Chapter 11

CHAPTER11

“Ido not think you listened to the music at all.”

“I beg your pardon?” Jacob asked, turning around to face Seth who passed him a glass of claret.

“I’ll rephrase that. You did not only not listen to the music, but now you are not taking in a word I am saying,” Seth sighed, exasperated.

“I am sorry,” Jacob said genuinely. “I am just so…”

“Distracted?” Seth offered, to which Jacob nodded, for he couldn’t deny it.

He had not particularly wanted to come to the violin concert this evening. He was enjoying being outdoors at present, his riding, the garden, everything was helping to take his mind off the matter of his mother and her worries, but she had insisted that he came tonight for the concert.

“You never know. Perhaps you will find a woman to marry tonight?”

Her strange optimism in the face of all of her nervous habits was a baffling thing to him. Once more that evening, he’d left her in the company of the local healer woman, who was doing much to raise Catarina’s spirits.

“May I hazard a guess as to the reason you are so distracted?” Seth leaned against one of the marble pillars around the guildhall that had been set up for the concert. With his gloved hand, he gestured across the room and Jacob followed that look.

Across the chairs that had been set out in the room for the performance, on the other side of the room, was the Earl of Pratt’s family.

He intently talked with Lady Bridget, as, beside them, the Duke and Duchess of Elbridge whispered together. Left out of the group was Lady Emily who herself seemed distracted, toying with the empty glass in her hand. She did not look at the violinists who were taking an interval, and neither had she paid much attention during the performance—Jacob had recognized that.

Most of the time the violinists had been playing in the first half, Emily had stared down into her glass or looked elsewhere around the room.

“Perhaps,” Jacob admitted to his friend.

“May I ask you a rather bold question?” Seth said, leaning against the pillar once more.

“I never thought you’d do anything else,” Jacob said with a smile, prompting his friend to laugh.

“Are you still a rake?”

“What?”

“Well, I cannot remember the last time you talked of another lady.” Seth waved a hand around the room. “Ordinarily, many ladies here tonight might have taken your fancy. Equally, by now you would have told me some story about a widow you had bedded for the night –”

“Shh,” Jacob urged, rather nervous of the group that was walking past them overhearing their conversation.

“Yet you haven’t.” Seth shrugged. “When was the last time you thought of another lady other than the one that has you so distracted at present?”

“I am not having this conversation.”

“Why not?”

“Because it is ridiculous,” Jacob hissed. “I know what you are trying to suggest, and I will not entertain it.”

“What?” Seth laid a hand on his chest, adopting an innocent air. “You think I am suggesting that what is between you and Lady Emily is more than just your frustration at not being able to bed her?”

“God’s blood man, would you be quiet?” Jacob was forced to smile at a dowager countess who passed them by, curling her nose as she must have overheard at least the ‘bedding’ part of what Seth had said. “Are you trying to make the scandal sheets tomorrow covered in our names?”

“I’m speaking plainly.”

“You always do,” Jacob muttered and drank from his claret glass.

“You are not answering the question, Jacob.”

“I wasn’t aware there was a question,” Jacob narrowed his eyes at Seth. “This is passing, fleeting, that is all.”

“The distraction of Lady Emily?”

“Yes!”

“Then tell me about another lady that is here tonight. Any lady,” Seth said with a self-satisfied smile, as if he knew he had already won.

“Her sisters,” Jacob answered swiftly.

“Anyone else?”

Jacob had not bothered to look. He looked around the two of them now and Seth guffawed with laughter at his panicked look.

“See? I do not need you to answer anymore, Jacob. I think I know what is happening to you.”

“Don’t say it,” Jacob hissed, taking his friend’s arm in warning.

“Well, I’ll just think it instead.” Seth still laughed as he shook his arm out of Jacob’s hold. “What’s the harm in it, Jacob? So what if you have developed a fondness for the lady? Nothing wrong with that.”

Seth walked off, heading toward a group of ladies that clucked and chatted together, like gaggling geese. Jacob watched his friend retreat, baffled that he could say there was nothing wrong with this situation.

There is so much that is wrong.

Emily moved across the room. Noticing it at once, Jacob looked toward her as she crossed to the back of the room where the tables displaying the drinks were prepared. He downed what was in his claret glass and moved toward her, creating an excuse to bump into her at the drinks table.

