“Please, give them one more moment to sort it out themselves and then I will leave you to it.” He didn’t intend to sound like he was pleading, but he very clearly was. “Now that you are being courted, potential suitors want you more than ever. A second dance will surely convince them that I am serious. They will leave you alone.”
Charlotte stilled, staring at him a moment as the orchestra shifted and set for the next piece. People milled around them, hazy. The clatter of chairs switching spaces and waiters clinking dishes was merely filler noise. The only thing William could concentrate on was the breath trapped at the very top of his chest.
Her eyes were a deeper green now, like she was somewhere else, mentally, and he might never know where she’d disappeared to. He could only hope that he was there with her. He took a step forward.
“A bold idea,” she said. “I will join you once more.”
William released his breath and drew nearer, waiting for the music to begin so he could hold her again. The tremolo of the violin wavered, rising up, up, up to a fever pitch, their eyes locked. And then the pianoforte begun, and he held her, just a little closer than before.
His insistence to dance once more had startled even him. It seemed his desire for her was insatiable. He had kept thinking that maybe he would get his fill after one more touch or one more conversation, but it was starting to become very apparent that his hunger for her would sooner escalate than simply fizzle out.
ChapterSix
After their second dance, Charlotte was exhausted and dizzy with emotion. William excused himself as he had some friends to greet, and Charlotte left to scan the dancefloor. Certainly, she had thought, that someone would require saving. But the world seemed to be in order for once.
It was sort of sad the way it hit her, like she wasn’t needed. But maybe William had been right. Maybe these ladies did need a chance to sort it out themselves so that they might become as resolute and brash as she.
Charlotte spotted her sister, drinking a glass of white wine at the refreshment table. Her eyes were trained elsewhere, looking at the dance floor. When Charlotte arrived at her side, Arabella didn’t even look at her. “Is he a good man, Char?”
Charlotte poured herself an extra large glass of red wine and got right into it. If she would be meeting William later for another rendezvous, then she would need all the lightness of spirit that could be achieved. This might very well be the last time they dared to do anything so forbidden, so she might as well make her time worth it. Maybe she could truly get her fill of him. She didn’t want to hurt him the way his former betrothed had hurt him, but it was starting to look like there may not be another way out. Wouldn’t he do the same to her if his pride was on the line?
Charlotte nodded. “William has assured me,” she promised. “Lord Stanton is of pure intention. So, we shall see if he comes with the intention to court you.”
“Do you think he will?”
Charlotte smiled softly, looking at the handsome man in the corner of the room. He certainly was attractive, looking like he’d nearly traveled the entire globe by the age of twenty-five. That was impossible and certainly a life that Charlotte could only dream of living. “I do.”
“By the way,” Arabella began, “When did Lord Holdford becomeWilliam?”
“I am sorry, what?”
“You called him by his Christian name,” Arabella responded, smiling deviously.
Charlotte leaned in close to her sister’s ear and whispered. “I am a positive mess. A week ago, I shared a kiss with him and I have not been able to stop–”
Arabella gasped. “You cannot be serious.”
“Oh, I am terribly serious.” She shook her head. “Terribly, terribly.”
“What if you are in the family way?” Arabella whisper-shouted back, grabbing her older sister’s wrists.
“Shh!” Charlotte tried to tug her hands away but her grip was much stronger than she had expected. “It is hardly that easy!”
Arabella let go. “Well, if that is not…” she paused, looking around them to make sure no one was in earshot. “Oh, of course it is that easy. That is why we reserve the moment for our wedding day! To be with child any sooner would be a misstep in the eyes of God.”
“You know nothing,” Charlotte said.
“I know as much as I need to,” she retorted.
Charlotte sighed and examined her fingernails. “Arabella, you must believe me. I have spent much time in our aunt’s study, and I have discovered some bad books.”
A pause. “How bad?”
“Extremely rotten and incredibly entertaining. I have read them all. Thrice.” She paused, gulping down the last of her wine. “Why do you think I visit her so much? I have been very honest about finding her to be the most dreadful of company.”
“Well, what do they say?”
“There are other steps and they require one to be in a state undress.”