now, when he wasn’t yet hers.
But she’d come, and not a moment too soon. She hadn’t had to search the smoky room for Warren. She’d seen him easily enough the moment she stepped through the door. He’d been mounting the stairs in the corner, a buxom barmaid pulling on his hand to hurry him, laughing down at him, promising untold delights. Amy had seen red, or rather green, and rushed up the stairs after him, ignoring the startled exclamations of a few of the customers who noticed her, and fairly shouting Warren’s name just as he was entering the barmaid’s room. That got his attention quick enough, and got the door slammed shut in his face, too, the girl having heard Amy and probably thinking her customer had been found out by an enraged wife.
Amy could be grateful for the girl’s assumption and, she supposed, for the close timing that was going to let her do her explaining in private, in this dimly lit hallway, rather than downstairs with a roomful of drunkenwitnesses. And Warren was waiting for that explanation. He’d recovered from his original shock upon finding her there, and was now impatient as well as furious.
“Are you going to answer, or just stand there wringing your hands?”
Major decision time. Did she resort to the drastic, or go on as she had begun? But nothing she’d tried so far was working. The drastic, then, and no turning back.
“What you’ve come here for, you can come to me for.”
There, she’d said it, and she wouldn’t take it back. But he didn’t seem all that surprised by her momentous decision. On closer inspection, he didn’t seem all that sober either. And as he approached her, slowly, his furious expression turned to a sneer.
“Do you know what I’m here for? Yes, of course you do, promiscuous minx that you are.”
He flipped back the folds of the lilac cloak she’d used to shroud her delicate form, revealing the deep purple of the satin lining and the demure style of her lavender gown, hardly the ensemble of a seductress, yet enticing nonetheless because of her simple beauty. The hood fell back partially, so that her face was no longer cast in shadow, her blue eyes appearing violet in the frame of the purple satin. Had she dressed in something even a little more revealing, he would never have been able tocontinue his derisive line of attack.
“So you want to take the whore’s place, do you? Ah, but with strings attached, a blasted engagement first.” The back of his finger slowly crossed her cheek. There was the feel of regret in that caress. “I’ll stick to the wench who expects a coin or two instead, thank you. Your price is too damned high, Lady Amy.”
“No strings,” she said on a breathless whisper. “Now that I’ve declared myself—”
“You haven’t.”
“Of course I have.” She was a bit surprised by his quick denial. “I’ve said I want to—that is, I’ve told you that I want you.”
“What you want . That doesn’t say what’s in here.” His hand came to rest over her heart, despite the fact that the soft curve of her breast was in the way. Both of them noticed that it was. “Are you saying you love me?”
“I don’t know.”
That wasn’t what he was expecting to hear from a girl who’d claimed she wanted to marry him, and it clearly baffled him. “ You don’t know ?”
She said in a rush, “I wish there was more time to figure this thing out, but there isn’t. You won’t be here that long, Warren. But I know I want you. There’s no doubt about that. And I know I’ve never felt before what you make me feel. I also know it makes me sick, the thought of you going to some other woman right now. But I’m not sure yet if I love you.”
He’d had a few drinks, one too many to deal with Lady Amy and her complexity of doubt and certainties. His hand dropped from her breast and he said with curt finality, “Go away.”
She lowered her gaze from his. “I can’t. I sent the carriage off.”
He exploded. “What
But she’d come, and not a moment too soon. She hadn’t had to search the smoky room for Warren. She’d seen him easily enough the moment she stepped through the door. He’d been mounting the stairs in the corner, a buxom barmaid pulling on his hand to hurry him, laughing down at him, promising untold delights. Amy had seen red, or rather green, and rushed up the stairs after him, ignoring the startled exclamations of a few of the customers who noticed her, and fairly shouting Warren’s name just as he was entering the barmaid’s room. That got his attention quick enough, and got the door slammed shut in his face, too, the girl having heard Amy and probably thinking her customer had been found out by an enraged wife.
Amy could be grateful for the girl’s assumption and, she supposed, for the close timing that was going to let her do her explaining in private, in this dimly lit hallway, rather than downstairs with a roomful of drunkenwitnesses. And Warren was waiting for that explanation. He’d recovered from his original shock upon finding her there, and was now impatient as well as furious.
“Are you going to answer, or just stand there wringing your hands?”
Major decision time. Did she resort to the drastic, or go on as she had begun? But nothing she’d tried so far was working. The drastic, then, and no turning back.
“What you’ve come here for, you can come to me for.”
There, she’d said it, and she wouldn’t take it back. But he didn’t seem all that surprised by her momentous decision. On closer inspection, he didn’t seem all that sober either. And as he approached her, slowly, his furious expression turned to a sneer.
“Do you know what I’m here for? Yes, of course you do, promiscuous minx that you are.”
He flipped back the folds of the lilac cloak she’d used to shroud her delicate form, revealing the deep purple of the satin lining and the demure style of her lavender gown, hardly the ensemble of a seductress, yet enticing nonetheless because of her simple beauty. The hood fell back partially, so that her face was no longer cast in shadow, her blue eyes appearing violet in the frame of the purple satin. Had she dressed in something even a little more revealing, he would never have been able tocontinue his derisive line of attack.
“So you want to take the whore’s place, do you? Ah, but with strings attached, a blasted engagement first.” The back of his finger slowly crossed her cheek. There was the feel of regret in that caress. “I’ll stick to the wench who expects a coin or two instead, thank you. Your price is too damned high, Lady Amy.”
“No strings,” she said on a breathless whisper. “Now that I’ve declared myself—”
“You haven’t.”
“Of course I have.” She was a bit surprised by his quick denial. “I’ve said I want to—that is, I’ve told you that I want you.”
“What you want . That doesn’t say what’s in here.” His hand came to rest over her heart, despite the fact that the soft curve of her breast was in the way. Both of them noticed that it was. “Are you saying you love me?”
“I don’t know.”
That wasn’t what he was expecting to hear from a girl who’d claimed she wanted to marry him, and it clearly baffled him. “ You don’t know ?”
She said in a rush, “I wish there was more time to figure this thing out, but there isn’t. You won’t be here that long, Warren. But I know I want you. There’s no doubt about that. And I know I’ve never felt before what you make me feel. I also know it makes me sick, the thought of you going to some other woman right now. But I’m not sure yet if I love you.”
He’d had a few drinks, one too many to deal with Lady Amy and her complexity of doubt and certainties. His hand dropped from her breast and he said with curt finality, “Go away.”
She lowered her gaze from his. “I can’t. I sent the carriage off.”
He exploded. “What
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