As he stopped beside her, neither of them said anything, but he could tell at once she knew it was him. She sighed, her hand tightening around the carafe of wine before her. He sighed deeply at her reaction, remembering the way her body had quivered in the chair in the orangery as he had introduced her to pleasure.

Such imaginings filled his mind with Emily in them that he struggled to speak or do anything at all. His hand grew so clammy around his glass, that he was in danger of dropping it.

He thought of the two of them back in that orangery, but he imagined him entering her properly, showing her what lovemaking truly was. He thought of her moaning his name in that breathy way, clinging to his chest and exploring him. Would her thighs shudder around his hips again? Would she climax as she had done, her body tightening and releasing in that most delicious way? Would she straddle him and ride him, just as he had glimpsed that she had the passion to do so that night?

“Why are you here?” Emily broke the silence between them. She didn’t look at him as he stopped beside her, their arms practically brushing as she lifted the carafe.

When the carafe nearly slipped out of her hand, he took it from her and filled her glass for her, and then his own.

“As we deduced the other night,” he whispered. “It seems you and I cannot stay away from one another.” She looked at him then, those green eyes wide and pinning him to the spot.

“Oh? You’ve managed it perfectly well the last couple of days.”

He sighed, realizing what her frustration was now. He could have called on her, yes, it would have been obvious to do so after what had passed between them.

I cannot do that. I cannot marry her.

“And what would your family have said to that?” he reminded her, placing the carafe down on the table in front of them.

“It is a fair point.”

“Exactly.” He nudged her arm, desperate to have her look at him again. “What did you make of the music?”

“Oh,” she sighed heavily. “I do not think I get much enjoyment out of things like this.”

“You looked bored.”

“You noticed?” She turned her head toward him. So glad to have those green eyes on him again, he shifted his body completely to face her, leaning on the table beside them. She did the same, the two of them mirror images of one another in their stance.

“I may have noticed,” he whispered, lowering his voice further. “You stared at everything but the musicians,” he said with a laugh. “Those poor violinists. If they had jumped up and performed a jig, you might have noticed them then.”

“I prefer the theatre, farces, something to laugh at. Or, better yet, I like being outside entirely.” Her words struck him so much that he stared at her, waiting for her to go on. “Give me the garden or a good walk any day.”

“You enjoy exploring, Emily?” he whispered.

“Who does not?” She laughed at the idea. “Though knowing my sister,” she rolled her eyes, “she would probably laugh at what a state I end up in if I go walking some days when it’s wild and rainy. I make quite a spectacle of myself.”

“Now that is a pleasant image,” he whispered.

“What is?”

“You all sodden in the rain, with your gown…” He broke off, his eyes looking down at her. She narrowed her gaze at him. “I said something wrong?” his voice deepened, and they both moved a step toward each other.

What is happening? Why can I not stay away from her?

“You are reminding me of what passed the other night.”

“Is that so wrong?”

“Very wrong, you rake,” she said, almost accusingly, though her glare was playful. He chuckled at her response. They both lifted their glasses to their lips and took a sip, neither one of them breaking their gaze. “How about you, Your Grace?” She’d returned to his title, which was disappointing after hearing her moan his name in such a breathy way earlier in the week.

“Are you asking me if I am reminded of the other night?”

“No,” she laughed at his teasing, “I’m asking if you enjoyed the music.” She motioned to the violinists who were already preparing for their second half. Some people returned to their seats, but most didn’t and continued to mill around the room, talking with other guests.

“I found it…” Jacob struggled for the right word. The musicians were highly skilled, and he appreciated that, but he’d barely listened to a note of it. “I did not truthfully pay much attention.”

“Oh? Why not?” Emily asked.

He raised his glass to his lips, taking a gulp as he stared at her, not needing to say the words.

“Oh.” She made that sound again, but this time with more understanding. “You are not supposed to be doing this.” She thrust a finger toward him.

“Do what?”

“After what passed the other night, you and I have not seen each other, have we?”

“No.” He had not called, that was what irked her so.

For I cannot marry you, Emily.

“Is it so wrong to be drawn to you?”

“Do not say such things,” she pleaded and turned away, looking out toward the musicians, as if eagerly waiting for them to begin again. “You will be the death of me.”

“Me?” He laughed at the mere idea, once more mirroring her stance and turning to look at the musicians. Their arms brushed together and they both flinched, but neither of them moved away. “There seems to be an irony to your words when you are the one that I cannot stay away from.”

