Page 74 of A Duchess Mistaken
“My husband?” Mary asked in surprise. “Now that must be quite a sight. He does not enjoy riding very much.”
“He does not?” Agnes could feel Johnathan’s eyes on her as he said, “I wonder why that sounds so familiar.”
Mary obviously caught the look because she laughed. “Oh, there is quite a difference between the two, Your Grace. You see, while my husband does not enjoy riding horses, he is rather skilled and will make do when he has to. While Agnes is absolutely terrified.”
“I am not terrified!” Agnes protested, her cheeks growing hot.
“Yes, you are,” Mary and Caroline said at the same time. They looked at each other and burst into a fit of giggles, clearly not perturbed by the glares Agnes was giving them both of them.
To her irritation, Johnathan joined in with the laughter. “The first step of overcoming your fears, Miss Agnes, is admitting that you have them in the first place.”
“Which shall never happen because there is simply nothing to admit.”
“Well, it seems she will be afflicted with this fear of hers for as long as she is stubborn,” he said to Mary.
“Which may very well be for the rest of her life,” Mary agreed with a laugh.
Agnes set her cup down a little more forcefully than necessary. “Shall we move on to more important things? Like planning this very hasty engagement party, for example?”
“Ah, yes,” Mary agreed, though Agnes could tell she would have much rather spend the rest of her afternoon poking fun at Agnes’ expense. “We should decide the menu for the night. I would like to pass it on to the cook before the day ends.”
“Then that is my cue to take my leave,” Johnathan said, getting to a stand. Agnes instantly regretted being the serious one. If itmeant keeping Johnathan around for a while longer, she surely wouldn’t mind being on the end of every joke.
“I shall bring details of the party to you later this afternoon, Your Grace,” Mary promised, somber once again.
“I will look forward to it.” He brushed crumbs from his fingers, then then his waistcoat though there was none there to be found. He was stalling, Agnes knew, and when no one else seemed to be looking, he caught her eye and jerked his head to the door.
She knew what that meant. He wanted to talk to her. But then he mouthed, “Later,” and she nodded discreetly. It would be a little too obvious if she was to leave right after he did, especially since it was clear she had nothing else to do.
Agnes tried not to pay him much mind as he took his leave, focusing instead on her mother and the menu she was attempting to draft. But the tips of her fingers tingled with anticipation, her heart thudding lowly in her chest at the thought of sneaking away to see him again.
Not to her surprise, talk of whether they should have chicken or fish afterward did not have very much luster.
Johnathan stayed in his office. For one, he wanted to avoid interacting with anyone else. He gave strict instructions to his butler that he was hard at work and should not be interrupted.His ledgers still needed balancing and there were a number of correspondences to his tenants that needed to be mailed out by the end of the day.
The other, perhaps more important reason, was because he wanted to ensure that Agnes was able to find him when she came to see him later. He was certain she’d gotten the gist of what he’d been trying to tell her before in the drawing room, so it was only a matter of time before she appeared.
Time that stretched on for far too long. Early morning drifted into late afternoon, just a couple hours away from dinner, before there finally came a knock on the door.
Johnathan straightened. No one bothered to interrupt him during his work but he didn’t want to ask that they come in on the chance that it might be anyone other than Agnes. Thankfully, she didn’t attempt to knock again. She simply slipped inside, closing the door behind her and resting against it.
She kept her hands on the doorknob, her eyes intent on him. “We must stop meeting like this,” she murmured, loud enough for him to hear her.
Johnathan leaned back in his chair, regarding her evenly. Then slowly, he stood. He didn’t take his eyes off her as he approached. Her heavy-lidded gaze lifted slightly the closer he came, until she was gazing up at him.
For two tense seconds, they only stared at each other.
Johnathan lunged first.
He couldn’t help himself. It was all he could think about. From the moment he tasted the sweet gentle swell of her lips, he craved more, needing to feel her between his arms. And as if Agnes was victim to the same longing that plagued him, she met him halfway.
Her fingers quickly found his hair as their lips met. Johnathan braced her against the door, forcing himself to be gentle and treat her with the respect she deserved. She did not seem very inclined to do so and she moved her lips against his hungrily, taking more and more.
And felt like ages before they both came up for air. Agnes still had her arms wrapped around his neck as she grinned up at him.
“Surely this is not the reason you wanted to see me?” she asked softly.
Johnathan couldn’t bring himself to smile just yet. An overwhelming wave of relief washed over him by simply gazing into her eyes. He’d been struggling for so long, hiding a deep seated pain he’d never been able to come to terms with. Being here with Agnes, holding her in his arms, made him feel so at peace.
