The seriousness broke in the Earl then and he began to laugh along with her. The tension eased a little between them and Alice leaned into him once more though did not allow herself to touch him.
"We can both agree that this is merely a lustful attachment,” Thomas pointed out. Though he stated the fact, it half appeared to be a question. Alice quickly nodded.
“Neither of us have any desire for courtship or marriage,” the Earl stated firmly once more. Alice nodded again. Though she haughtily agreed, there was the tiniest part of her speaking up against his words. She quickly stomped it back down.
“Then we are in agreement? This is nothing but a little fun,” Thomas assured her, and Alice inclined her head.
“Yes, my lord, we are.”
A smile spread across Lord Warrington’s face that made Alice’s stomach flutter and she knew without a doubt that whatever they were going to do from that point on was most definitely going to be more fun than anything that had happened so far at Kendall Hall.
“We should not be found together alone in here,” Thomas pointed out, glancing at the door.Had he heard something?“I shall slip out first.”
As if he saw the disappointment on Alice’s face, he cupped her cheeks and kissed her forehead before he announced, “I shall come and find you later.”
Again, he kissed her forehead. Alice’s entire body tingled, closing her eyes to revel in the desire he conjured inside her.
“I shall see you at dinner,” he promised, taking hold of her hands to give them a quick squeeze and a kiss upon her knuckles before slipping from the room. Alice was left feeling that for the first time that week, she was not entirely against the idea of sitting down to dinner.
***
Dinner, as Alice had hoped, had gone off without a hitch. Finding herself seated beside Lord Warrington, it was quite a nice change not to feel entirely awkward beside him. The only difficult thing about it was worrying that anyone else might notice the change that had come over the two of them. They spent the entire meal conversing not only amongst themselves but with Mr Tulk, Lord and Lady Kendall and even Alice's mother who were all sitting closest.
At one point, the Earl leaned in just close enough to assure her that he would find her once all the other guests had retired to their rooms for the night. The vow had sent a shiver throughout Alice, and she'd had to clench her thighs tightly together to try to ignore the heat that pooled between them. The thought of being alone with the earl as she had been in the study made her anxious and thrilled in equal measure.
Yet what transpired in the parlour after dinner left Alice feeling quite shaken. Having been urged by her mother to spend yet more time with Me. Gouldsmith, Alice found herself once more accompanied by the two of them, forced to sip her lemonade and smile at everything Mr Gouldsmith told her.
All the while she could feel Lord Warrington watching them out of the corner of his eye. Whenever she glanced over her shoulder, she caught the jealous look in his eye. She had seen it when he'd mentioned her walk beside the pond with Mr Gouldsmith. And it did not take much to guess what he was thinking, especially now that Mr Gouldsmith was so openly flirting with her.
Alice was most alarmed when Mr Gouldsmith announced, "Miss Skeffington, I would greatly enjoy coming to visit you and your parents once this week is over. Though I have met your father once or twice before, I do believe we have much more to talk about now."
Knowing what he was hinting at, the colour drained from Alice's face. Lady Skeffington appeared all too eager. "I am sure we would all be very pleased to welcome you, Mr Gouldsmith!"
Alice would have liked nothing more than to yell at her mother for offering the gentleman such hope, yet she knew it was not the time or the place. All she could hope was that Mr Gouldsmith would not take her mother's words to heart and accept them as an open invitation to their home.
The last thing she wanted was for him to drop in unannounced and proclaim his wish to marry her to her father before having even mentioned it to her. It had happened only once before, and Alice could only be glad that it had been in the early days when her father had been entirely too picky and had declined the offer without need for her to announce her dislike of the idea.
Now, she was not so sure that her father would do the same, especially as everyone appeared to love Mr Gouldsmith so much. Smiles and inclined heads had been passing in his direction all evening, people passing small talk to him as they went, all seemingly drawn to him and his charming manner. Yet there was one thing about him that Alice did not like. He was not Lord Warrington.
"We would be pleased, would not we, Alice?" her mother stated and Alice felt the lady's elbow nudge her own.
Clearing her throat, Alice nodded. "I am sure that if you were passing through on your way for some business that my father would be happy to offer his hospitality."
Having chosen her words carefully, Alice was not surprised to see Mr Gouldsmith look dismayed. He had likely been expecting her to be much more open to the idea of his courting her. Though his dismay lasted only a moment before he smiled charmingly and nodded.
"Indeed, Miss Skeffington, I am sure that he would," he responded, his smile broadening, "though, I would also be pleased to spend some more time with you if Iwereto pass through."
It was clear that Mr Gouldsmith was attempting to play her at her own game, trying to lull her into a trap of her own making. Yet, Alice was well versed in the word games that men tried to play, and she would not fall for it.
"I could only imagine that I would be happy to show you around the gardens at Skeffington Court," Alice announced with a forced smile. “Though I have no way of knowing if I would be in residence during your passing through.”
Mr Gouldsmith’s gaze flashed with excitement, and it became quite clear to Alice that he was enjoying the chase. She wondered whether she ought to have been more direct. Again, she could feel Lord Warrington watching them, unnerving her. She could practically feel the jealousy pulsing off him in sharp green waves from across the room. It was in that moment Alice decided she would not wait for him to come and find her. She would go to him.
***
That is just what she did. Once she was certain that her mother was tucked up in bed and many of the other guests were in situ in their rooms, Alice crept from her own guest room and down the hall to Lord Warrington's. With a shawl wrapped carefully about her head and shoulders, she slipped into the shadows beside his door and rapped her knuckles upon the hard wood.
The lanterns that lit the hallway were slowly burning down, leaving much of the space in darkness and Alice hid easily, glancing this way and that to be sure she would not be caught.