“You are staying in this room for a reason,” he said, his lips trailing down her jaw to her neck.
“You, Lord Dederick, are no longer an invalid,” she said, then giggled when his lips reached a sensitive part of her neck.
Dederick pulled his lips away from her and gave her a smile.
“It is my right as your suitor to enjoy your company.”
“I do not think this is quite what the etiquette books had in mind,” she said, stepping out of his grasp. She moved to the other side of the room and stooped to poke at the fire with an iron, which immediately brightened the room.
Dederick came up behind her and took the iron from her.
“Here, you should not have to do that,” he said, then stooped to continue what she started.
“Thank you,” she said, pulling her robe closed again before she sat on the bench at the foot of her bed. “But I don’t mind.”
“I do,” he said over his shoulder. “It’s a shame we have no staff on hand to do these things, but it is what it is.”
“We can manage without them. I’ve done it all my life.”
“Once we are married, you won’t have to manage,” he said as he set the iron into its rack and turned to investigate the fire. “You won’t have to worry about much ever again.”
“I would hope everything isn’t taken away from me. I enjoy the small tasks of life, otherwise, what is there to do?” she asked.
He came to sit next to her and pulled her hand into his lap.
“You can spend all your extra time with me,” he offered, then brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Every single moment if I had my way.”
He could feel her shiver beneath his lips, and he smiled against her skin. It was so wonderful to have a woman so sensitive to his touch, so alive and eager as Arabella. Why he had waited so long to approach her, he would never know.
“Can I ask you a question?” she asked, her voice soft, and he leaned into her, kissing her neck once more.
“Anything my love.”
“Once we are married, will you still allow me to work?” she asked.
He stilled then and sat back from her, his eyes searching her face. She was serious about this endeavor. How was he to allow her to do such a thing? It was unheard of and still it hurt him to deny her.
“You will have no need to work, dearest,” he cooed, his fingers stroking hers, but she pulled her hand from his.
“There is need, and there is want. I am assuming of all people you can understand the difference.”
Her words were a smack to his face, and he understood her meaning perfectly. He didn’t need her, he wanted her. There was no denying it any longer. So how could he be so cruel to deny her what her hearts' desire yearned for? And why could he not be that desire instead?
“I understand,” he said, bowing his head. “But you must understand, this life, the one you are marrying into, it is far different from the one you’ve been leading until now. The rules are different, the etiquette is stricter…”
“Which means you should not be in my room,” she said angrily, then stood from the bench and strode to the door leading to his room. “Perhaps you should take your own advice and leave.”
Dederick growled under his breath. She was correct, as usual. He could not impose the rules of his class upon her and in the next breath forgo those same rules to do as he pleased with her. He should not be in her room. They should not be alone as they had been for the past two weeks, but here they were, in one another’s company and there was no getting around how it made him feel. The desire to hold her and to worship her body wasn’t something he was accustomed to. Now that he was on his feet and able to get to her without aid, it was fair excruciating to not touch her. His body and his fingers ached to have her. Having to wait until the wedding, whenever that would happen, would be torturous.
Dederick stood from the bench begrudgingly and stalked to her side, hands on his hips.
“I apologize,” he offered, finally looking into her eyes and he could see it there, the need that echoed. She wanted him just as badly, he was sure of it. “If you wish me to go back to my room, I shall do so, though I dislike it.”
“Lord Dederick,” she said, her voice tense. “As I’ve said, this is your home, but I have to abide by the rules of propriety in this case.”
“Do not call me Lord,” he said gruffly. “It sounds acquiescent coming from your lips and I don’t like it.”
“What do I call you?”
“Dederick, it is my name.”
“That is not proper either,” she offered.
“When we are alone, call me by my name. I will allow the honorific to be used otherwise, reluctantly.”
Arabella smirked at that and gave him a curtsy which incensed him even though he knew it was in jest. He stepped toward her, pressing her against the door once more.
“You shall never curtsy to me, ever,” he breathed against her ear. “You of all people should know the difference between obedience and veneration.”
His words made her tremble and gooseflesh rose along her neck, where he kissed her softly.
“Dederick,” she said with a sigh.
“Yes, love?” he whispered against her ear.
“What do the etiquette books say about allowing your fiancé to stay with you against the knowledge of your family?”
His entire body stiffened then and his breath caught in his throat. She was offering herself to him, against her better judgement… and his.
“As much as I would love to go on this little adventure with you, I cannot,” he said as he kissed the tip of her nose.
She leaned her head back against the door and sighed.
“I do not understand you,” she sighed. “You come to me and work me into such a state that I cannot breathe, and now you deny me when I offer what you yearn for. What am I to do with that?”
Dederick pulled her away from the door and into his arms, hugging her tightly against him. The warmth of her, the sweet scent of her, it was more than his body and mind could take, but he endured and sighed against her shoulder.
“I apologize once more and I hate myself for it, truly I do. You must know how deeply I love and want you and I am ashamed to deny you what I have been all but begging for.”
