Page 41 of An Unbending Lady for the Desperate Earl
“What do you mean?” he breathed.
“We come from different worlds, Christian. I cannot allow myself to be tricked into thinking that I belong here, by sinking too deeply into this character we have created,” she explained awkwardly. “When all is said and done, I will not be a lady anymore. I will be Victoria McCarthy, the Vixen of Bow Street.”
He smiled sadly, and lifted his hand to her face, tucking that perpetually unruly strand of hair behind her ear. “The finest woman I have ever met.”
“Christian, I…” she trailed off, wanting to say a thousand things, but not knowing where to begin. This was entirely new territory for her. In all her life, her heart had never stirred for any man, poor or wealthy, handsome or unfortunate, young or old. And she didn’t know how far she could trust what she felt, in case it crushed her into the dirt with future disappointment.
“Yes?” he prompted.
“I… must have new gowns, if we are to attend many social gatherings.” She hated herself for being cowardly, but self-preservation took over. “I have but three.”
His face crumpled. “I see. Well, we shall have to remedy that.” She heard the dismay in his voice, as though he had hoped she might say something else.
He is betrothed. I cannot change that. I cannot bare my soul to him, knowing he belongs to someone else… even if I do not agree that any person ought to be a possession, or that a child ought to be bound by the duties and promises made by their parents.Before she could wallow in their misfortune, Christian suddenly took her hand and drew her into the open expanse of the room. She shrieked in surprise—a girlish noise that she had never made in all her days.
“What are you doing?” she cried.
“Joining you in a dance, Miss McCarthy.” He flashed her a smile and twirled her around, keeping hold of her hand. She ducked under his arm and spun away from him, only to be pulled back in with a firm tug. Losing her balance slightly, she stumbled into his chest. His arms encircled her for a fleeting moment, until she could regain herself, but she didn’t move away immediately. Instead, she gazed up into his eyes and inhaled the spiced scent of his cologne—like woodsmoke from a bonfire, mixed with burnt sugar and the cinnamon that sometimes wafted from the crates that arrived at the docks, brought from faraway lands.
“We should not dance like this at any gatherings.” She gulped; her cheeks hot. “People would begin to gossip.”
He smiled. “Nonsense. Remember, you are to be Lady Laura. She has been on the continent for so long, they would merely think you had picked up terrible habits from the French and the Spanish.”
“You ought to attend a soiree in my side of London.Thenyou would understand what true revels were,” she teased. “Why, I suspect even the French and Spanish would blush.”
“Could I do this at one of your soirees?” He put his arms around her again and moved slowly, stepping left and then right with her in his embrace. She lay her palms flat against his chest and moved with him, so close she could hardly breathe.
“May I make a confession?” her voice hitched.
He nodded. “Please do.”
“I have never been to one of those soirees, so I do not know.”
He chuckled, his eyes twinkling. “Then, I suppose we must make our own rules.”
“That is dangerous talk, Lord Galbury.”
“Are we back to formalities, Miss McCarthy?” His voice was thick with emotion.
“I think we may be past that,” she replied, her body trembling.
“I’m glad. I don’t know that I could call you anything but Victoria, not now.” He held her closer as they danced to their silent song. “Well… there is something else I would dearly like to call you… but I cannot speak of that, as yet.”
Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“Once this case is done, and you are safe, and the missing ladies have come home… ask me again.” He lifted a hand and brushed his thumb across her cheek, where a tear had fallen without her realizing. “Promise that you will ask me again?”
She nodded. “I promise.”
Does he mean what I think he means? Does he want to call me… wife?She gulped and lay her head against his shoulder as they continued to sway together, lit by the soft evening glow that glanced in through the window. There would be dark days to come on this mission, but she was determined to cling onto this one speck of true joy, before everything spiraled into mayhem.
* * *
The next evening, Christian couldn’t take his eyes off Victoria as they mingled with the other attendees in the foyer of the Drury Lane Theatre. Miss Longacre had been brought into the plot, and had suggested that visiting the theater might be the best way to be introduced as the latest bright young thing to enter society.
Christian couldn’t remember any of the performance, for he had been focused entirely on Victoria. Indeed, he had been more entranced by the ever-changing expressions upon her face, as she laughed, and wept, and cheered at the story playing out on stage. He had also found intrigue in the slender curve of her neck as she tilted it this way and that, to better watch the actors.
You have never looked more radiant.He’d tried to say so countless times, but something had always got in the way. Now was no exception, for she looked so wholly beautiful in her new, scarlet gown, with her raven hair piled atop her head in a romantic fashion, that she had drawn the attention of every eligible bachelor in the proximity of the building.
