by Rue Allyn
“I, too, should like to hear you play,” added Desmond.
“Lady Kingsley,” Rhianna returned, respectfully, “Miss Kingsley has only just begun to play. Surely, I can play for you all some other time?”
“Oh, I’m sure Audra would not mind, would you, dear?”
Audra, who had already stopped playing, seemed more than aware that her mother was not really giving her a choice. She slid off the bench and walked over to Rhianna.
Lord Kingsley interposed. “Miss Braden, you do not have to perform for us tonight.”
His words had a finality to them that Lydia did not presume to challenge.
Audra, taking Rhianna’s hands, chimed in, “Actually, I think Miss Braden plays and sings very well. I would like to hear you,” she added, standing before Rhianna.
“As would I,” added Lady Brighton. “But only if Audra promises to resume her concert afterward.”
“I agree,” Thayne declared, placing down his hand of cards, “I cannot possibly listen to Miss Braden if Miss Kingsley will not continue immediately afterward.”
Rhianna caught his eye as he said this last, and wondered at the curious grin that crossed his lips. Then, she turned to Audra, who tugged on her to encourage her to rise from her seat.
“One song,” Rhianna told her, “if you promise as Lord and Lady Brighton have suggested.”
Audra, not seeming at all bothered by the temporary dismissal, promised to resume her playing after Rhianna was done and plopped into a seat near Crispin.
“Do sing, as well, for us,” Lydia interjected, as Rhianna took her seat at the piano.
Rhianna let her fingers rest upon the keys. She had always felt comfortable at the piano, but it had been some time since she had performed before company. Also, she fought desperately to block the thought that Thayne was in the audience, listening. She took a deep breath, chose to sing a French song that she learned from Soleil as a young girl, and allowed the first notes to play out.
The moment passed more quickly than she imagined it would. The tune itself transported her back to her younger years in France and she felt as though Soleil were beside her. She felt at home with the melody and her mind even ventured away from it as she considered how much she truly wished to see both Soleil and Philippe — just how much she missed and loved them. With these thoughts, she concluded her recital, unaware of the effect she had on the group.
Her glance first met Lord Kingsley’s. He sat overcome, his eyes appearing glassy, and she turned away awkwardly. Lydia said nothing; Crispin suddenly stood and erupted with applause.
“You see, I told you she sang very well,” cried Audra, to the speechless crowd.
Lady Brighton was the next to comment, her hand pressed to her chest. “Breathtaking, Miss Braden. I have never heard the like.”
“It reminds me of someone,” declared Desmond, “but I cannot recall whom. In any case, bravo!”
“To whom do you credit your gift?” asked Thayne, who had joined Crispin with his applause. “Undoubtedly, your mother or your father was very talented.”
Rhianna shook her head. “Actually, neither was very musical.”
“Well,” Lady Brighton concluded, “God has given you quite an ability, I declare! I hope you will do us the honor of singing for us again soon.”
Rhianna humbly thanked them, as Lord Kingsley quietly excused himself from the room. Her eyes followed him anxiously, but Audra soon distracted her by hopping onto the piano bench beside her.
“I’m going to play my song now, but afterwards, Crispin and I would like to go to the library to play backgammon. Will you take us?”
Lydia had no objections; looking frequently aggravated by the both of them, she gave permission in Lord Kingsley’s absence. Thus, Rhianna conceded, though her disappointment at leaving the drawing room — and Thayne — was more than a little heavy.
Audra concluded her song. Rhianna was glad to see that at some time during it, Lord Kingsley returned looking his usual self. Crispin gave a second standing ovation and they prepared to leave for the library.
“Miss Braden,” called Thayne, hurriedly, “do you play chess?”
Rhianna turned to him, as he sat with a handful of cards with the group. Quickly making the connection that the chessboard was also in the library, Rhianna wondered if it was too much to hope this was where his thoughts were leading.
“No, I … I should like very much to understand it, however, I have never had the opportunity to learn,” she ventured.