“Why not take what I offer? We are to be married after all, where is the harm in it?”
“I want our marriage to be one of love and respect,” he said. “I will not have it any other way. I never want you to offer me anything, no matter what it is because I ask. You must want to give, and only then will I take.”
“I understand. And if I wish to give now?”
Dederick inhaled sharply.
“I cannot take what you give so freely, not tonight love. I should have minded my behavior and left you alone. I should not have put you in this position. It was wrong of me.”
“I have to confess,” she started, setting her hands upon his chest, her fingers toying with the fabric of his shirt. “Even before you offered for me, I thought of you often.”
Dederick’s eyebrows rose on her words and he smiled.
“How often?” he prodded.
“Often enough. Whenever I would come to the manor, I would hope to see you and was overjoyed any time you took a moment to speak to me.”
“Truly?”
“Entirely.”
“Why only me?”
“Beside the fact that I saw you as handsome and charming, you are the only one in your family to notice and address me. I could parade around the foyer with a banner and horns and your family would step around me,” she said, then bowed her head. “Which is why I do not believe they will look kindly upon this union.”
Hearing that about his family and how they treated her set a hot coal smoldering in the pit of his stomach. He never understood the need for people to bow and scrape in the presence of anyone save the King. It was absurd and that his family had ignored her just made it even more ludicrous.
/> “I am so sorry,” he said, pulling her against him. “I cannot speak for my family or what they do, but I will address the issue if it ever occurs in my presence. Mark my words.”
“No, it’s all right,” she said, lifting her head from his chest to look up at him. “I’m sure they mean nothing by it. It’s who they are. It’s what their station demands of them.”
“Nonsense,” Dederick growled. “It’s unnecessary, and it’s rude.”
“It’s something one gets used to when they’re on the other side.”
“And once we are wed, you will be on this side and it will not only be unnecessary, but inappropriate. And if I see it, I will call it out.”
Arabella shook her head, but he did as well and so she gave him a shrug and laid her forehead against his chest.
“Now, as much as I would love to spend the rest of the evening in your arms, we both need to get some rest. On the morrow, you and I need to discuss our plans and set some dates, so we have something to work toward.”
That made her smile.
“A wedding,” she said with a sigh. “I never thought I’d plan a wedding.”
“Nor I, but here we are,” he said with a laugh.
“Here we are…”
Chapter Twelve
“Two days?” Arabella nearly shouted. “I am not prepared for this.”
Dederick had just informed her that he’d received a response from his father regarding their impending nuptials and that the Earl and Countess were on their way back to the manor and would arrive in two days, having left two days earlier.
“There is nothing to prepare for,” Dederick said, trying to calm her, but she could not contain the anxiety that surged through her.
“Nothing to prepare for? I have nothing to wear, nothing proper to serve them for dinner, they’ll think me an utter waste of their time and yours.”
“Dearest, they already know who you are, and this is our home, not yours… yet. They know that our larder is not equipped to supply a grand feast. They aren’t coming to have dinner with you, they are coming to speak to each of us about what is ahead for us. Nothing more.”
“Still, I need to find something better to wear. This simple day dress will never do,” she said, grasping a handful of the worn fabric in her hand.
“Do you have something at your home to wear?”
Arabella looked away from him, her mind going to her trunk to remember if she had anything worthy of the Earl and Countess’s presence. Her choices were very few. She had some dresses she wore as a governess that were crisp and pretty, but they were too stiff looking for this company. No, she had nothing and turned sorrowful eyes back to him.
“What am I to do?” she said. “I’ve never had need of gowns. I’ve never attended a ball or been in the presence of royalty.”
Dederick chuckled at that, his hands soothing her arms.
“My parents are not royalty,” he said with a smirk. “My mother may think she is, but alas, they are still several steps from the crown.”
“In my eyes they are,” Arabella said furrowing her brows. “They’re noble and, well, I’ve never had to address people of such high rank.”
“There’s nothing to it, I do it all the time,” he said with another smirk, then dropped the smile when she glowered at him.
“I’m being serious,” she said, slapping his arm.
“I know,” he said with a sigh. “You’ll be fine. You address them as my lord and lady and curtsy, which I know you can do, and that’s the end. It’s not like you’re going to court. This is an informal meeting and I’ll be by your side the entire time.”
“You promise?”
“I do, with all my heart,” he said and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly.
Moments later, Dr Wheatley cleared his throat behind them, and they jumped apart.
“Please,” the doctor waved them off. “Don’t stop on my account.”
“Lord and Lady Harrington are on their way back to the manor,” she said, looking to her father. “They’ll be here in two days.”
“Well then,” the doctor said with raised brows. “This should be interesting.”
“Father, this is no time to joke. I’m at my wit's end here,” she said, striding across the room to take a seat near the window.
“You’ll be fine, sweetheart. You already know one another. What is there to fear?”
