Page 46 of Unmasking the Silver Heiress
"Ah!” Mathias exclaimed, glancing over Nate's shoulder. "The lady approaches us now."
Nathaniel didn't move, a light smile playing about his lips until Eleanor arrived at his arm, looping her hand through the crook of his elbow with a breezy familiarity that pleased him greatly.
"My dear," he said, turning his eyes down to meet hers, and allowing himself to linger over the little lurch of excitement in his belly at having her near again. "This is Mathias Dempierre, the eldest son of our hosts."
It took her a moment to register what he had said, and when she did, she let out a little gasp and turned to their new acquaintance, murmuring, “How do you do?”
"I am enchanted, Mrs. Atlas," Mathias said, sweeping into a courtly bow. “It is an honor to make your acquaintance.”
"Likewise," Nell replied. "Gigi did not mention having siblings. Are there more young Dempierres milling about, or is it only the two of you?"
"Ah," he replied with a cryptic tilt of his head. "It often seems that everyone is family in some way or another. I see my dear sister has claimed you as her new favorite, in any event. I have not seen her so excited about a new acquaintance in some time. Gigi is only sporadically excitable."
"I like her very much as well," Nell said, squeezing Nathaniel's arm. "I assured her that we will see one another again soon. My husband and I regret that we cannot stay overly long, but we fear the snowfall will only get heavier as the night goes on."
"Nights like this one do have a habit of building intensity," Mathias replied, glancing between the two of them. He took a step back, folding his hands behind his back, and giving a casual bow. "Do not allow me to keep the newlyweds from their hearth. I trust we will cross paths again soon."
"I'm certain we will," Nathaniel replied. He would enjoy speaking more to Mathias Dempierre at some point in the future, but at the moment, he was more than willing to accommodate his wife's desire to be off, returned to the privacy of their own home. "It has been a pleasure."
"It has," the other man agreed, and gave a bow to the lady. "Mrs. Atlas."
"Lovely to meet you," Nell said sweetly, leaning into Nathaniel's body. "Truly, it has been a magical evening. Please pass our compliments along to your mother and father."
Nathaniel glanced down at her, flushed and happy and warm against his side, that intoxicating scent of hers, lavender and mint, floating up from the silky curls in her hair. It had indeed been an exceptional evening thus far.
He only hoped that the magic was not yet concluded.
Chapter 21
Nell was not certain if she was drunk on the wine or on the sheer pleasure of the evening. Whatever the cause, this may well have been the happiest night of her life.
Never in a thousand years did she expect to have Nathaniel Atlas, with all his elegant charm, whispering seductions into her ear and guiding her about a formal event with his hand resting possessively on the small of her back.
Never did she think she might experience what it is to feel beautiful and admired, the way her best friends from school had been at every ball in London. Not once did she think other ladies, beautiful ladies, would express admiration of her person rather than her mind or her steadfastness.
She felt like a girl in a fairy story, transported to a magical realm for one perfect night, clad in an impossibly beautiful gown and attending a party in a snow-dusted mansion on a cliff, with frosty waves from the sea crashing against the rocks down below. It was the stuff of fantasy, pure and indulgent.
Their coach came around so quickly that it too seemed affected by the perfection of the evening, arriving well before the transport of many other couples who had been waiting when they had arrived.
Nathaniel seemed to think nothing of it, as though he were accustomed to such privileges. He guided her through the flurries of white, never leaving her side. Before assisting her up into her seat, Nathaniel kissed her hand, as though they were still courting and he considered himself honored to be worthy of the task.
She flushed, delighted beyond words that all of the other people on the drive could see what he had done. They were strangers, every one, but those strangers had seen that Nathaniel Atlas, darling of Society and firebrand of Parliament, treated her, plain Miss Eleanor Applegate, as his treasured wife; a woman to be desired rather than an unwanted burden.
Her reverie over the thought rendered her somewhat distracted, so that she was not at all prepared for the arm that snaked around her waist as Nathaniel climbed in behind her, tugging her down onto his lap as he found his seat, much to the delight of the onlookers before, who were already buzzing amongst themselves as the carriage door swung shut.
She'd given a rather undignified squeak when he'd done it, and was blinking rapidly to process the strangeness of it, perched on his knee as the horses were urged into motion.
"There are snowflakes in your hair," he observed, stroking his long, elegant fingers over her curls.
"Nathaniel," she giggled, reaching up to stop his hand. "People saw you pull me onto your lap! I'm sure they are talking about it!"
"Oh, I certainly hope so," he replied, leaning forward to nuzzle at her neck. "I was ill prepared for all of those gentlemen sniffing after you. If there is gossip, now it will be only about how thoroughly you are mine."
"We have been so tired with the cellars that I had begun to wonder if I imagined that first night together," she confessed, sighing happily at the shivers that pulsed through her as he kissed and nibbled at the spot just beneath her ear. "Oh, that feels lovely."
"Why did you want to leave so early?" he murmured against her neck.
"Oh," she murmured, her head spinning from the attentions of his mouth, the warmth of his breath, and the way his hands had begun to slide over the sides of her waist. "I wished to return home before we were, once again, too tired to do aught but sleep once we retired."
