Page 7 of A Lady Igniting Wicked Passions
“I have not had the pleasure before and I see that it is my great loss,” Aaron said smoothly.
The Countess of Eversden lowered herself into a gracious curtsy, smiling demurely. To Aaron’s eyes her jewels were ostentatiously grandiose and did not suit her pale complexion. Her husband on the other hand had the face and wind-touched skin of a farmer.
Aaron understood that horses were the man’s passion, a fact that appealed to him. He wondered if they might become friends over that shared interest. It would make marrying a woman he had no interest in bearable. The dowry and Eversden’s fine stables.
“My daughters are mingling currently. I apologize that Helena is not here to greet you,” Eversden said.
Aaron smiled and waved a hand dismissively. “It is nothing. Helena and I have met in London, after all, last season. A most…pleasant encounter. It is a lady’s privilege to take her time.”
The meeting last year had been tedious. That had been at the beginning of his negotiations with Eversden, after the first approach by Aaron on the subject of Eversden’s two eligible daughters. Helena had become the goal of Aaron’s ambitions because her dowry, owing to her being the eldest, was significantly more than that offered for Arabella, whom he had still not met.
If she was anything like her prim sister, it would not have mattered. Helena was, to Aaron’s mind, dull and rather unpleasant in her superior attitude. But he had to think of the money, above all else.
At that moment, a young woman walked past on the arm of a tall, slender young man with long, fair hair and a finely featured face. She had a heart-shaped face and bouncing, auburn curls. She was dressed modestly, a high-waisted dress with a bronze bodice and cream skirts. Her gloves matched the bronze of her dress and both colours perfectly complimented the auburn of her hair.
Her skin was pale but something shone from her eyes that belied that delicate femininity. He could not explain it but a frisson of excitement coursed through him as he met her crystal blue eyes. Time slowed. It felt as though he had been staring at her for an hour but it could not have been more than a heartbeat.
“My youngest daughter, Arabella,” Eversden said. “Come and meet His Grace the Duke of Ashenwood, Arabella.”
The young man stopped, his eyes running over Aaron. Colour flashed into Arabella’s cheeks and she almost seemed to stumble as she turned to greet Aaron. For his part, his mouth was suddenly dry and he feared that sweat would appear on his palms at any moment.
It was unlike him to be so affected by a pretty girl. Except this girl was not pretty. She was beautiful. No jewels adorned her except for a pair of discrete, pearl earrings. She did not need any artificial adornment. She curtsied before him and he returned the genuflection with a bow of his head.
“My pleasure, Lady Arabella,” Aaron managed to say, feeling as though his tongue was tangling in his teeth.
“And mine, Your Grace. I have just seen Helena over by the South Aspect. She is looking forward to renewing your acquaintanceship.”
“As am I,” Aaron replied.
He could not look away from her and at the same time was conscious of the number of eyes turned in his direction. He wanted to be charming and funny in this woman’s company but words dried up in his head, leaving only the emptiest of banalities.
“May I introduce my…fiancé. The Marquess of Edgeworth.”
Edgeworth inclined his head to Aaron gravely, no smile brightening his dignified features. To Aaron, they looked an odd couple. Arabella held his arm but it seemed as though the touch was as light as she could manage. He seemed stiff, like a man forced into company rather than relishing it.
“Congratulations, Lord Edgeworth,” Aaron said. “I wish I could present my own fiancée, but as you have heard, I have yet to meet her myself.”
He forced a smile and hoped it seemed genuine. Eversden laughed uproariously while the countess smiled thinly and tittered. Arabella glanced at Edgeworth then back at Aaron. He regretted the joke, feeling that it was foolish and had been made purely to have something to say. The situation was making him uncomfortable.
As a cavalry officer in the famed Hussars, he was used to female attention and had learned long ago how best to entice it. Never, since his days as a callow youth, had he been so discomfited by a beautiful woman. He wondered if it were because he had committed to marrying her sister.
“Shall I…we escort you to her, Your Grace?” Arabella offered.
“Yes. That sounds a capital notion,” Aaron said quickly.
Arabella’s smile widened slightly, or so he thought.
“Actually…darling. I think I see an old friend. Might I be excused to say hello to him and his betrothed? I have not seen either for some time,” Edgeworth said, looking over his shoulder across the room.
Arabella followed his gaze, her cheeks burning bright. “Yes, of course. Will you give my regards to Lord Harlton, please, Simon?”
Edgeworth bowed his head, inclined it to the rest of the company and then took his leave.
“Well, don’t keep His Grace waiting, Arabella. I’m sure he is keen to reacquaint himself with Helena,” Eversden said gruffly, but beaming at Aaron, who conjured a tight-lipped smile.
He put out the crook of his arm. “Shall we? Lady Arabella?”
Arabella took his arm and Aaron immediately felt the pressure of her grip. It was not the light touch that she had bestowed upon her fiancée. She put her hand under his and placed her other hand on top, lacing her fingers together. She stood close enough that her hip almost touched his. Aaron found his head filled with her perfume, a heady but light scent of citrus and wildflowers.