“Ugh,” Arabella groaned and grasped her face in her hands. “What am I to do?”
“What’s going on?” Carolina asked as she came into the sitting room. “Are you all right?”
“Lord and Lady Harrington are on their way back, they’ll be here in two days,” Arabella said, and her sister blanched.
“Oh dear, I need to finish that dress that I was working on and make sure it’s put back in her armoire. She’ll be furious if it’s not there,” Carolina said with a frantic glance to the door.
Dederick shook his head at that. Why was everyone so afraid of his mother?
“She will hardly care about a gown, Miss Carolina. Trust me, all her attention will be on me and your sister.”
Arabella groaned aloud once more and buried her face in her hands.
“Wait,” he blurted, pointing to Carolina. “You can sew.”
“I can, I’m your mother’s seamstress.”
“Do you think you could embellish one of your sisters' dresses so she could feel more comfortable being in their presence?” Dederick asked and Carolina looked to her sister and unexpectedly broke out into laughter.
“Arabella owns no dress that I could embellish enough where she would fit in Lord and Lady Harrington’s presence,” she said, trying to control her laughter. “You’re lucky my sister owns anything that’s even stylish. If it weren’t for me, she’d be wearing my mother’s old dresses.”
Arabella’s head snapped up then and her eyes grew wide.
“Carolina!” Dr Wheatley barked and just as Carolina was apologizing, Arabella waved him off.
“No! Mother’s dresses! She has several gowns in the back of her wardrobe, does she not? I am sure the gowns are wildly out of style, but could you not pull them apart and make something befitting the situation?”
Carolina’s smile faded from her face and she looked to her father.
“What do I care what you do with them. They are just becoming moth eaten as they are. Use them as you wish,” he said.
“Yes, I can,” Carolina said. “But I must go home at once to retrieve them and start working on them.”
“Yes, go,” Dederick said, ushering her out of the room. “Take the boy with you, you can take the small surrey, the roads should be clear enough now. Then hurry back.”
“Yes, I shall be back before dark,” she said and with a push from Dederick, was down the hall and gone.
“That’s one worry taken care of,” Dederick offered with a smile, going to Arabella’s side. “Now what else can I help you with easing your mind?”
“Just tell me they’ll like me. Tell me they’ll approve,” she said, her eyes pleading, and he pulled her against his chest once more and sent up a prayer that she got her wish.
Dederick stared at Arabella as she descended the main stairway, making her way to the foyer. The dress her sister pulled together was like nothing he’d ever seen, and it was stunning on her. He was no expert in fashion, but he’d been to plenty of balls and cotillions to know the gown she wore was spectacular. His mother could find no fault in it, he would bet on it.
Arabella began getting ready hours before with both her sister and Mrs. Gendy on hand to help with dressing her hair, which apparently she had never done before and he was glad of it. Had he seen her thusly when they met, he would have done more than kiss her. Her honey brown hair was braided and coiled about the crown of her head and soft wisps of hair fell loose, curling and framing her face.
The gown was of a mysterious golden rose color, one he’d never seen before. It was fitted perfectly to her shape, the décolleta
ge dipping just low enough to entice even the most chaste of men.
Finding his breath, he stepped toward her, holding out his hand to help her down the last few stairs.
“You are a heavenly vision,” he said, kissing her wrist. “So beautiful.”
“This will pass then?” she asked nervously, her hands trailing over the fabric to smooth it against her.
“Pass? My dear, if we were going to a ball, you would be the talk of the ton. This is stunning. Truly.”
When she looked to him, he noted the sparkle in her eye, and it made him swell with pride that she was putting so much effort into preparing for his parents' arrival. He knew this was hard for her and how nervous she must be, but he could not help but beam and want to show her off to anyone who would look in their direction, if only they weren’t alone.
Arabella let out a long breath, holding a gloved hand to her throat.
“Thank you,” she said and then curtsied to him.
“You’ll do just fine,” he said, kissing her cheek.
It was then the stable boy came running into the hallway.
“They’re here!” he shouted, then turned to rush back out of the manor.
“Where’s my father?” she asked wide eyed.
“He’s in the library having a brandy,” Dederick said. “I think he’s just as nervous as you are. Why don’t you sit with him and when my parents are ready, I’ll fetch you.”
“Yes, that’s fine,” Arabella said, nodding.
Dederick squeezed her hand in his, then gestured her away and headed toward the front door where there was a sudden ruckus announcing his parents' arrival. His mother was the first to appear, the fur-trimmed hood of her cloak hiding her face momentarily before she handed her muff and gloves to her maid and noted him standing just inside the door.
“Dederick,” she said, coming to him, taking his hands. For a moment she looked him over, cocked a brow then looked at his feet. “You’re standing?”
“I am, mother. I’ve healed well,” he said with a smile, kissing her cheek.
“I can see that. I am glad your injuries weren’t so severe, that would have been terrible for everyone with you stuck here.”
One Enchanted Winter Page 8