Thayne nodded definitively. “You ought not to waste another moment. Mother,” he turned, “would you do me the favor of taking over my hand? I think I’ll be joining the group to the library.”
“Of course,” Lady Brighton agreed, smiling and rising at once.
Thayne seemed unashamed that he deliberately chose to leave the drawing room to remain with the children and their governess. Lord Kingsley seemed to have no position on the matter and Lady Brighton seemed to highly support it by taking over his hand, while Desmond looked highly irritated, and Lydia appeared stunned.
• • •
Audra and Crispin had been talkative with Rhianna and Thayne during the majority of the trek from the drawing room to the library, but as they ascended the stairs to the top floor they began to skip ahead and chat animatedly between themselves.
“I hope it was not intrusive of me to accompany you,” Thayne remarked to Rhianna, seizing his opportunity at private conversation.
“No, of course you are welcome to join us,” she promised him. “I am glad of your company.”
“And I of yours,” he told her.
He stunned her momentarily, before she continued, “I only regret that you are missing out on socializing with the rest of the group.”
“And pray, what is there to miss? I think it comes as no surprise that Lydia and Desmond Kingsley are not high on my list of persons with whom I wish to associate for an entire evening, or even, for any part of an evening.” Rhianna held back a smile, and he went on, “Lord Kingsley and my mother I may see as frequently as I wish. But,” he emphasized, “when is it that I get to see you, Miss Braden?”
Curiously, she glanced at him. “Did you not see me yesterday at Ravensleigh?”
“Was that only yesterday?” he returned facetiously. “Humph, it seems much longer.”
“Yes,” she told him directly. “And two days before that, at the ball, did we not dance together?”
Thayne gave a thoughtful look. “An eternity ago, to be sure.”
His playful banter gave Rhianna pause as they reached the uppermost floor of Kingsley Manor and turned down the hall toward the library. She found it inconceivable that Thayne would be so unrefined as to knowingly tease her into false hopes of any romantic intensions. Surely, she thought, even if his heart were at all inclined toward her, he was too well-bred and gentlemanly for that. She felt it necessary to remind him of exactly the sort of decision he had made in leaving the drawing room.
“So, am I to take it that you would rather spend the rest of your evening with the Kingsleys’ governess than with the Kingsleys themselves?”
“That is not how I see it,” he told her. “Are we not friends, Miss Braden?”
She wrung her fingers together as she walked, unsure of her response. “Certainly,” she managed, with an unconvincing inflection.
Thayne’s tone was pained, as he declared, “It is not as impossible as you believe.”
He caught Rhianna’s eyes with a pleading expression, and she sighed. With every word, Thayne Brighton made it increasingly difficult for her to keep detached from her emotions.
“Well,” she acquiesced, “I suppose it is forgivable to want to spend time with a friend.”
This last seemed to lighten the mood. “And Miss Kingsley, of course.”
“Of course.” Suddenly, looking about her, Rhianna questioned, “Where is Audra?”
They heard a distant giggling, as well as footsteps.
“C
rispin!” called Thayne, authoritatively.
Quickening their pace, Rhianna and Thayne entered the library, but found no sign of them there. Again, distant laughter led them directly next door to the empty, echoing ballroom. They entered hopeful, but to no avail.
“They’re … hiding on us?” Rhianna wondered aloud.
“We probably should have seen this coming.”
“Audra!” called Rhianna anxiously. “How could they have run off without us noticing?” she asked Thayne.
“Crispin!”
They found themselves in the middle of the long dance floor, the room itself appearing vastly larger without the throngs of people that had occupied it only days before. Around them there was only silence, until Thayne chuckled and the sound reverberated through the room.
Rhianna turned to him disbelievingly. “How can you laugh? They are so openly affectionate together. They ought not to be alone.”
“They ought not,” he agreed, smiling. “For that matter, neither should we.”
Her concern for the children had eclipsed the realization that she was, indeed, alone with Thayne Brighton.
