‘The flowers were meant to bring you pleasure, not cause you pain,’ he said huskily. ‘I would not have you sad, for all the world!’ And, tightening his hold, he propelled her adroitly across the ballroom’s polished surface and swung her briskly into a reverse turn.
Her breath almost shaken out of her body at the earl’s sudden excess of vigour, Jessica could barely gasp out her next query. ‘Why, then, have you gone out of your way to avoid me?’
A little frown sifted across his brow, as he came to the conclusion that, unless he meant to lose her trust for ever, it was no longer in his power to hold back. ‘I fear that your observations have been perfectly correct, Miss Beresford,’ he said, with a rueful grin. ‘And, I do have to admit that I have been doing my level best to keep away from you!’
‘But why?’ she asked, staring up at him in frowning bewilderment. ‘What possible reason could you have for behaving in such an extraordinary way?’
Barely able to concentrate on his steps, he let out a deep sigh. ‘The fact of the matter is, you dear sweet girl,’ he said softly, ‘that I fear that I have found it well nigh impossible to resist you!’
Her brow puckering in incomprehension, Jessica asked, ‘What are you saying—?’ Then stopped, as she tried to weigh up the meaning of his words. Her cheeks grew pink and her heart seemed to be beating nineteen to the dozen. ‘Can you be saying—?’
As the earl looked down at her expression of total mystification, his eyes grew warm; although he was conscious of the fact that he had, perhaps, already let slip a good deal more than was wise, given his still rather precarious circumstances, throwing caution to the wind, he drew her yet closer and, with expert precision, swung her into the flourishing twirl that brought the waltz to its close.
‘I regret that I cannot say more at this moment, my sweet,’ he murmured into her ear. ‘But soon—very soon—I promise that I have every intention of so doing, you may depend upon it!’
Disregarding the curious stares of one or two of the other dancers nearby, the now highly agitated Jessica clutched at his arm. ‘Very soon may prove to be far too late,’ she cried, in desperation. ‘My brother means us to return to Thornfield on Saturday!’
‘Damnation!’ muttered Wyvern, under his breath. This was an eventuality that he had certainly not taken into consideration in his carefully laid plan to seek out Beresford the minute he laid hands on the mine’s missing papers of ownership. If he allowed Jessica to go back to Lincolnshire without having properly declared himself, it could be weeks before he found himself in a position to speak to her brother, during which time, he conjectured heatedly, one of those other smooth-talking bucks might easily worm his way into her affections! Incensed at such a possibility, he made up his mind. Such a risk was not worth taking!
‘We have to talk,’ he whispered, as he escorted her back to her corner. ‘Is it possible that you could get away from your friends long enough to meet me out on the terrace?’
Although she was well aware that what the earl was suggesting was quite improper, Jessica could not prevent her heart from racing at the prospect of being alone with him. Giving a swift nod, she murmured, ‘Give me ten minutes.’
Then, with a deep curtsy, she excused herself and returned to her seat next to the curious and highly envious Felicity.
‘My dear, you must be beside yourself with satisfaction!’ declared her recently acquired acquaintance, valiantly smothering her own rising feelings of envy and disappointment. ‘Fancy Wyvern turning up again! I swear I was beginning to think he had turned his back on society!’ Then, leaning more closely, she whispered, ‘And what did her ladyship have to say to you? I dare say she had already instructed Wyvern to ask you and was telling you to accept his request?’
Recalling the countess’s warning, Jessica’s lips curved in a beatific smile. ‘Not exactly,’ she laughed. ‘As a matter of fact, she did her best to warn me off her precious grandson so, of course, I made a beeline for him and asked him myself!’
‘Jessica! You did not!’ gasped Miss Draycott, visibly shocked to hear of her young companion’s outrageous behaviour.
‘I most certainly did,’ replied the unrepentant Jessica. ‘I don’t care to have a complete stranger ordering me about!’ Then, glancing about her, she remarked, in some surprise, ‘I do not see any of our escorts on the dance floor—have they all deserted us for the card rooms?’
