Comfort and Joy by Sandra Madden Page B

showing. And, you were holding your skirts up for all the world to see.”
    “Aye, and do ye think Mr. Raymond and Robert took a shine to me ankles?” she bristled.
    “Maeve, do you know anything about propriety?”
    “Aye. I know to respect my elders and to be kind to those about me.”
    “There are rules of behavior —”
    “I don’t believe in rules.”
    “That is abundantly clear.”
    “And I would like to be introduced as your wife from now on. Mrs. Charles Rycroft is my name now, not Maeve O’Malley.”
    “I have already explained why we needed to keep our marriage a secret just now.”
    Maeve dug her fists into her hips. “Explain it again.”
    Charles appeared to have been brought up short.
    “We must wait until Stella has returned to New York and the Christmas holiday has passed.”
    “Christmas is the season of love, ye know.”
    “Yes. Well. You must have realized there would be complications arise from marrying a man you picked up off the street.”
    “Aye. I suppose I did now.”
    “How did your dance lesson go before the jig?”
    “Mr. Raymond taught me the steps to the waltz. But I do not care for the waltz, ‘tis too slow a dance.”
    “‘The waltz is considered by some to be a rather risqué dance.”
    She inclined her head in disbelief. “No. Why?”
    “When a man takes a woman in his arms like this...”
    Maeve caught her breath as Charles’s arm wrapped around her waist and drew her against the solid steel of his chest.
    “And takes her hand like this...”
    She could no longer feel her heart beating as Charles’s hand enveloped hers.
    “It is a rather intimate position,” he continued. “Especially when a couple is moving and their bodies brush against one another. Like this.”
    “Mr. Raymond did not hold me like ye are doin’.”
    Before Maeve could tell Charles exactly how Mr. Raymond held her, her husband’s mouth came down on hers.
    Charles kissed her fiercely, crushing her against him.
    As if she’d been sleeping for centuries, Maeve suddenly came alive, sparks of delight prickling her flesh as she savored his kiss, wet, warm, and delicious.
    A flood of feelings old and new spiraled through her at a dizzying speed. Her blood ran sweet and warm like the wildflower nectar fairy folk sipped as wine. Trembling within and without, Maeve did not think she could stand alone should Charles release her.
    Saints above! She prayed he wouldn’t release her.
    Charles lifted his head slowly. A wry smile played on his lips. “Do you now understand the danger in the waltz?”
     

Chapter Six
     
    “Do ye like me new gown?”
    “Not me...my,” Pansy corrected Maeve patiently. “My new gown.”
    Maeve repeated Pansy’s example. “Do ye like my new gown?”
    “Do you like my new gown?”
    “Sure’n I’ll never get this right!” Maeve cried out in frustration.
    “Yes, you will. You’re an intelligent woman. We all are, actually. Victoria Woodhull promises women shall go far once we gain the right to vote.”
    Maeve learned all she knew about the Woodhull woman from Pansy. The shocking, one-time clairvoyant was divorced and an advocate of free love. Pansy revered the women’s rights advocate and recited her virtues frequently to Maeve, who could not condone either free love or divorce.
    “Sure’n I’m not lookin’ to go anywhere. I’m only interested in keepin’ me husband.”
    And keeping his kisses. Unconsciously, Maeve raised her fingertips to her lips, lips that still tingled from Charles’s unexpected and wondrous kiss yesterday.
    “My husband,” Pansy echoed.
    Pansy had been invited to Beatrice Rycroft’s holiday party. As soon as Maeve learned of it, she beseeched her friend to come early. Pansy happily complied and now busied herself perfecting Maeve’s appearance.
    “When Charles sees you tonight you shall not have to speak a word. He will find you utterly irresistible.”
    Maeve’s nerves had been on edge since dawn. It felt as if a toy top spun