A Taste of Honey by Lindsay Kiernan Page A

Robin's thoughts.
    “What do you mean?  I'm right here,” Robin said brushing back a strand of hair, as she had seen Katherine do when she became nervous.
    “You aren't the one that I kissed,” he told her, looking over her shoulder for a glimpse of Katherine.  “Why didn't your sister come?”
    Robin reeled at the revelation.  Their own parents could barely tell them apart before either of the girls spoke up.  There was no way that he could so easily know that it was not her.  Robin had even worn the same lavender perfume as her sister, in case he'd noticed the scent that night.
    “Tell her to come here, alone,” the voice insisted as he began to walk away, dismissing Robin without a second glance.
    Admittedly it hurt her pride.  “Why should I?  You've already done quite enough with her,” Robin snapped, annoyed that she had not been able to trick him so easily and slightly rejected that he had not tried to kiss her as well.
    “If she does not come here alone then I will be compelled to relay my information to your sponsor, Mrs. Brentley, as we are well acquainted,” he said threateningly.  “I doubt she would look kindly on one of her charges being caught alone, late at night, kissing a stranger.”
    “You wouldn't dare,” Robin hissed into the dark.
    “The scandal it would cause me, would be far less severe than the scandal it could cause her, and you,” the man said before turning and walking away from her.  “Make sure she comes alone,” he reminded her before disappearing into the dark again as if he were made of shadows.
    Running back into the house Robin had to wait precious minutes while Katherine finished another dance with Oliver Buckman who seemed unwilling to let her sister out of his sight.  Once they had finished, Katherine ran over to the garden doors and helped her replace the red rose into her hair.
     
    “How did it go?”  Katherine asked after seeing her sister's pale face and shaking hands.
    “He knew I wasn't you.” Robin whispered with a touch of fear adding an edge to her voice.
    It was on Katherine's tongue to ask how he had known, but Robin hurried her towards the path leading to the fountain looking more frightened than Katherine remembered ever seeing her bold sister.  “You'd better hurry; he could try to come in here at any moment,” was all she said before turning around and joining back into the party.
    It was too early in the dance for many couples to have ventured outside looking for fresh air and the back porch was cleared of other prying eyes.  Not that many of the couples who met outside were aware of what else was going on around them.
    Katherine wandered the same path that her sister had taken towards the distant fountain.  When she reached the small clearing she waited, looking around for any sight of the man she had met before.  She decided to sit at one of the stone benches that ran along the hedges as they were more hidden than the center fountain.
    Katherine picked up a nearby flower, playing idly with its petals as she waited, she was nervous that he had not come out yet, wondering if even now he was searching out Mrs. Brentley inside.  After a couple more minutes of silence she looked at the shadows around her more closely, trying to see through the darkness where he might be hiding.
    Suddenly behind her, Katherine could sense him standing there, without needing to turn around and look.  “Hello,” she whispered, unsure of what she should say in such a circumstance.  She had suddenly become horribly shy, and felt a few of the petals drift from her fingers onto the mossy ground beneath her feet.
     
    Garret took the seat beside her and stared intently at her face.  He had seen her sister's features through the dim moon light and had seen the beauty of her face.  Identical twins he had been told, but watching Katherine's face a moment ago had been different.  Without being near her, he had known deep inside that it was the woman he had