Page 71 of An Innocent Maid for the Duke
Lucy frowned. ‘Raspberry, Uncle Jake.’
He grinned. ‘I didn’t forget.’
‘What a lovely place this is,’ Rose said. ‘They are even taking ices out to that carriage.’
‘An open carriage is the only place a gentleman can be alone with a single lady of marriageable age,’ Jake said, ‘and not cause talk. On a hot day like today an ice will make a gentleman very popular with his lady.’
A moment later, the waiter returned with a tray full of small glass dishes, each containing a different flavour, and one large one with red ice cream. He arranged them on the table, making sure Lucy had her favourite, the smart observant chap.
Rose gasped and looked at Jake in dismay. ‘They must have made a mistake. These can’t all be for us?’
‘They are. There is one of every flavour for you to try. You like tasting things.’
Her face went fiery red and her expression became mortified.
He cursed. He’d meant to tease, not embarrass. What was the matter with him? He seemed to be behaving like an awkward schoolboy. ‘Rose, I mean it as a treat. These are samples. Look, over there, they are doing the same at that table.’
Her eyes widened. ‘Oh.’
The other table did not have quite as many dishes, but they had several. Her feathers settled. She picked up her spoon and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Lucy was already tucking in to her ice. He grabbed her napkin and tied it beneath her chin. ‘Your mama won’t be pleased if you ruin your dress.’
Lucy nodded. ‘Which one will you try first, Miss Nightingale?’ she asked.
‘This one.’ Rose drew the white one closer and inhaled. ‘Vanilla?’
‘Indeed,’ Jake said and the next moment, watching her scoop a small amount into her mouth and seeing her eyes go particularly dreamy, he was as hard as a rock.
‘Oh, my word,’ she breathed, staring at him. She gave a little shiver. ‘It is cold, but it simply melts on my tongue.
He wanted to melt on her tongue. He couldn’t stop recalling how she had licked...
He looked down at the dishes, trying not to shift on his seat. ‘Try that one. It is strawberry.’
And so it continued, the sensual torture of Rose’s first experience of ice cream.
Her surprise at the taste of lemon made him laugh.
One or two people sent startled glances their way and Rose’s face mirrored worry.
‘I told you,’ he said. ‘Pay them no mind.’
‘It is not that,’ she whispered. ‘Mr Challenger just walked in, with a lady.’ She swallowed. ‘What if he...?’ She glanced at Lucy and winced.
‘People only see what they expect to see.’ He shifted so he could see the door. ‘Mr Challenger is my friend. He won’t say a thing. The lady with him is his wife.’
They made a lovely couple, too. Imagine, Frederick married. The first of the founders of Vitium et Virtus leg-shackled. And happily so. Times were changing. He, too, would have to marry. But not for a long while yet.
‘What flavour will you choose next, Rose?’
‘Have the raspberry,’ Lucy said with the wisdom of the very young. ‘You will like it the best of all, I promise. It tastes just like raspberries and it is pink. The first time I came here, Uncle Jake said raspberry was the best.’
He gave Rose’s hand a squeeze where it rested on her lap out of sight of any of the watching crows. ‘Why not let Miss Nightingale choose for herself.’
‘It is all so extravagant,’ Rose said.
He loved the way she rolled the word of her tongue as if tasting its meaning.
