He kissed me back.
“So, allow your friend to live vicariously, what was it like?” Maria asked with a giggle and leaned forward.
“What?” Julia asked, snatching her hand away.
“The kiss. I’d expect a rake to know one or two things about kissing.”
“Maria!”
“Oh, did he not? How disappointing. A rake who cannot even kiss well. Makes you wonder how he charms so many ladies.”
“Ha! Maria, slow down,” Julia pleaded, laughing as she took the handkerchief to wipe away some more of the rouge from her cheeks. “It was a very good kiss.”
“It was?” Maria asked with excitement, leaning forward. “What was it like?”
“He was rather startled at first, rather like kissing the trunk of a tree, with no movement in him at all.” Julia felt mischievous, watching as Maria sniggered at the idea. “Then he kissed me back, and it became all so…” She hunted for the right word, unsure what to say.
“So…?” Maria encouraged her on.
“Passionate.” Julia cursed herself, for she had used the very word that the Duke had used.
“How thrilling!” Maria moved to her feet and practically danced around the room.
“Thrilling, yes,” Julia murmured as she rested her chin in her hand and stared at her reflection. She looked between her lips and her eyes, wondering what the Duke of Stapleton saw when he looked at her.
He called me beautiful. Does he really think I am?
“It was also frightening.”
“Frightening? Why?” Maria asked, abruptly stopping in her dancing and returning to stand behind Julia.
“I am frightened in case he intends to hold true to what he said tonight.” Julia looked at Maria’s reflection in the mirror, watching as her smile vanished.
“Yet he is a rake, is he not? The scandal sheets suspect him of spending nearly every night with a different woman. Surely such a man would not marry you and commit himself to one lady for life. Do you think he would?” Maria asked in a quiet voice.
“I hope not.”