Amanda Scott by Madcap Marchioness

stigmatized for a dowdy.”
    “If you do not have a shawl, one of my aunts can lend you one,” he said. Then, looking directly into her eyes, he added, “Or if you prefer it, I will find you a woolen cloak to wear.”
    His demeanor was as calm as ever, but Adriana found herself repressing a shiver, as though there were once again thunder in the air. Swallowing carefully, she nodded and turned so that he could unfasten the many tiny buttons down the back of her dress.
    His fingers were nimble, and the task was quickly finished, but when she felt his warm hands on her bare shoulders, felt them pushing the flimsy material aside and down, she stepped quickly forward and turned, clutching at her bodice. “I can do the rest, Joshua, thank you. That velvet dress fastens up the front.”
    “As you wish, my dear,” he said. “I’ll wait.” He turned, and she thought he meant to retire to her bedchamber, but instead he sat upon her dressing chair.
    She opened her mouth to tell him to leave, then shut it again with the words unsaid when she realized that he would refuse to go. Marriage, she decided, had a number of unexpected pitfalls for the unwary. With a sigh, she slipped off the amber dress, stepped out of it, tugged her short silken chemise into place—for she had not altogether ignored the chilliness of the castle’s corridors and chambers—and quickly pulled the heavier gown over her head. As she wriggled, she heard him chuckle, and when she emerged from the folds of green velvet, she found him standing again, directly in front of her. Obligingly, he helped her smooth the velvet into place.
    “Joshua, really, I—”
    “I like velvet,” he said, his big hands moving down her ribs to her waist and hips. “It’s soft, wants caressing.” His fingers touched the lowest gold frog fastening, several inches below her natural waist, many inches below the gown’s.
    “I can do that,” she said hastily, pushing his hands aside.
    He let her fasten the first one, then shook his head at her. “You move too quickly, sweetheart. I’ll show you how such a task ought to be done if you would please a lover.”
    She looked at him, saw the amusement in his eyes and something else that made her breath catch in her throat. She found herself unable to resist when he pushed her hands away again, unable to protest when his hands moved beneath the velvet dress to touch the silken chemise, to gather it upward until he could caress her bare hips, her waist, her …
    “Joshua,” she gasped, “Sally and George are—”
    “Right,” he said. He sighed, straightened her chemise, and turned his attention to the remaining frogs. As he fastened the last one, however, at the point of her deep décolletage, he allowed himself one lingering caress, making her gasp again; and, when she turned her face up to his, he kissed her, putting his arms around her and drawing her body tightly against his.
    All wish to resist him vanished, for the moment at least, and Adriana melted against him, savoring the warm sensations that rushed through her. When he set her back upon her heels, she drew another long breath and looked at him.
    Chalford smiled at her and moved to the wardrobe again, searching, then reaching for something on the top shelf. When he turned, he held a soft white woolen shawl. Still smiling, this time with satisfaction, he shook it out and held it for her.
    Responding automatically to that smile, she allowed him to drape the shawl over her shoulders, catching it up with her elbows, adjusting it until her looking glass told her the effect was not too dreadful. The shawl was old, a little shabby, and certainly unsuitable for evening wear. She refused to think of what Sally would say, but whatever was said, she had no wish to quarrel further with Chalford that night.
    More guests arrived the following day and the day after that, including Mr. Dawlish and Mr. Bennett, two young gentlemen who had been favorite flirts of Adriana’s in