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Chapter 14
“Perhaps we could discuss this matter over dinner here tomorrow night.”Louisa re-played what Isaac had said in the sitting room yesterday in her mind over and over. Of course, in her reimagining of the story, she cut out the part where Isaac had added ‘with your mother’, because that was not an essential detail, in her mind. What mattered was that Isaac had asked herdirectlyto come to dinner at his home, and she could not believe such an invitation was real.
As she sat in her room doing her hair for the evening, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to dream about the possibility of Isaac. She knew that they could never truly be together now that she had promised herself to Stephen, but she could always be with him in her dreams, and perhaps that was better, in the end.
When she began thinking of him, she at first tried to think of quaint scenes – the two of them taking a walk together down by the stream, or spending a luxurious evening by the fire, or curling up in bed together. This was how she had begun thinking about him in the woods before her fall as well. But of course, the moment she thought about being in bed with Isaac ... her mind began to wander.
It was totally harmless at first ... she thought about laying on his chest and him wrapping his arms around her, bringing her tightly to him. However, when she began picturing the two of them naked together in bed, there was no going back.
She envisioned him caressing her body with just his hands to start, and then moving on to placing kisses upon her wherever he could. She could practically feel the pressure of his lips against her breast and thought about him moving down her body to place kisses upon her abdomen, and then right above her pubic bone, and then ...
Well,she decided,if he was already heading in that direction ...And so Louisa indulged herself and imagined Isaac taking his lips and kissing her softly between the legs to start. Of course, she wouldn’t be able to keep her noises to herself, and so she’d begin moaning. Once Isaac heard that he’d then take his agile tongue and place it against the place where she wanted to feel him the most.
When he began licking her, she simply wouldn’t be able to control herself. She imagined placing her hands on either side of his head and moaning, “More, more ...” to him. Isaac, being the considerate man that he was, would, of course, obey her.
He might even go as far as to slip one or two fingers within her, so that when he felt her getting close to erupting, he would be able to see her back arch and her legs quiver, but also feel her clamp down on his fingershard,and then feel her release over and over and over again until she couldn’t take any more. When he had finally had his way with her, he’d crawl on top of her, pull the sheet over the top of them both, guide himself in between her legs, and –
“Louisa, are you ready darling?” came Martha’s voice from the other side of the door. Louisa was rudely tugged from her daydream, and when opening her eyes, was disappointed to remember that she had not yet finished doing her hair ... and that her fantasy had not been a reality.
“Nearly there, Mama!” she called, hurriedly pulling her hair so that it looked half-presentable.Of course,Louisa thought,right when I was getting to the good part, I was foiled once more. Oh, well. That will just leave me with more things to think on the next time ...
When Louisa and her mother were both prepared to go to the Quince Estate, they bid Sophie and Archie farewell (Sophie was staying overnight so that she could be on call in case Archie needed anything before the women returned from dinner) and then they boarded the carriage. The ride was quite uneventful, and they soon reached their destination. It was lightly misting, as it had been all day, and so when they opened the door to exit the carriage, Louisa rushed ahead to stand under the awning, trying to keep her hair as dry as possible.
After being admitted to the house, Louisa had a frightening thought.Will the dowager duchess be joining us for dinner tonight? I hadn’t even considered that! I thought it would only be Isaac, Mama, and I, but if she is there ... I do not know how I will manage trying to control Mama and all her strange ways.
As Louisa fretted over the possible arrival of the dowager duchess, Isaac arrived in the front foyer. For a moment, all of Louisa’s worries disappeared. Isaac looked so handsome in his own way that Louisa wanted to run into his arms and forget about all the troubles in her world. He was wearing a navy suit jacket with a maroon vest and a plain white cravat.
His hair was pulled back from his face, and the faintest line of a beard began on his jawline. When they had first met, she had, of course, thought that he was fairly handsome, but as their time together had progressed, she had only continued to find him more so. His radiant personality shone through his face and made him all the more appealing to her.
Louisa could have laughed at how obvious Isaac was when he admired her, but instead, when he reached her eye line, she winked at him. It was a bold move, of course, but she couldn’t help herself. He certainly noticed and became flustered.
Clearing his throat to re-centre his thoughts, Isaac opened with, “Good evening, Mrs Pelham, Miss Louisa. You both look marvellous this evening. Might I bring you into the dining room? My mother and brother had so wished to join us, but I am afraid that they are otherwise occupied tonight.”
Otherwise occupied, certainly,Louisa thought.I’ll bet they both made up some marvellous excuse to get out of having dinner with Mama and I. But I am glad that I do not have to navigate the waters between Mama and the dowager duchess, for I do not think they would see eye-to-eye on a great many things.
“Oh, thank you, Mr Quince,” Martha replied, giving him a low curtsey. “We are so grateful that you invited us here this evening. You have such a marvellous home.”
Louisa did a double take and stared at her mother.Who is this well-spoken lady, and what has she done with my mother?Isaac bowed his head graciously. “It is I who is grateful that you agreed to join me. Do follow me.”
Isaac’s eyes lingered upon Louisa once more before he turned and went down the hall towards the dining room. Louisa couldn’t help feeling her spirits being buoyed. While she knew she was in a terrible state of affairs with Stephen, it was so wonderful to see her parents getting to know Isaac and his family so well. Had her circumstances been different, she would have been overjoyed at the thought of both her parents having now had a meal at the home of the young man who she had her eye on. But as that situation belonged to another world entirely, Louisa had to simply be happy that they were here with him now. She did not dare think about the future, lest that spoil the mood of the evening.
As she and her mother walked down the hall behind Isaac, Martha leaned over to her daughter and asked, “Now, do remind me. It is Mr Quince’s brother, not his father, who is the current duke, is that correct?”
Louisa nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”
“I always get that confused,” Martha said. “When I first saw Gregory after the title had been passed on to him, I thought hewashis father. All I could think was, ‘goodness, the duke has certainly found the fountain of eternal youth, for he looks far younger than the last time I saw him! And why is he only kissing his wife on the cheek in public? He’s treating that woman as if she were his mother!’ And then lo and behold ... she was!”
That’s more like it; it seems that Mama has returned to herself,Louisa thought, somewhat reassured by her mother’s insistence on saying the oddest things at the wrong time.
However, before Louisa could say anything in response, they came upon the dining room and were quickly seated. Louisa sat beside her mother, and Isaac sat across the table. Louisa looked around the room as she had when she and her father had been seated for breakfast, and in comparison to the hall she’d been in inside Stephen’s estate, this was ... paradise. Where Stephen’s home felt hollow and unwelcoming, Isaac’s home was overflowing with warm, inviting feelings.
“This may seem like an odd question, Mr Quince,” Martha said, taking her napkin and placing it upon her lap, “but has this always been the dining room?”
Isaac raised an eyebrow at Martha, and then a bemused look crossed his face. “Why do you ask, Mrs Pelham?”
Oh no, Louisa thought,here we go. I knew that Mother would say something queer at some point in the evening, but I was not expecting it to be so soon! Why is she asking about the dining room? I must stop her!
“I’m sure that Mama was just …” Louisa tried to interject, but Martha was bent on finishing what she had to say.
