Page 90 of My Gentleman Spy
“Oh, do come on Hattie!”Edgar called impatiently from the bottom of thestairs.
He shook his head indisbelief.
Hattie appeared at the top of the stairs, her cloak tucked over her arm. She had been ready for quite some time, but Miranda insisted that she make Willwait.
“Never appear too eager to please, even after you are married. Keep to the rule that making them wait creates a certain tension. A flustered man is far easier to bend to your will than one whom you hurryafter.”
The more time Hattie spent with Miranda, the greater understanding she had of why her brother so loved hiswife.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs Hattie handed her cloak to Edgar, who promptly handed it to Will standing besidehim.
“Have a wonderful time,” said Edgar, giving her a kiss on thecheek.
A chill went up Hattie's spine as Will lay his hands on her shoulders and draped the cloak around her. It was the closest they had been since the night he had last kissed her. Her body ached for histouch.
The scent of his cologne filled her senses, reminding her of how good it had felt to be in his arms. To know the pleasure of his body loving hers. His sexual presence was tattooed on hermind.
As they left the house and stepped out into the early evening chill, Hattie did not feel the cold. The singular touch of Will’s hands had her blood heated withdesire.
A footman opened the carriage door and Will helped Hattie to climb aboard. He climbed in afterher.
She was met with the sight of three smiling, welcoming faces. A tall young man, with a shock of white hair called out her name as she satdown.
“Hattie, finally wemeet!”
He reached across and offered hishand.
“I’m Francis. This is Caroline,” he said pointing to the young woman seated beside him. Will chuckled, as his younger brother shamelessly stole histhunder.
Caroline was a stunninglybeautiful young woman. She was graced with pale blonde hair and porcelain skin so flawless it would make an artist weep. When she smiled her deep green eyes drew Hattiein.
“Hello Hattie, lovely to meet you,” shesaid.
“Oh, and I think you know Eve from your first season,” saidFrancis.
Hattie took a moment as memories of her half-finished coming out season two years earlier resurfaced in hermind.
“Now I remember you Eve. You had a pale purple gown at the first of the balls and I was desperate to find out where you got the fabric from. I had never seen anything like it before, and I must confess to having been jealous” saidHattie.
Evesmiled.
“My mother had the fabric smuggled in from France. It was terribly wicked of her and papa was furious. I remember the row they had when he found out. Still mama was adamant that the dressmaker was going to useit.”
Hattie looked at Will, but he did not react to his sister’s words. Will it appeared had decided that he was going to adopt a social face when he was in public with Hattie. She suspected that his siblings had been told very little about her, other than that their brother saw her as a potential bride. He was playing the courting game by therulebook.
Eve and Caroline both seemed lovely girls. Any other young woman would be pleased to have them as sister in laws. From the way they had greeted her, she knew they would be disappointed when they discovered that she would not be marrying theirbrother.
Her own disappointment came with the discovery that instead of taking a boat across to Vauxhall as her parents had liked to do, the Saunders carriage crossed over the Thames at Westminster Bridge. Will to his nature read hermind.
“I did enquire about taking a boat across, but the river is icy up this far and none of the small pleasure boats are making the trip across at this time of the year. My apologies to you all,” hesaid.
A short while later they reached the pleasure gardens which were situated not far from the South bank of the Thames. A crush of carriages and people made finding a place to alight a difficult prospect. Finally, a frustrated Francis opened the door and made a clearing in the road for the others to stepdown.
At the entrance to the gardens, Will paid the entry fee and Hattie took his offeredarm.
“Ah there he is,” exclaimedEve.
Picking up her skirts, she raced ahead of the group and threw herself into the arms of a young man who was standing to one side of the entrance path. They then proceeded to indulge in an all too passionate kiss for such a publicplace.