“Miss Braden,” he said, consolingly, “try not to over concern yourself. They are undoubtedly watching us from some dark corner, laughing at our powerlessness over them. When they have lived out their moment, they will reappear.” She considered giving in to his more optimistic outlook, as he added, “Besides, this could be far worse.”
She was not blind to his feeble attempt to ease her worry, but she did not resist either.
“Do tell,” she encouraged.
“Well, for instance, you could be alone with Desmond Kingsley, rather than myself.”
Rhianna shuddered at the thought, recalling the last time she was alone with Desmond. She thought of him entering the schoolroom giddily and requesting the first two dances of the ball.
“Yes, I imagine that would be a trifle worse than the present circumstance.”
That this last was uttered strictly tongue-in-cheek there could be no doubt. Finally, she laughed at the stark contrast and Thayne seemed pleased.
“The room feels so different from the other night,” she recalled, after banishing those first two dances from her thoughts. “With its grandeur and liveliness gone, it is so very … unlike a ball.”
Thayne looked about the vacant room and then back to her. “I like it better,” he confessed, cheerfully. “Actually, the orchestra sounds especially captivating tonight, does it not?”
She looked wonderingly at him. Thayne bowed to her, grinning. Then, he held out his hand.
Rhianna, making the connection, submitted to his mock ball with a curtsey and took his hand for a pretend waltz. Thayne willingly slipped his hand around her waist and drew her close to him as they began to circle the room.
“I’m not entirely sure you were on my dance card, Lord Brighton,” Rhianna teased.
“I beg your pardon. Was there another gentleman promised to this dance?”
“Not that I would have such pleasure to dance with.”
Her words flowed quickly and without thought. Rhianna reconsidered them after they were pronounced, but it was too late.
He smiled wryly, and said, “I think Desmond Kingsley is looking very ill. I daresay he is rather jealous of me at this moment.”
At once, Rhianna looked around them, but saw no one. Recognizing his comment again as farce, she happily played along.
“Does he look ill, indeed?” she returned. “Perhaps I should dance with him, considering that Miss Leighart is anxious to partner with you.”
“Is she?” he asked, disinterestedly. “Well, she has used up her two dances already. Besides,” he paused, holding her gaze, “I would cut our dance short for no one.”
Her instinct was to look away, but his blue eyes held hers prisoner. Her feet would not obey her; her dancing slowed and her smile faded. What could the Lord of Ravensleigh want with a governess? Her expression begged him not to play with her heart.
With a seriousness that startled her, he mimicked her words, saying, “There is not any other that I would have such pleasure to dance with.”
They stopped. Rhianna’s heart raced as Thayne raised one hand to her face and gently ran the backs of his fingers along her skin.
“I made a terrible mistake last night,” he said suddenly.
Rhianna looked at him blankly. Hardly could she think. She recalled only his lips against her cheek outside Ravensleigh.
“What mistake was that?” she managed breathlessly, as he took her face in his hands.
“I missed.”
With that, he pressed his open mouth to hers, engulfing her lips completely in his kiss. Urgently, his full lips moved against hers, deeply and eagerly, and she reached for his wrists to steady herself. Seeming to sense her unbalance, Thayne took her hands and eased her arms smoothly over his shoulders and around his neck. As she interlocked her fingers there, he allowed her arms to lead his hands back to her body. Without breaking the kiss, Thayne pulled her into him, crushing her small frame into his embrace, yet even as her racing heart beat wildly against his breast it seemed she was not close enough. He clutched her tighter.
Thayne tapered his fervency only when she responded with a kiss of her own — only not a frenzied, desperate kiss, as he had displayed. Rhianna molded her lips to his mouth tenderly, searchingly, but desirous in their own way.
