly man.’
Bennett couldn’t disagree. He had never felt so silly and awkward in his whole life as he did at this precise moment. If only he knew what he had done! Before he could speak, she suddenly grabbed his lapels, stood on tiptoe and pressed her mouth to his. It all happened so quickly it left him off balance; he was so stunned that he stood stock-still like a statue, his upper lip so stiff that it could be used to slice strawberries.
But Amelia was kissing him and he was not a fool. Bennett’s arms automatically curled around her waist and his lips responded hungrily. Whatever temporary madness she was suffering from, he was grateful for it. She tasted of port and temptation, her lovely warm body felt so right melded against his, so he deepened the kiss and then lost himself. Nothing else existed except her in his arms. Nothing else mattered.
When one of her hands slowly crept up his neck and she weaved her fingers through his hair, he groaned against her lips and pulled her hips closer to his body so that she could feel his desire. He felt her sigh his name in response.
‘Ben.’
Just that one syllable that said everything he wanted to hear. He was just Ben. She was just Amelia. Soft. Compliant. All his. His body was on fire and his heart was so filled with joy that he felt sure that it might burst with the pressure.
Then, as abruptly as she had started the kiss, she ended it, tearing her mouth from his and pushing him away before her small hands came up to touch her mouth in shock. She stared at him wide-eyed.
‘I’m sorry. I forgot myself.’
Well, he wasn’t sorry and he was damned if he was going to let her be. Bennett took a step forward, desperate to reassure her that there really was nothing to apologise for, but she stayed him with her hand, appearing completely distraught.
‘You make me forget who you are!’
What did that mean? What was it about him that had made her pull away? His kiss? His character? His title? Before he could stop her, she had dashed around the front of the house, and then it was too late to ask anything.
‘Isn’t Aveley Castle beautiful, Amelia?’ Lady Worsted gushed as she stepped out of the second carriage and threaded her arm through her companion’s. ‘We shall have tea and then you can unpack my trunk for me. I do not trust the maids and you know exactly how I like things to be.’
Amelia resisted looking back at him as they made their way inside.
Chapter Twenty
A marriage binds two good families together so that they can assist each other on matters of importance. And if those matters also assist in serving the nation, then only a fool would overlook such an opportunity...
Bennett tried not to become frustrated with his uncle’s meandering reminiscences about growing up in the Castle.
‘Do you remember the day that I taught you to fish, Bennett? What fun we had that day!’
‘If that is the same day that you also decided to teach me to row, I recall we caught nothing because you capsized the boat and we ended up swimming in the moat.’ Exactly how long did it take one old man to drink one tiny glass of port, anyway?
‘It was a jolly good thing that I had taught you to swim the summer before, else your mother would have had my guts for garters.’
‘As I remember it, she did.’
His uncle chuckled. ‘That was hardly a telling-off, Bennett. It was nothing like the tongue-lashing she gave me when I taught you how to slide down the banisters at Aveley House. It was hardly my fault that you lost your balance and fell off.’
‘She thought I had broken my arm.’ Bennett watched in frustration as his uncle slowly swirled the dregs of his port in his glass as if he had all the time in the world to drink it. Which he didn’t. Bennett really needed to speak to Miss Mansfield before bedtime. When he could stand it no more he stood. ‘I think it is long past time we rejoined the ladies.’ For emphasis he pulled out his pocket watch and stared at the dial.
Uncle George gave him a slow, thoughtful perusal and then chuckled. ‘You always were a dreadful liar, boy, but I shall play along.’
‘I am not sure I know what you mean.’ Bennett did his best impression of a bored aristocrat, which only served to make his uncle’s shoulders bounce in time to his rumbling laughter.
‘Do you not? Then I suppose your haste has nothing to do with the lovely dark-haired damsel that you have been staring wistfully at all evening? Have I misconstrued your heart-wrenching mooning at the delectable Miss Mansfield? Perhaps it was the tapestry behind her that held you so transfixed. And perhaps her pretty blushes and furtive glances in your direction were merely a trick of the light.’
Had she been furtively glancing in his direction? And, if she had, was that a good sign? His uncle would know. He had a talent for understanding the ladies. But Uncle George’s advice was always so contrary to everything his father had drilled into him that Bennett felt disloyal to seek his counsel now, no matter how much he desperately wanted to. ‘I have no idea what you are talking about. Where do you get such fanciful ideas, anyway?’
‘Ha ha! The best form of defence is attack. What did you do to her, lad? Have you stolen a kiss yet or are the pair of you lamenting the fact that you haven’t?’
‘We are not having this conversation, uncle.’ Bennett mimicked his father’s disapproving glare before walking towards the door.
‘On the contrary, dear boy, you might not be having this conversation, but I am.’ For an older gentleman, Uncle George was surprisingly spritely and was at his elbow in a flash. ‘I heartily recommend you lure her into some dark corner this weekend and get the job done smartly. You will both be the better for it.’
Bennett ignored him and strode into the drawing room, only to find Miss Mansfield not there. He sat and made small talk with his mother and aunt while he waited impatiently for her to return. After what seemed like an eternity, Uncle George put him out of his misery.
