Page 104 of A Bluestocking for the Wicked Duke
Chapter 21
Her First Time
A coach went out of the gate and drove towards him. The windows were shut but the tiger stared at him as the coach went past him.
Duke Nicholas will be in there.
William waited for the coach to go far away, till he only saw it as a small moving speck at the end of the street before he entered the compound. He didn’t dismount. He rode to the base of the stairs and called a passing steward.
“Go now; tell Miss Joane that Mr. William Marlow requests her presence at the courtyard.”
The lady walked fast, moving swiftly up the stairs and entering the sitting room without managing to make any sound. William looked up to the window he had seen a light in that night, he couldn’t make out anything. As he dropped his eyes, he saw the door open. Joane walked out, a wide smile on her face. William dismounted and watched her as she walked gently down the stairs. When she got to him, she held his hand. Her palm was soft and warm; William was tempted to rub it on his face.
“Jack, come take this horse to the stable,” she said to a boy standing under a shed behind William.
“Let’s go,” she said.
William asked no questions and walked with her. She led him back up the stairs into the house. The door opened into a wide room, a foyer of some sort. William saw two sets of staircases at the two sides of the room. Joane led him past them; she walked straight to the door opposite the entrance. They entered that and went down a short, four-step staircase that lead them through a small corridor that had a couple of doors on both sides. She opened the door at the end of the corridor and led him back out of the house, into the sunshine.
“This is the back of your house,” William commented.
She kept walking. There was a small building a few meters in front.
“Yes, it is usually empty and quiet. But we are going into the shed over there, it was the former stable,” she answered.
“So what is it now?” William asked her.
“Nothing, it is empty except for a few beds of straw. I want a place where we could be alone,” she said.
When she got to the shed, she pushed the door open and William walked in after her. It was not really empty. There were heaps of straw at the left end and lying against the wall was a bed, small table and chair and some books on the table.
“Someone stays here,” William said.
He walked to the table and rubbed a finger over it. It came off with a bit of dust.
“Or stayed here,” he added.
“My brothers used to use this place as a hideout before they grew too old for that and left. Now no one uses it except me. I use it when I want to be alone for a short time, maybe a couple of minutes, when I don’t want anyone to find me, even Emma,” she replied.
William walked to the bed and sat. She stood in front of him, his bent knees rubbed into her gown.
“So why did you bring me here?” William asked her.
Her eyes darkened.
“I don’t know if I ever want to be away from you William, even if for only a few seconds,” she answered.
“Me too,” William replied.
He put his arms around Joane’s waist and drew her closer. Joane sat gently on his laps, her eyes never breaking contact with his.
“I didn’t know you would come today but I hoped so. I was so excited when I was told you were waiting for me,” she said.
William smiled.
I didn’t plan to come today.
“I always want to see you,” William said.
