AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I…don’t want to stop doing this,” Edward said in a voice full of conviction.
“Neither do I,” Clara replied. “In fact, I rather want to do much more.”
“As do I.”
She ran a fingernail along the back of his hand and thrilled to feel the small hairs of his hand rise in response. “In fact, I am really not sure if I could stop now even if I wanted to.”
“Nor I.”
“How…” Clara paused, fearful of how to proceed. But at Edward’s expectant look she could keep it bottled up not a second longer. “How are we to proceed, then? I confess I know little of the formal rules of courtship, but I get the idea a Duke’s guardian and an illegitimate daughter are not a perfectly matched couple in the eyes of London society.”
Edward sighed, running his hand through his curly black hair with an air of exasperation that Clara had quickly found to be adorable. “That…is a difficult question. Or, rather, a simple question with a difficult answer.”
Clara nodded, knowing the words were true—He would not mislead me, she thought, I am as sure of that as I am of my own name. Yet it was impossible to prevent a wave of sadness from lapping at the corners of her consciousness in response to this proclamation. Theirs was a love that was brand new, and the thought that it might be killed this early was unbearably tragic.
“Clara,” said Edward. She looked at him and was stunned by the resoluteness on his face. “Whatever happens, I will help you through this. I cannot promise this will be precisely the courtship either of us wants—”
Her heart leapt at the word courtship. “Oh, I do so want that, Edward,” she interrupted.
He smiled. “But what we have discovered, what we have made…it is too precious and rare to abandon. If you have ever trusted me to help you, trust me to do so now.”
“I do, Edward!” Clara cried, wrapping both hands around his. “No matter what, just tell me what to do and I will follow your instructions.”
Edward nodded, a sad smile in his eyes, and he lifted her hands to his mouth for a gentle kiss. From the flash of ardour she saw in his eyes, she knew this gesture was a dangerously enticing one for him as well, but after another moment of looking at her with those smouldering dark eyes, Edward pulled back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling in thought.
“Whatever happens,” he said after a long pause, “I cannot promise you everything. Not now, I’m afraid, as much as I want to. Christopher has to come first.”
This thought gave Clara pause. But as she considered the matter, and remembered how kind Christopher had been to her, as well as his own struggles, she said, “Of course, Edward. I know your word has been sworn to his family, and that must be your first priority.
“Besides,” she added with a thoughtful sigh, “Christopher is a fine young man, and I believe he will be a great Duke. But he is having a difficult time of this sudden adjustment to his new life…and it pains me to say so, but he needs a guardian who can help him more than either of us needs a torrid romance. At this moment, at least.”
Clara glanced at Edward to see him staring at her with stars in his eyes. “You…have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that,” he breathed. “You really are the most remarkable woman, do you know that?”
She giggled, still feeling lightheaded from their passionate encounter. “Careful. I may start believing you if you tell me that eight or ten more times.”
Edward brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently, turning her knees to jelly once more. “So, to return to your original question…it seems we proceed just as we have been doing?”
“Sneaking about, you mean? Scurrying off behind library shelves and meeting in the salon in the dead of night for a hasty, secretive kiss?”
“If it pleases you, Miss Clara.”
With a sharp intake of breath, Clara looked adoringly at Edward, her eyes coyly half-lidded. With her free hand, she casually unfastened the top button of her dress, revealing a patch of the milky white skin just above her décolletage as Edward glanced down at her with desire.
“I think nothing should please me more, Mr Morton.”
