Lady of Providence

by St. Clair, Ellie

  “Of course she does,” Miss Jones said, before a wicked smile across her face. “Everyone feels some sort of emotion for those they have become close with. I doubt Elizabeth would continue to spend much time with you if she felt nothing.”

  He nodded, knowing her words to be true yet unsure of what to do with them.

  “Elizabeth…” she continued with some hesitation, as though she was unsure of whether to say anything that might betray their friendship. “She looks at everything with both her heart and her mind—they work in concert, so you must appeal to both of them.”

  “Understood, Miss Jones,” he said with a smile and a mock salute before he turned and followed Elizabeth out the garden doors.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Gabriel found the scent of lilies nearly overwhelming as he strode through the gardens in search of Elizabeth. He knew she would come here. Did she realize, as he did the moment he walked through the doors, that they were in the very same building where they had discovered one another all those years ago?

  Likely. She was not one to miss such details.

  He rounded a wall to spy her in the distance. She was sitting on the marble border of a small water feature, her light blue gown flowing around her, making it seem as though she were meant to be part of the tableau surrounding her.

  On this late spring day, the sun was just beginning to set, casting a brilliant light of pink and gold, glistening off the reddish hues of her hair as he neared. Clearly not expecting anyone else in the gardens at this early hour of the party, she had removed her gloves and was trailing her fingertips through the water of the fountain next to her, leaving ripples behind them as they moved through.

  Gabriel stood there, taking it all in, not wanting to say anything to startle her and ruin the moment. After a couple of minutes, however, she must have sensed his presence, for her head jerked up and she looked around her until her eyes finally came to rest upon him, causing them to narrow.

  “How long have you been standing there?” she asked, her voice, despite its accusatory tone, calling to him from across the courtyard as he began to walk toward her once more.

  “Just for a moment,” he said before coming to stand before her. As she began to rise, he reached a hand down, and she reluctantly allowed her fingers to wrap around his. He paused, reveling in their touch, before he gently pulled her to her feet.

  “You followed me?” she asked resignedly, and he slowly smiled.

  “I knew where to find you. Do you recognize these gardens?”

  She turned her face away from him, he knew to hide her blush.

  “I suppose I do,” she said, shrugging her shoulder as though it was of no consequence. “I have been to Lord and Lady Holderness’ a time or two before.”

  “I remember these gardens well,” he said with a sigh, wandering away from her around the stone courtyard, slowly circling the fountain within the middle of it. “I made one of my finest discoveries here on a night long ago.”

  She snorted, so unlike her usual polite tendencies.

  “‘One of,’ being the the pivotal point of that sentence,” she said, but he shook his head as he watched her while she continued to move.

  “No, that night was my very finest discovery,” he said. “A discovery I lost but continue to search for, with no avail.”

  “On that note, there is something of which I would like to speak to you,” she said, holding a finger in the air, but he quickly rounded the corner and took that very finger within the palm of his hand, before curling his own fingers around hers.

  “I know you do, love,” he said, smiling at her once more, the smile that had been proven to charm that coldest of the ton. Elizabeth only stared back at him, her jaw set and her brow furrowed. He reached out to cup her cheek. “But can it wait?”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head, as though she was convincing herself as much as she was him. “It cannot wait any longer. I have been wanting to say this to you for some time, and I need you to listen and to understand. I wasn’t going to do this here, but it seems to me as though I have no other choice.”

  She paused, taking a deep breath, and he used that moment to move in toward her, filling the space between them. He brought a finger up, placing it gently on her lips.

  “Why do we not go somewhere quieter, where we are less likely to be happened upon?” he asked. “I would like to speak to you as well.”

  She looked as though she was going to protest, but instead, he was relieved when she nodded her head. Gabriel bent and picked up her gloves, but kept them in his own hand instead of returning them to her as he took her other hand in his and led her over to a bend in the path where a bench was hidden within a small alcove of the fence, covered by brush on one side and out of view of the house from the other side.

  He helped her to sit before taking his own spot on the bench beside her.

  “I know what you are going to say, Elizabeth,” Gabriel said before she opened her mouth. “You are questioning what we are doing together, about whether or not you feel we should continue to see one another. That is it, is it not?”

  “In fewer words than I would have used, but yes, I suppose it is,” she said, her face in profile to him, backlit by the setting sun as she looked out over the elaborate gardens around them, the flowers beginning to bloom with the beautiful awakening of spring.

  “I understand why you feel that way, truly I do,” he said, cupping her face and turning her toward him. “I wronged you, Elizabeth. You did not deserve to be treated that way, and I was a young fool. I didn’t realize how fortunate I was to even have an opportunity to be with you. I squandered all and for that, I apologize. But, Elizabeth…”

  Gabriel paused for a moment, stunned at the fact that, for once, he lacked the words he required. How could he make her understand what he was feeling without his words sounding trite?

  “Elizabeth, I am falling for you,” he said, letting out a low chuckle at himself when he heard the words. He knew he sounded ridiculous, like a lovesick pup, but he didn’t know what else to say to her but the truth. “I can no longer see myself with any other woman but you, and it’s driving me mad keeping myself away from you.”