Shaking her head, the smiling Felicity explained that, owing to the expected rush for the refreshment room when the supper bell rang, many of the gentlemen had elected to forfeit the pleasure of the supper dance, which was now in progress, in order to be sure of securing an adequate number of tables to seat their group.
‘Then, if you will excuse me for a few minutes, I shall take advantage of their absence to pay a quick visit to the powder room,’ said Jessica, getting to her feet. Having just that moment caught a fleeting glimpse of Wyvern exiting through the double doors that led out on to the terrace, she knew there was little time to lose for, in order not to arouse suspicion, she herself would have to make her way out into the gardens by quite a different route. ‘I will see you in the supper room—I shan’t be long.’
She whisked off across the ballroom and into the passageway, hoping to find another door out to the terrace, but the garden end of the passage revealed only a single narrow window. Trying to make herself as unobtrusive as possible, she sauntered down to the bottom of the passage and peeped into the last room, which turned out to be a library and, insofar as she was able to determine, since the room was in total darkness, appeared to be quite empty. However, the set of doors that she sought were, to her delight, clearly visible in the glow from the outside lamplight.
Tiptoeing carefully across the library floor, for fear that she might bang into or knock over some priceless work of art, she eventually reached the room’s outer doors. In her deep concentration, she was blissfully unaware of the silent presence of Digby Hazlett who, seated in one of the library’s high-backed chairs, glumly ruminating over his misfortunes, had been regarding her progress with deep interest. As Jessica let herself out of the room straight into the waiting arms of Lord Wyvern, a satisfied gleam came into Hazlett’s eyes.
Getting to his feet, he strolled over to the doorway and spent some time studying the actions of the closely entwined pair. First-hand knowledge of such secret trysts could prove to be very useful ammunition, he grinned to himself, should Wyvern prove at all reticent to part with the papers! Having decided to leave the earl to discover the missing deeds, what had previously been proving to be a lengthy and fairly costly business for the viscount was now just a matter of him keeping his patience. In the light of all the activity that had gone on at Ashcroft Grange during the past day or so, Hazlett was supremely confident that it could not be much longer before Wyvern hit upon his brother’s chosen hiding place. And, as soon as he did so, Hazlett believed that he now had the very lever with which to persuade the earl to deliver the deeds into his hands. With one last look at the shadowy pair, he gave a decisive nod, then exited the library and returned to his circle of friends in one of the card rooms.
Her heart pounding with expectation, Jessica stumbled into the welcoming circle of Wyvern’s arms and, swiftly dismissing all of her previous doubts regarding his past negligence, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him more closely.
At this unanticipated embrace and the dizzying effect of Jessica’s tantalising nearness, Wyvern let out a deep sigh of frustration, as he tried desperately to conjure up some hidden strength to pull himself away from her. ‘God help me!’ he groaned, his voice husky with emotion. Inner voices were clamouring that what he was doing was unforgivable and not at all the actions of an officer and a gentleman but, powerless to resist the sight of Jessica’s luscious lips, parted so invitingly and so close to his own, he could do nothing other than to surrender himself to the overwhelming temptation.
A burning fire ran through Jessica’s veins as
soon as his lips touched hers and, as his hold tightened, she was inflamed by the urgency of his growing ardour. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she found herself marvelling on the divine intervention that had fashioned their bodies in such a way that they seemed to fit together in such sweet perfection. The more tightly Wyvern held her, the more closely she clung to him until, in a shudder of delight, she surrendered herself, heart and soul, to his embrace.
Almost overcome by the exquisite headiness of finding Jessica, at long last, in his arms, shivers of delight cascaded through the earl’s trembling limbs and it was some little time before his innate sense of honour and fair play finally came to his rescue. But then, as he gradually became conscious of how close he was to losing all sense of reason, he forced himself to disentangle Jessica’s arms from about his neck and thrust her firmly away from him.
‘Oh, dear God, no!’ he panted hoarsely, still struggling to quell his unfulfilled desire. ‘I swear that I did not mean this to happen!’
