Page 36 of Playing the Scoundrel

Chapter Fourteen

The assembly room was filled to the brim and loud with lively dancing and conversation. The card room and the supper room were likely just as busy, but Henry hadn’t been able to make his way over just yet. He had been too occupied in dancing and conversations. Unfortunately, his lingering with James and Thomas found him trapped dancing with the widow, Mrs. Palmer. She had cornered him and accepted nothing less than a dance, though he was certain she would press him for more. Throughout the entire set, Mrs. Palmer gave him a knowing smile and a seductive gaze. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so much anymore, it had little impact on him. Not like it used to.

The music came to a close, and the dancers turned to applaud the musicians at the head of the room. Mrs. Palmer took the opportunity as the floor cleared to stand closer to Henry.

“That was a lovely time, wasn’t it?” she asked, her alluring voice already an invitation.

“Indeed, it was.” Henry offered her his arm and escorted her back to her seat. “May your next dance partner be equally invigorating.”

“Must you leave so soon?” she asked, pulling his arm to still him. “I’m quite certain this old building must have a dark library or some such thing that will provide us with plenty of seclusion.”

She trailed her gloved finger along his jaw, and instead of feeling the pull of desire, Henry felt the need to pull away from her touch. He smiled. “You know I would normally leap at the opportunity to explore the library with you, but I’m afraid I must decline. There’s a young miss I’m eager to greet who has promised me a dance.”

“Oh, indeed? A young miss?” Mrs. Palmer pressed a hand to her décolletage in surprise. “Well, well. What a lucky young miss she is to have won your affections.”

Henry smirked. “She’s won mine, that much is clear. I’m still working on winning hers.”

“Then she must be a fool to keep a man like you waiting.” Henry gave her a playful glare, but she patted his cheek before turning away. “Come find me when she’s done with you.”

He tried to give her a smile for her teasing, but her words stirred more fear and discontent than anything else. He tried to shake his thoughts away, and convinced himself to find a drink in the supper room, but the moment he turned toward the corridor, a sight in the entryway caught his breath. Mrs. Dunn led the way through the crowd, only to be followed by Miss Follett… on the arm of Mr. Bernard. Henry’s stomach turned, making Mrs. Palmer’s words even more clear now.

Miss Follett wasn’t the fool; that would be Henry himself. Because no matter how he wished differently, someday shewouldbe done with him. She had won the attention of a proper gentleman like Bernard, and she would be a fool to give that up for a scoundrel like Henry.

Turning away from the sight, Henry hurried to find a drink and downed the first glass of champagne he could find. It did nothing to keep the bile from rising in his throat or clear the muddled thoughts from his mind. The emotion overtaking him could only have one description, which he was loath to identify, but it could not be avoided any longer.

Disappointment.

Henry blindly fled the room, pressing past friendly hands and familiar faces, until he reached the cool evening air of the courtyard. He sat on the stone bench, resting his glass beside him with a clink, then gazed over the finery of the assembly windows and let out a sigh from his weary soul.

“Mr. Godwin?”

He looked up at the sound, and his heart only wrenched further when Miss Follett appeared on the courtyard steps.

“Good evening, Miss Follett.” Henry picked up his glass and took another sip. “What brings you out here alone? Is your chaperone not with you?”

She slowly walked down the stairs as she said, “I told Mrs. Dunn I saw my friend Laura Roberts and came to have a talk with her.”

Henry fought off a smirk. “Lying to your patroness? I believe I’m having a negative influence on you, Miss Follett.”

“My presence here is nothing so nefarious. You were kind to check on me the other day with your visit, and when I saw you just now in the corridor, you looked like you might be ill, so I followed to ensure the same, that you are all right. Our being alone is of little consequence, as we’ve done that plenty before.”

There was an alluring tone in her voice that Henry tried to ignore. Each word she spoke came with another little step toward him, but Henry couldn’t look at her. He didn’t know if he could keep himself from her or keep himself from confessing his every ache and fear.

“It might not be best for you to seek me out alone, Miss Follett. I’m feeling a bit volatile this evening, especially in regard to you.”

“In regard to me?” she asked. She stopped right before him, her dark eyes brightened by the light from the assembly room windows. “Whatever for?”

Grinding his jaw, Henry looked down, swirling the drink in his glass. There was no logical reason to confess all his messy thoughts and feelings. He would not thrust his unrealistic hopes upon her and make her feel guilty, when he knew damn well she deserved better than a man like him.

Suddenly, her gloved hand appeared before him, reaching out to caress the side of his face. “You must have a great deal on your mind.”

A rumble of desire pounded in his chest, and he closed his eyes to help provide some restraint. “It is not wise for you to touch me so intimately, Miss Follett. Lest I find myself without control to keep from ravishing you as I have once before.”

She settled her dark gaze on him, lips curling in an all-too-familiar smirk. “You don't see me cowering, do you?”

Her enticing words were his final breaking point. Henry stood and took her by the shoulders, pressing her back against the cold brick of the building. “No, but you should be.”

Henry took hold of her face and pressed his lips to hers. He’d intended it to be one fierce kiss and then he would let her go, give her up. But her immediate response to his kiss made him linger. Her arms slowly slid around his waist, pressing against his back to urge him closer. Her mouth returned his own eagerness, almost stealing his breath away in response. But it was when she sighed, leaning into him as if depending on him to remain upright, that Henry lost his ability to refrain. It would not be one kiss now, but many.

---