  She was turned toward him now, her violet eyes wide, and he knew he could lose himself within them for days. He could read the confusion there, in the way she desperately ran her eyes over his face, as though she was searching for proof of his words. She opened her mouth, but Gabriel found that he could not, at the moment, hear a refusal from her.

  “You don’t need to say anything at the moment,” he said before she could get a word out. “Take some time and think on what I’ve said. I know you have much on your mind, and I do not wish to add to your burdens, but actually want to do what I can to take away from them.”

  “Burdens are to be expected,” she said with the smallest of smiles. “Particularly when one is part of an enterprise such as a bank.”

  “You take on much, and you do not ask for help,” Gabriel said, raising an eyebrow. “It is to be commended, true, but it can also become more than you can bear.”

  “And you, oh wise Duke, do you ask for help with your burdens?”

  He laughed at that, knowing she had him there.

  “I suppose not, although I have many good men in place to share the responsibility.”

  “But ultimately, it all rests on your shoulders, does it not?”

  “It does.”

  “Then so this must on mine.”

  “Well, in that case, you know I am always here to help release the tension of them.”

  She looked down at the toes of her cream kid slippers at his mention of his intimate caress so many weeks ago within her office. It was the last time he had touched her in such a way, besides the odd brush of fingertips, and he longed to do so once more.

  Risking the moment, he brought a hand to the back of her neck, gently massaging, stroking, loving the elegant lines of the length of it. Instead of recoiling, she leaned into him,
welcoming his touch, for which he was grateful. He shifted slightly, lifting a leg to straddle the bench so that he was sitting behind her, and he pulled her back against him so that she could lean on him. While she wouldn’t give him any of her responsibilities, perhaps he could ease some of the load she carried with a few moments of peacefulness.

  His hands wandered from her neck to her shoulders, before running down over her cap sleeves to where her arms were bare, her gloves still lying on the bench beside them. He trailed his fingers over the softness of her skin, and he could feel the gooseflesh rise behind his touch. An unexplainable sense of pride filled him that he could cause such a reaction within her, and a sudden possessiveness enveloped him, as he wanted to ensure that he was the only one who would ever cause her to feel such a way.

  Gabriel leaned down and brought his lips to her neck where his fingers had previously caressed. He trailed kisses from behind her ear, down her neck to where it met her collarbone; then he neared her shoulder, to where the sleeve of her dress began. He brought his arms around her, pulling her back against him, nearly groaning from the feeling of her lithe body as she pressed back against him, where he ached for her.

  He knew that Elizabeth, for all of her refined elegance, had fiery passion buried deep within her, and he was determined to unleash it.

  As his lips continued to explore her neck, Gabriel’s hands roamed over her body. They began at her slim waist, ran down over the curve of her hips then back up again, where he cupped her ribs within the span of his hands. He slowly, cautiously, brought his fingers higher still, running them over the swell of her breasts, which strained against the fabric of her gown. The silk was sleek beneath his hands, and he cupped her soft mounds, which were the perfect size—while not overly large, he couldn’t have asked for any that would be better than hers.

  “Elizabeth,” he murmured, and then he rose slightly, picking her up and turning her around so that she was now straddling his hips, the skirts of her gown spilling around their legs as she now tilted her head down to meet his lips while her cool fingers lightly brushed his jawline. He met her kiss hungrily, the desire for her that had been building for weeks now pouring through where their mouths met.

  His tongue touched the seam of her lips and she opened to him, allowing him in. She was so warm, so sweet, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as he explored her velvety softness, finding within her all that he had been looking for.

  When she moved restlessly against him, he bucked slightly, and he knew what she was seeking. But he was no longer the foolish youth he had been the last time the two of them had been alone in these gardens. While he was able to better control his impulses, he was also a man with much more experience, and right now, he only sought to make Elizabeth happy.

  Gabriel took one of his hands from behind her back and found her ankle, which was resting against his side. He stroked around the soft bone, then began to trail his fingers along her leg underneath her gown, lifting them higher and higher as he continued to love her with his lips and his tongue. Finally, he reached her inner thigh and he went higher, gripping her hip. As she seemed to be fully capable of holding herself up against him, he now brought both hands around her bottom, squeezing the firmness of her cheeks.

  Oh, how he longed to undo the fall of his breeches and bring her down upon him, finding the sweet softness within her once again. But he wouldn’t do that to her in these gardens, not again. Instead, he brought a hand around to the front of her, finding her curls, reaching through them for the bud he knew was awaiting him.

  She gasped into his mouth when he found her, and he began to stroke in circles. She was restless against him, moving with him, and he brought his left hand up to tease one nipple and then the other through her thin silk dress.

  Elizabeth broke her lips away from him for a moment to cry his name, and then suddenly she was gripping him tightly, her fingers digging into his shoulders as she rode the waves he knew were engulfing her.

  They stayed still where they were for what must have been a few moments, holding one another, until finally she leaned back ever so slightly. Gabriel was surprised to see a slight sheen of tears over her eyes, but before he could question them, she whispered, “Thank you.”