The unexpected abruptness of his actions came as a dash of cold water to Jessica’s spiralling ardour. And, as his frantic words of protest sank in, her eyes widened in shock. Had the embrace been a mistake and not what Wyvern had intended at all? And, as the sudden realisation of how the kiss had come about, she was overcome with embarrassment at her own wanton behaviour and more than ready to believe that, in her eagerness to join the earl out in the relative darkness of the terrace, it had been she who had initiated the embrace! She shrank away from him, unable to believe that she had encouraged the earl to treat her as though she were a little better than a light-skirt! By behaving in such a wanton manner, any respect that Wyvern might previously have felt for her must surely have been damaged beyond repair!
Her cheeks pale, her eyes large in her face and scarcely able to still the trembling that continued to assail her limbs, she staggered back towards the library door, intent upon removing herself from his presence with all speed.
Still fighting for breath, as he endeavoured to recover his own shattered equilibrium, Wyvern initially failed to register Jessica’s agitated reaction. Hurrying after her into the still-darkened room, he closed the doors behind him and reached out his hands to her. Although his ardour had by no means evaporated, he had, eventually, regained his self-control and was determined this time to keep his head.
To his surprise, she shook her head and moved further away from him. With the soft glow from the Chinese lanterns in the trees outside the only source of light, it was difficult for him to fully register her expression.
‘Jessica?’ he whispered, unable to understand her sudden reticence. ‘Don’t be afraid, my love. We are quite safe in here—for the moment, at least!’
His hands still outstretched, he stepped forward, intending to calm her fears but, to his bewilderment, she continued her backward retreat towards the library’s far side, clearly seeking for the door into the passage. Then, all of a sudden, she came to a halt, her progress impeded by the sharp edge of a small table. Reaching out, Wyvern was able to prevent her fall and hurriedly pulled her into the safety of his arms but, immediately conscious of her resistance, he frowned and stared down at her face. The sight of her trembling lips and wide-eyed apprehension, both now clearly visible in the lanterns’ glow, caused his gut to tighten and sapped every vestige of breath from his body. Dear God, he thought, what an insensitive oaf I am! The violence of my lovemaking has terrified the poor darling!
Ignoring her obvious reluctance, he took both of her hands in his and pulled her towards him, being careful to keep the pair of clasped hands between them as some sort of a safety barrier. ‘What just happened out there,’ he began, somewhat hesitantly, ‘was not at all what I intended, when I asked you to meet me outside. I really needed to explain to you why, for the moment, at any rate, it is quite impossible that we should be seen together!’
As Jessica’s doubts about Wyvern’s feelings for her continued to grow, her heart plummeted even further. His humiliating words were no more than she deserved. ‘Yes, I see that,’ she whispered, brokenly. ‘I have given you a deep disgust of me.’
‘Good God, no!’ cried Wyvern, appalled. Then, as, with a sinking heart, he realised that her eyes were bright with unshed tears, he threw his carefully garnered caution to the wind and, letting go of her hands, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest, burrowing his face in the fragrant softness of her silken tresses. ‘How can you think such a thing when, surely, you must have realised by now that I worship and adore every single thing about you?’
Reluctantly releasing his hold, he held her away from him, a rueful smile on his lips, before continuing, ‘Unfortunately, my sweet darling, until I am able to sort out my finances, I am in no position to offer for you. The way things are at present, your brother would have every right to laugh in my face and show me to the door.’
Her heart almost exploding with joy, Jessica lifted her questioning eyes to his face. ‘Then you really do want to marry me?’ she asked incredulously.
Raising his eyebrows in astonishment, Wyvern stared down at her. ‘Haven’t I just said as much, you delightful little widgeon? You may expect to find me on your doorstep as soon as I am in a position to approach your brother—which I can hardly do at the moment, since I have scarcely a penny with which to bless myself!’
‘Then you have still not discovered whether your brother’s mine exists,’ she said despondently. ‘And I had such high hopes for you!’
