something no gentleman ever said to a young lady.
“You are of an age to be wishing for a husband, though, as I imagine.”
I raised my eyes to his face, startled into an open look. What he said was the truth, and ’twould be a foolish woman who denied it. We had no other choice but to marry, and one’s reputation suffered if the event was delayed too much past, say, twenty.
But to speak so plainly—
Was this his lordship’s way of broaching a marriage between us? If so, ’twas badly done, I decided. As if my choices were so limited that I would welcome any advance. In Cassandra’s rosebud sarcenet, with a few tendrils of hair framing my face to good effect, I felt keenly the injustice of his poor regard.
I put on the calmest expression I could manage and turned away. “I suppose so,” I replied evenly. “Do come look at these damask roses. Their fragrance is extraordinary.”
“Lady Regina,” said Lord Davies, not moving.
It was only then that I realized his own annoyance, having been led astray by my own.
The viscount, angry with me? I’d done nothing, I was not the one pretending interest to secure a sister’s marriage—
For a moment I had the oddest sensation, ’twas as if we stared into each other’s soul. Odd and alarming; I stepped backwards with a sudden movement and nearly tripped. The viscount caught my arm and kept me upright, but his expression was as harsh as I had ever seen it.
“What do you want from me?” said Lord Davies, as rude and unpromising a question as I ever heard.
I was stung into an intemperate reply. “I want nothing from your lordship, I assure you.”
“Your brother—”
“My brother ? What has my brother to do with anything? And what right—”
And then he was kissing me, his mouth on mine, but ’twas less about fondness or affection and more a declaration of war. I began to struggle, but his lordship’s arm around my waist was iron and his other hand held the back of my head so that I could not even turn away.
And then I stopped struggling. Because nothing was like that kiss, and I had my own weaponry.
We continued for some minutes and, in looking back, I believe things might have progressed to a point neither of us could have stepped away from, if the dowager viscountess’s voice—coming from a point blessedly out of view—had not interrupted.
“Talfryn? Lady Regina?”
We broke off with a start. I was gasping for breath and the viscount seemed in little better condition. He straightened his cravat as I smoothed the folds of the sarcenet, neither of us meeting the other’s gaze. I hoped my coiffure was not in too great a disarray; I could feel a hairpin or two coming loose.
“My lady?” said Lord Davies, holding out his arm.
I tucked my fingers under the arm, and we returned to the house without further word.
Chapter 14: The Viscount Wavers
Damn the chit.
Damn his own thoughts, which returned over and over to their kiss in the rose garden. And nearly more than a kiss; Talfryn knew good and well that he had passed the boundaries of self-control on that occasion. He had been searching for—had every intention of finding and unfastening—the buttons at the back of Lady Regina’s dress when the viscountess had called fair warning.
And a warning it was, no doubt. For as much as his mother wanted the connection between their family and the Earl of Aveline, she knew better than to force the issue with Lord Davies.
The viscount did not like to be pushed any more than did his sister Isolde. Not by his mother, and not by Lady Regina Knowles. In Talfryn’s mind—which was rather in a tangle by the memory of the young woman’s lips against his own—there was suspicion on this latter point.
He wanted nothing more than to propose marriage to Lady Regina, and to have her at his side for the rest of his days. But they had now engaged in two highly improper kisses, the most
“You are of an age to be wishing for a husband, though, as I imagine.”
I raised my eyes to his face, startled into an open look. What he said was the truth, and ’twould be a foolish woman who denied it. We had no other choice but to marry, and one’s reputation suffered if the event was delayed too much past, say, twenty.
But to speak so plainly—
Was this his lordship’s way of broaching a marriage between us? If so, ’twas badly done, I decided. As if my choices were so limited that I would welcome any advance. In Cassandra’s rosebud sarcenet, with a few tendrils of hair framing my face to good effect, I felt keenly the injustice of his poor regard.
I put on the calmest expression I could manage and turned away. “I suppose so,” I replied evenly. “Do come look at these damask roses. Their fragrance is extraordinary.”
“Lady Regina,” said Lord Davies, not moving.
It was only then that I realized his own annoyance, having been led astray by my own.
The viscount, angry with me? I’d done nothing, I was not the one pretending interest to secure a sister’s marriage—
For a moment I had the oddest sensation, ’twas as if we stared into each other’s soul. Odd and alarming; I stepped backwards with a sudden movement and nearly tripped. The viscount caught my arm and kept me upright, but his expression was as harsh as I had ever seen it.
“What do you want from me?” said Lord Davies, as rude and unpromising a question as I ever heard.
I was stung into an intemperate reply. “I want nothing from your lordship, I assure you.”
“Your brother—”
“My brother ? What has my brother to do with anything? And what right—”
And then he was kissing me, his mouth on mine, but ’twas less about fondness or affection and more a declaration of war. I began to struggle, but his lordship’s arm around my waist was iron and his other hand held the back of my head so that I could not even turn away.
And then I stopped struggling. Because nothing was like that kiss, and I had my own weaponry.
We continued for some minutes and, in looking back, I believe things might have progressed to a point neither of us could have stepped away from, if the dowager viscountess’s voice—coming from a point blessedly out of view—had not interrupted.
“Talfryn? Lady Regina?”
We broke off with a start. I was gasping for breath and the viscount seemed in little better condition. He straightened his cravat as I smoothed the folds of the sarcenet, neither of us meeting the other’s gaze. I hoped my coiffure was not in too great a disarray; I could feel a hairpin or two coming loose.
“My lady?” said Lord Davies, holding out his arm.
I tucked my fingers under the arm, and we returned to the house without further word.
Chapter 14: The Viscount Wavers
Damn the chit.
Damn his own thoughts, which returned over and over to their kiss in the rose garden. And nearly more than a kiss; Talfryn knew good and well that he had passed the boundaries of self-control on that occasion. He had been searching for—had every intention of finding and unfastening—the buttons at the back of Lady Regina’s dress when the viscountess had called fair warning.
And a warning it was, no doubt. For as much as his mother wanted the connection between their family and the Earl of Aveline, she knew better than to force the issue with Lord Davies.
The viscount did not like to be pushed any more than did his sister Isolde. Not by his mother, and not by Lady Regina Knowles. In Talfryn’s mind—which was rather in a tangle by the memory of the young woman’s lips against his own—there was suspicion on this latter point.
He wanted nothing more than to propose marriage to Lady Regina, and to have her at his side for the rest of his days. But they had now engaged in two highly improper kisses, the most
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