Rhianna’s lips peeled slowly from his when she noticed his sudden stillness. His breath, sweet and intoxicating, flirted with her senses and his eyes even more so. When they met, they drew her deeper into his spell. Captivated by him at every angle, Rhianna observed all the smallest details that she could view only from this close distance — a small, flesh-colored mole directly before his left earlobe, the thickness of his upper lashes, and a brownish hue in his blue eyes. Just as those same eyes fell upon her lips a second time, he drew her in again and kissed her feverishly.
With a sudden gasp did she pull back, her breathing heavy and her parted lips pulsing. She turned to the children with a flush of embarrassment sweeping over her.
Crispin raised one eyebrow. Audra stood beside him, suppressing a giggle.
“Well done, brother,” declared Crispin proudly, and the two walked passed them for the stairs. “Incidentally, we’re not at all interested in backgammon anymore. Miss Kingsley and I will wait for you in the hall.”
While her eyes followed them, she sensed Thayne’s eyes — and hands — remained upon her. When she turned back to him, the tips of her fingers covering her mouth, he smiled widely.
“I am jealous of these fingers,” he said, taking them in his own hand and raising them tenderly to his lips.
She opened her mouth, as if to speak, but there were no words at the ready.
Finally, he suggested, “Perhaps we ought not to lose the children again.”
At last, Thayne released her and took a step back. He bowed, as though finishing their dance. Rhianna smiled nervously, just as he took her by the hand and together they hurried after Crispin and Audra.
• • •
As the families gathered in the Great Hall, Thayne hurried through the sea of goodbyes to Rhianna’s side.
“I have to go to London for a week or two,” Thayne whispered, looking as if he were struggling not to kiss her again. “I shall think of you every moment.”
This confession, however private Thayne imagined it, did not go unnoticed. There was one person who noticed this brief interchange and Thayne was not long out the Kingsleys’ door when halted by the sound of his name.
“A word, Brighton?”
As his mother and brother entered their coach, Thayne turned to find Desmond sauntering toward him.
“Certainly,” he allowed, cautiously.
“I’m just curious,” Desmond began, stalling until all ears were out of range, “wouldn’t it be easier to keep a mistress who lives under your own roof? In my experience, I have found that anything else is, well, hardly con
venient.”
“I am not sure I understand you,” said Thayne. Though instantly understanding him and instantly incensed, he hoped to force something more from Desmond that would excuse his fist against the man’s jaw.
“I think you do,” Desmond returned obnoxiously.
“Well, then, you mistake me grievously, for I have no intentions of pursuing anyone as a mistress under my roof or any other.”
“Pardon my error,” Desmond smiled.
“I am inclined to offer much more than occasional, clandestine lovemaking.”
Desmond’s smile melted into a scowl. “You can’t be serious.”
Thayne warned, “I would advise you to be wary of whom you pursue as a mistress.”
“Would you, indeed? You know,” he taunted, “she’s no better than that.”
Hardly had Thayne’s clenched fist had time to turn white around the knuckles than it unleashed a punishing right hook to Desmond’s face. Thayne’s body thrust into action, following the lead of his shoulder; the blow was hard, and a loud snap was heard upon impact. Desmond fell sideways, but caught himself halfway down.
Meanwhile, the servants had seen enough to summon Lord Kingsley, with Lydia on his heels. Lady Brighton and Crispin had been close enough to hear the scuffle and they disembarked the carriage.
Desmond turned his head to both sides, the vertebrae in his neck cracking each time. After a time, he rose and stood face-to-face with Thayne. A trickle of blood ran down from the corner of his mouth.
“What is the meaning of this?” cried Lord Kingsley. When neither gentleman answered, he approached them. “Lord Brighton? Desmond?”
“Desmond!” cried Lydia, who at the sight of the injury rushed to his side.
The men’s eyes locked, each ready for the next move. Desmond’s nostrils flared. All looked on anxiously until, at last, Thayne took a step back, easing the tension.
“A misunderstanding, Lord Kingsley,” he managed.
“I should say so. Desmond, what have you to say?”
He wiped the blood from his chin with the back of his hand and, upon reviewing it, stormed into the house. Lydia followed him immediately without a word.