He smiled, squeezing her hands in appreciation of her concern. ‘It most certainly does exist,’ he assured her. ‘It is a rather profitable gold mine in South America, as it happens. The trouble is that I am having difficulty laying my hands on the papers that will prove my ownership and, unless they turn up pretty soon, I look likely to face bankruptcy and the usual ignominy that goes with it.’ Pausing, he raised his hands to her shoulders and held her away from him. ‘The fact of the matter is, my darling Jessica, that I love you far too much to allow you to be subjected to such unpleasantness and disgrace.’
‘Whether you are rich or poor makes not the slightest bit of difference, as far as I am concerned,’ she replied, her earlier certitude now fully restored. ‘I love you so much that I really do not give a fig for what the so-called polite world thinks or says about me!’
At her words, although Wyvern’s heart swelled with a sweet mixture of pride and joy, he shook his head. ‘But I do, my love,’ he replied gently. ‘How the world views the two of us is of vital importance to our future lives—giving me all the more reason to succeed in my present quest. Added to which, I have to admit that I would much prefer you to think highly of your husband’s accomplishments!’
‘I doubt that will be very difficult for me,’ she said as, lifting his hand and cradling it to her cheek, she threw him a smile of such adoration that the earl was, momentarily, trans-fixed. But then, a small frown creased her brow and she let go of his hand, crying, ‘But, what are we to do then? Matt is determined to go home on Saturday and, now that I know you truly love me, I cannot bear to be parted from you for weeks at a time!’
‘It will be equally hard for me, my sweet,’ groaned Wyvern, pulling her back into his arms once again. ‘But, knowing that you return my love is all the spur I need to toughen my resolve.’ Then, lowering his head, he kissed her tenderly upon her lips, drawing away before his baser instincts once more got the better of him. ‘And now, dearest one, I fear that I have delayed you far too long. Your companions will wonder what has become of you.’ He paused, considering, then, ‘Are you, by any chance, engaged with Felicity’s set tomorrow evening?’ he asked.
‘Lady Helen Grainger has arranged for a supper booth at the Vauxhall Gardens,’ replied Jessica, with an indifferent shrug, but then, as the earl reached forwards to tuck back the one or two wayward curls which, during the fervency of his embraces, had strayed from their diamond clasps, she held her breath in awed fascination. To think that Wyvern really loved her after all! Her heart wa
s almost bursting with happiness.
‘Then I promise that I shall do my very best to meet up with you there,’ he said, turning her to face the lights shining in from the garden, in order to inspect her appearance more thoroughly. ‘Look out for me, my darling—it looks set to be our last opportunity to meet again before you leave town.’
Then, leading her across the library to the doorway opposite, Wyvern slid open the door, peered cautiously up the long passageway, and hustled her out of the room, closing the door behind her. Somewhat shaken at the rather sudden and abrupt ending to what had been the most momentous occasion, Jessica was finding it difficult to catch her breath and several moments elapsed before she was able to collect herself sufficiently to dwell upon how, in the space of barely a quarter of an hour, the entire tenor of her life had changed. Wyvern loved her and wanted to marry her! But then, as the shocking enormity of her impetuous actions, along with the totally unforeseen outcome of those actions, gradually began to sink in, she found herself beset by a mounting panic that Matt might find out about her fall from grace. And, since Wyvern had been adamant that he would not approach her brother until he had found the deeds to his mine, how in the world would she be able to justify her highly improper behaviour? Picking up her skirts, she sped towards the refreshment room, fearful that Mr Pevensey, concerned about her long absence away from the group, might have cause to mention it to her half-brother.
Luckily for her peace of mind, the press of people in the room was so great that, when she did eventually manage to rejoin her companions, very little was made of her non-appearance, save for Lady Sarah’s less than sympathetic observation that fighting her way through such a crowd had brought an unfortunately high colour to Jessica’s cheeks, in addition to causing considerable disarray to her, previously, much envied coiffure!
An Unconventional Miss Page 19