Page 10 of A Lady's Curves
“It was my honor to come to your aid.” I search the room for Ann before bringing my attention back to Rebbecca.
“Would you think me very forward if I asked you to dance the next with me?” She has lowered her voice and leaned in.
While I know the lady is flirting with me, I’m not as appalled by it as I have been in years past when ladies attempted to appeal to me in a search for a husband. She’s pleasant and lovely. It can do no harm to have one dance with a pretty girl even if she or her mother will make more of it. “I would be honored, Lady Rebbecca.”
The music begins again with the tapping of a conductor's wand and I have no time to consider the error of saying yes. Giving her my arm, I escort her to the floor and struggle to remember the steps of the quadrille.
It takes less time than I expected before it all comes back to me. I swirl Miss Dunbar around the dance floor in time with the music and even manage a brief conversation as the dance permits. At the edge of the room, I catch a glimpse of navy blue dashing from behind an orange tree and out the French doors to the garden. There is another ten minutes to the quadrille, but now my mind is on Ann and where she has gone.
Mother grins at me from the fireplace while she sips lemonade.
Keeping my face serene, I’m rolling my eyes on the inside.
Louisa is happily dancing with yet another dull-looking young man, but she looks happy enough.
When the music finally ends, I bow. “Thank you for the dance, Lady Rebbecca.”
“It was a pleasure, Lord Kendall. If you should like to pay me a call, I would be happy to see you tomorrow.” Gaze direct, she makes a curtsy and walks away.
I make my way to the door where I last saw Ann. The night air is a refreshing change from the hot, crowded ballroom. I step to the edge of the stone patio searching the torch-lit garden. My heart begins to beat faster and my chest tightens.
Making my way along the central path, I head in the direction of a central fountain. The sighs and moans of lovers making use of the shadows and tall shrubs stir feelings in me that I’m unfamiliar with. Does Ann have a lover? Is she meeting him here for a tryst? Jealousy that I have no right to swells within me.
As I reach the circular area around the fountain, I see her.
She’s not alone. “I’m warning you to unhand me, sir.”
Rage fills me as I dash across the grass.
“Ow! What in the hell?” the man calls out.
Ann backs away. “I apologize, but I did warn you that I’m capable of defending myself.”
“Viper.” He wipes at blood dripping from his chin, then sees me and runs down one of the paths into the darkness.
Ann turns and gapes at me. “You saw that?”
“I’m not certain what I saw,” I admit. “You are unharmed?”
“Of course.” She holds up a pearl with a long metal needle. “It’s a hat pin. Very handy to always have one for moments when men behave ungentlemanly.” Wiping the tip on a handkerchief, she then puts the pin in her bun as if nothing is amiss.
“Why did you come out here alone? It’s not safe.” I want to scold her, but she’s not mine.
She frowns and walks toward the house.
I step beside her and admire more than I should the swell of her breasts as she takes a deep breath.
“I was warm. You were dancing, as was Louisa. I suppose I thought at my advanced age, I would be safe.” She laughs. “Perhaps I should be flattered.” She brushes out her skirt.
“There is nothing about you or your age that a man will dismiss, Ann. Please don’t be so foolish again.” How is it possible she doesn’t know how utterly delectable she is?
“I’m twenty-eight years old, Oscar. As your mother noted, I’ve missed my chance for marriage.” She said my name without any prompting and it vibrates joyfully in my ears.
We step onto the patio. “I don’t think that bloke in the garden was offering marriage.”
Her chuckle, though brief, is everything.
Deep in my soul, I want to be the only person to bring her the kind of joy that produces that sound. “I’ve lost my mind,” I mutter to myself.