“You should see things from my perspective.”

“I’m a little distracted with seeing it from my own.”

“Oh, you are infuriating.”

“As are you,” he said simply. “On many counts.”

“Then leave my side and return to your friend.” She waved a hand toward Seth across the room. “At least then we are both away from temptation.”

“That I fear I cannot do.” He looked at her then, and she did a double take, her chin turning back toward him twice. As the violinists started again, many stayed in their position around the room, listening attentively from their positions. Jacob had one more thing to say, so he mouthed the words to Emily. “Can’t… stay… away.”

She seemed to shudder; he could feel that shiver with her arm against his own, though she looked away swiftly.

“I…” she attempted to say something, then a lady nearby frowned at her for being too loud. Emily fell silent and they pretended to listen to the first song of the second half, though Jacob knew she paid as little attention as he did. They both kept glancing at one another, all too aware of how close they stood together.

When the song finished and the applause began, Jacob whispered in her ear.

“Excuse yourself for the privy in a minute or so and meet me in the corridor.”

“I cannot,” she hissed.

“Please.” He bowed his head to her, as if in parting, then put his claret glass down on the table and moved to the door of the guildhall, walking slowly and calmly out.

He passed under an archway into a smaller antechamber. It was where people had left their pelisses and Spencer jackets, along with hats placed on hooks. He paced up and down in the room, hoping that Emily would soon follow.

Another violin piece passed, and he heard the applause echo down the corridor, then she appeared in the hallway, looking for him, her blonde hair shimmering in the moonlight.

“Psst!” he hissed, calling to her. She turned toward the archway and then moved toward him, her movements swift.

“I should not be here,” she whispered.

“Then why come?” he asked.

“Because you are infuriating!”

“That is not a convincing answer.” He chuckled. “Surely you’d be running from me then.”

“I should be running.” Yet she walked closer toward him. He reached for her hands, toying with them in his grasp and turning one of them over. He lifted it to his lips and pulled down the long glove, getting access to her wrist where he kissed the back.

“Neither of us are running,” he reminded her. When she closed her eyes, clearly wanting more, he couldn’t resist. He lowered her hand between them and shifted his palm to her waist, sliding it across her back to pull him into her.

He kissed her, with such passion and fierceness that she fell into him, her hands gripping his biceps tightly. His mind was full of images, thinking of her gripping his arms in such a way, as if he were to press her up against the wall of this cloakroom and lift her skirt, entering her. What a feeling that would be! Intoxicating to the senses.

He deepened the kiss further, pressing the boundaries, and she made no sign of resistance. Her hands shifted beneath his tailcoat, reaching for more of him as his hands took hold of her back and her waist, his fingers splaying outward with the need to get closer to her, to feel more of her.

She pulled back sharply, the loss of her lips so sudden that he was leaning toward her already.

“We shouldn’t,” she murmured hurriedly.

“Then why come?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then kiss me again,” he pleaded, pulling her into him. She didn’t resist him and moved her arms to wrap around his neck. It became such an intimate kiss that when he backed her up, they nearly ended up entangled in the coats.

The sound of one of the coats falling off its peg distracted Jacob. It was only later he realized that the sound must have covered up someone’s footsteps, muffling those that were approaching.

“Unhand her.” The words were spoken with such anger that Jacob pulled back immediately. He raised his hands, palms outward as a sign of innocence, creating space between himself and Emily.

Her cheeks were flushed, and her lips slightly swollen from all their kissing. She staggered forward, her body turning swiftly around to see who had approached them.

Jacob already knew, without having to turn, for he recognized the voice, but he turned around anyway, ready to face the condemnation that would surely come his way.

I have wronged this family so much because of my own weakness for Emily. They must despise me for everything.

Through the darkness, he saw two tall shadowy figures standing in the corridor. In time with one another, they both stepped forward. The first one Jacob looked at was the Duke of Elbridge, his face so tightened, and his eyes so narrowed they were but flecks of black in the darkness.

There was so much hatred in that face as he stared at Jacob, not even moving his gaze away to look at Emily.

Jacob’s eyes slowly slid to Emily’s sister, the Duchess of Elbridge. She strode in front of her husband, a look of such pain and horror on her face, it was a wonder she did not faint or swoon from the shock of what she had seen.

“The scandal cannot be escaped now,” she muttered, the quiet words settling over them all.