AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Katherine met his look and shivered in anticipation. With Mr Marwick’s kiss fresh in her memory, Jack’s suggestion sounded perfectly reasonable. Her gaze travelled the length of his long, lean legs and lingered on his mouth and without saying a word, she stepped into his embrace, closing her eyes as a sweet, pleasurable sensation poured through her at the touch of his lips.
His arms tightened about her, and she felt as if she were melting into him. He was more slender than Mr Marwick but of course at least six years younger, so that was hardly surprising. But she liked the strength of him, the width of his shoulders, and again she was flooded with happiness at memories of their long-ago shared companionship.
Until her body started to behave in a very strange manner, and suddenly the kiss seemed to only touch the surface of what she needed right now. Tiny prickles of sensation speared her all over, and there was the strangest roiling in her lower belly. As she deepened the kiss and ran her hands over his coat and down his back, she was delighted to hear his own breathing grow more laboured. Her breasts grew tingly, and she wished he would put his hands there but he was ever the gentleman.
Katherine desire for exploration soon had her running her fingers through Jack’s hair, contouring his waist, skimming his hips, but when her hand inadvertently came in contact with an unexpected swelling at the front of his trousers, she opened her eyes in surprise.
He broke the kiss, stepping away quickly. “Heavens, Katherine, you can’t do that to a fellow,” he protested, blushing furiously.
“Do what? What was I doing? And what was that?” Katherine was confused but before she could say any more he gripped her wrist and pulled her after him, back towards the ballroom which was just as thronged with people as before, and no one seemed to pay them any heed as they slipped past a group of gentlemen loudly talking politics.
“There’s your mama. I’ll leave you in her capable hands while I go back and look for your earring—properly, this time,” said Jack, and was gone before she could stop him.
Chapter 6
“I don’t know where you find the energy to stay up so late every night and still want to go riding in the afternoon, Katherine?” her mother remarked as she and Aunt Antoinette idly went over Katherine’s various items of clothing to see what needed mending or cleaning. The late morning sun cast fingers of light across the counterpane which Katherine mused were rather like fingers of happiness. It was what she was feeling as she sat on the edge of the bed enjoying a discussion on the previous evening’s entertainment.
“I’m more interested in who Katherine has set her sights on,” murmured Aunt Antoinette, fiddling with the pearl earring on the dressing table which Katherine was praying she’d not pick up and then wonder aloud where the second one was. Jack had failed to locate it, and Katherine knew it would only be a matter of time before her mama asked for it back.
“Is Mr Marwick still a contender? He’s been very attentive the past two nights,” said her mama. “I know I took against him on account of his connection to his uncle, Lord Slyther, whom I was not very fond of, but Mr Marwick does seem rather a different kind of fellow.”
“He’s very charming,” Katherine agreed, sorting through her jewellery box for a chain to wear about her neck.
“Well, I’d say that doesn’t augur well for him at all given that degree of indifference.” Aunt Antoinette stood up to help Katherine with the clasp of the chain she’d chosen. “What about Lord Derry? He’s not as rich, but although he is very intense, he has displayed a nice sense of humour on occasion, and that’s most important for a gentleman. Remember, you’ll be spending a very long time keeping each other company.”
Frustrated, Katherine sat back down and sent them both a plaintive look. “Exactly! And that’s what’s so troubling. I expected it would be easy to find a husband, but it’s not at all. There are many, many charming gentlemen, but none of them makes me want to spend the rest of my life with them. How did you know, Mama? And you, Aunt Antoinette?”
Her mother smiled. “You’ve been in London barely three days.”
“Well, I’ve never found anyone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with,” said her aunt. “But that hasn’t stopped me having the most enormous fun!”
Katherine still couldn’t fathom why her Uncle Quamby was so tolerant of his wife’s many gentlemen callers.
“Enough said about that!” her mama said with a smile. “As for me knowing that your papa was the right one. Well, I knew it instantly!” She tempered her pleasurable recollection with a frown. “I was very reckless though, and I don’t recommend doing half what I did, though I shouldn’t even say it. I was just lucky my high-spirited antics didn’t get me into terrible trouble and ruin my reputation. A young lady only has one of those, and I certainly hope you’re behaving yourself, Katherine.”
“Oh, I’ve made sure Katherine knows to be careful,” said her aunt. “No disappearing into darkened chambers alone. Isn’t that right, Katherine?”
Katherine smiled weakly and stood up again. She felt suddenly stifled in her small bedchamber and was afraid she’d feel similarly stifled in tonight’s ballroom, which surprised her, because before she came to London, she thought she’d never get enough of dancing and ballrooms.
Her request for someone to accompany her for a walk in Hyde Park was met with lukewarm interest from her mother but her perceptive aunt stood up, saying, “Just a short one for I daresay a little fresh air would be good for your complexion—though not mine at my age. I daresay you’re hoping you’ll see Lord Derry”
“I like Lord Derry, but I hardly imagine I’ll know if I want to marry him before the end of two weeks,” Katherine grumbled, later, as they promenaded along the neatly brushed gravel paths beneath the oaks, garnering a good deal of attention. “These things take more time than two weeks, surely?”
Her aunt gave her arm a comfor
ting squeeze and sighed. “My poor Katherine. I can see that in your case you’ll need to be struck by lightning if you’re to be satisfied you’ve chosen the right man. Clearly, you are more like your mama than you are me, and a good thing that your mama was so fortunate and did find her match.” She touched her niece’s cheek as they continued to stroll. “And you don’t have to make any decisions this season.”
“If I like the way a gentleman makes me feel when he kisses me will that tell me if I’m making the right choice?” Katherine sent Aunt Antoinette an anxious look. “That’s how you said I should test if he’s the right husband. Because obviously there’ll be a lot of kissing if we’re going to be married for the rest of our lives. And as long as he kisses nicely then I can feel confident in my choice. Am I right?”
Aunt Antoinette slanted her a troubled look and Katherine pounced. “I knew there was something you weren’t telling me. Mama said she’d sit me down for a long talk on marriage responsibilities after I got an offer because different husbands needed managing in different ways.”
“She’s right about that.” Aunt Antoinette looked up at the sky as if she was going to leave it at that but Katherine persisted. “There’s more than just kissing though, isn’t there? When I was kissing Jack, I felt”
“You kissed Jack!? Good lord, Katherine, you’re not falling in love with Jack, are you?”
“Of course not,” Katherine protested. “I just asked him to kiss me so I had something to compare it with when the man who asks me to be his wife kisses me.”
Aunt Antoinette looked dubious then said almost crossly, “Fanny asked me specifically not to talk details to you about everything—or anything—involved in marriage as she believes that, given your nature, you’ll behave just as recklessly as she did.”
