Page 7 of The Virgin in the Rake's Bed
“I do not think anyone would have done so. They are all too busy with their dancing to care about what goes on in the library. You should have kissed him in front of them all, though I am glad that you did not,” he said, smiling at her.
“Your offer is a very generous one, and I am sure that it will be believed,” she said, and he laughed.
“It will be believed. Why would it not be? Though your brother will have something to say about it. Come, we must return to do the deed, though I must help you first,” he said, stepping forward and taking one of the dangling fronds of her dress, which he proceeded to tie up in order to preserve her modesty.
By accident or design, his hand brushed against her bare shoulder, and his touch caused a shiver of delight to run through her. There was no doubting that he was a handsome man, though until these brief shared moments she had barely noticed him. Ian Bennet was her brother’s friend, and though she had often seen him at gatherings and social engagements, she had barely gotten to know him. Still, the ruse of matrimony was believable enough, and was the perfect way in which to preserve her reputation whilst also ridding herself of the Earl of Westwood.
“It is a very pretty dress,” he said, his hand still on her shoulder, and she blushed as she looked up at him, their eyes meeting as she did so.
“It is one which my mother had made for me, before she died,” she replied, and he smiled.
“And now you are left only with your father, who is desperate to marry you off. Why is it we are left only with the parent that we detest, rather than the one we wished remained?” he said, and gave a sigh.
Catherine did not know quite what he meant or if the question required a direct answer. She knew he did not speak to his mother – that much she had gleaned from her brother – but the reason for their estrangement was unclear and she wondered what his father had done to be so highly favored.
“I do care for my father, but he is so caught up in his desire to see me married off he has quite lost any sense of my own desires,” she said, and Ian smiled.
“We all have desires, some easily satisfied, others not,” he replied, and Catherine felt her heart beating faster, his hand still trailing over her shoulder.
She had come to the library that evening with the intention of seduction, but now it was she who felt herself seduced, desirous of that encounter she had imagined with Hamilton Asquith. Suddenly, his hand slid down the back of her dress and he pulled her into his embrace, their lips meeting in a moment of passion. Catherine gasped as their lips parted, the intensity of the kiss quite taking her breath away. She was aroused by the suddenness of his touch, desirous of those feelings to continue, and they kissed again, their lips parting in a final moment of sensuous delight.
“I… it was…” she began, but he smiled and shook his head.
“A betrothal needs a kiss to seal it,” he said, and she laughed.
“Perhaps you will show me how such an ease of seduction can be achieved,” she said, and he nodded.
“I am sure some lessons can be forthcoming. It was a pleasurable encounter,” he said, offering her his arm, “but come now, we must return to the ballroom, we have an announcement to make.”
* * *
The encounter with Catherine Ferguson had been a surprise to Ian. He had slipped into the library from the terrace, intending to smoke and browse some of Nicholas’ books, for the Somerset residence was famed for its library, and Ian was something of a scholar of history. He had not been there over ten minutes before he had heard the door opening, and assuming that it was merely one of the servants, he had continued examining a volume of Tacitus by the light of one of the candles.
But when no clink of glasses or rustle of the coal scuttle came, Ian had turned and found not a servant but Catherine Ferguson, the sister of his friend Rickard, standing before him. Catherine was not an unfamiliar figure to him, but in his recollection, they had never found themselves alone together and the sight of her in her disheveled dress, exposing herself at shoulder and ankle, was quite the sight.
What had happened next was quite unexpected, and Ian had been astonished to learn that Catherine intended to tarnish her reputation by seeking scandal with Hamilton Asquith. But this was not to say that the thought of what she intended was not alluring. He had considered its implications during their conversation, mindful of the very rules which he himself had only a few moments previously recounted to Rickard.
But such an encounter was too much of an opportunity to miss, and Ian had thought nothing of giving in to his temptations, the kiss a matter of seized opportunity, rather than future intention. Such a kiss fitted perfectly with his self-imposed rules and would do no damage to his reputation – not that he had any concerns about that. He was happy to help Catherine, indeed, the whole thing seemed much like a game, one that would divert his attentions for a while, and perhaps come with benefits as yet unknown.
But that was not to say his passions had not been aroused, and his thoughts desirous. Catherine was a supremely attractive woman – he had always thought so, if only from a distance. There are some men who might consider the sister of one of their closest friends to be forbidden fruit, but not Ian, who was happy to acknowledge any woman, so long as it was on his own terms. The kiss had been spontaneous, and it had seemed almost inevitable in the moment, a fact which struck him as a little odd, given his rules.
“My father will make the announcement as soon as I enter the room, I am sure of it,” Catherine said, as the two of them stood in the hallway a moment later.
“And I will interject at the very moment when the Earl of Westwood’s name is announced,” Ian replied, enjoying playing along with the ruse.
Catherine smiled and nodded. She really was very pretty, with her red hair and hazel brown eyes, her slender figure and red lips, on which Ian imagined setting another kiss. He had known many women since Cassandra, but only under his rules, none of them memorable, mere dalliances in the moment. He had no doubt that Catherine would be the same, except she was a woman who would understand – she had said it herself, she wanted to be a spinster, and that suited Ian very well indeed.
Chapter Five
“Catherine, where have you been?” her father hissed, as she entered the ballroom a few moments later.
She and Ian had agreed to enter separately so as not to arouse suspicion, and he had slipped in through a side door used by the servants and was now standing with Rickard by the punch bowl. Catherine smiled and made her excuses. “I was just in the powder room,” she said, and her father looked at her suspiciously.
“I see. Well, we must make the announcement shortly. The Earl of Westwood is waiting,” he said, glancing over to where the Earl stood waiting patiently in a corner.
Another dance had just come to an end and there was much bowing and curtseying amongst the ladies and gentlemen who now thronged back and forth, as the musicians took a break from the endeavors. Catherine now turned to find Rebecca and Samantha glaring at her, but she shook her head and beckoned them over.
“I did not do it,” she said, and the two of them breathed a sigh of relief.