  She began tugging at the fall of his breeches, but he stilled her hands.

  “No, love,” he said softly. “Tonight was for you.”

  He looked down at her dress, ensuring she was properly covered once more, before fixing a few silky strands of hair that had fallen out of her chignon.

  “You could be a lady’s maid,” she said with a short laugh, and he winked at her, easing her apparent sudden nervousness.

  “I’m at your service anytime you need,” he said, and she shook her head with a smile on her face as he lifted her up to her feet.

  “Tomorrow,” he said, cupping her face, “Will you be home?”

  She blinked a few times as though clearing her thoughts, and then nodded. “Until early afternoon, yes.”

  “Very good,” he said. “I shall call upon you, for I have a question. Goodnight.”

  And then, with one last quick kiss, he left her there, as he had to make his way out of this party to his home—for if he stayed here for one moment longer, he would lose all control and take her to that very same gazebo he had five years ago.

  Chapter Eighteen

  What had she just done?

  Elizabeth had had full intentions of telling Gabriel tonight that they could no longer see one another, that their time together must come to an end. And then she had found herself being ravished once more in the very same garden as she had years ago! Was there some sort of potion within the scent of these lilies that caused her to lose her senses? Or was it Gabriel himself?

  Elizabeth was rubbing at her forehead, perplexed at all that had just occurred, when she walked back into the party room, looking around for Gabriel, but it seemed he had vanished. Instead, Sarah found her.

  “Elizabeth?” she asked, looking up into her face. “Is something… amiss?”

  “Everything,” Elizabeth said with a rueful laugh.

  “Oh dear,” Sarah responded, biting her lip. “The Duke just wandered through here looking rather pleased before he made his excuses and left for the evening. Our host was quite agitated, though the Duke assured him it was nothing of his doing, but instead complimented him on his beautiful gardens. I don’t suppose…”

  “That I ruined myself once more, with the same man, in the same place?” Elizabeth asked, arching an eyebrow, and when Sarah looked worried, she waved her hand in the air with a little laugh.

  “It’s fine, Sarah, it is a legitimate concern. Particularly because that is nearly what happened.”

  “You and the Duke…” Sarah breathed, and Elizabeth sighed in response, looking for a drink much stronger than her previously untouched lemonade. Finding a glass of champagne, she took it in hand and tilted it back, emptying half the contents of the glass.

  “I don’t know what happened,” Elizabeth said, lifting her hands in front of her, the golden liquid sloshing in the long glass, threatening to spill over the edges, but she was too agitated to care.

  “I had every intention of telling him that I no longer had any wish to be together, that we would have to spend our time apart, with the exception of business meetings. But then… but then… he was kind and understanding, and I allowed my emotions and my attraction to him to overcome all else. Oh, Sarah, I am falling for him once more, and I have no idea what to do.”

  Elizabeth sank heavily into a chair at the side of the room, and Sarah took the seat next to her in a far more graceful manner.

  “Why are you so upset?”

  “Pardon?” Elizabeth asked, turning toward her, puzzled.

  “I only mean that, perhaps, this might be a good thing,” Sarah said with a shrug. “Perhaps you and the Duke might find that you are no longer the same people you were years ago and that if you explored this attraction for one another f
urther, you might be very well suited for one another.”

  Elizabeth was already shaking her head before Sarah finished speaking. She couldn’t give in—she wouldn’t. She had decided that she could not be with him for a multitude of reasons, and tonight only further proved why it would be a disastrous decision. For if he could distract her from all rational thought with one simple touch in the gardens, what would that mean for everyday life?

  “He’s calling upon me tomorrow… with a question,” Elizabeth told Sarah now, and she saw her friend’s eyes widen in joyful surprise.

  “Oh, Elizabeth, do you think—”

  “I hope not,” Elizabeth cut her off, already anticipating Sarah’s question. What would she say if Gabriel did propose? A large part of her jumped in gleeful anticipation at the thought, but the other part—the rational side, which typically won over—was much more cautious. For there were many more concerns with marriage. It was a lifetime decision and one that she certainly couldn’t take lightly.

  “Why not?” Sarah asked once more, and Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her friend.

  “Oh, Sarah, I know you always see the best in people, and I love that about you, truly I do. I wish I could be much the same way, but, unfortunately, I am far the opposite. You see—”

  Elizabeth’s words were cut off by the appearance of red skirts in front of them, and she looked up to see a woman staring down at her. She was beautiful, her dark, shining hair perfectly coiffed, her ample breasts pushed up over the bodice of her elaborate gown. She had a black circular mark over her lip and Elizabeth wondered whether she had put it there on purpose.

  “Lady Elizabeth,” she drawled. “How lovely to see you. And who is your little friend?”

  Elizabeth felt Sarah bristle beside her, but she took her elbow and drew her up next to her so that they stood in front of the woman, allowing Elizabeth to look down upon her, which she far preferred.

  “Lady Pomfret,” she greeted her, and she felt rather than saw Sarah startle next to her, recognizing the woman’s name. “Please meet my dear friend, Miss Jones.”