A Fine Caprice - A Regency Romance (34 page)

And it left him with onl
y two, possible options. He sighed, acknowledging defeat
.
It came to most men, in the end.
‘Why?’

She did not
mistake his meaning. They had forged a bo
nd of understanding from the outset, easily able to intuit what was being said. She knew perfectly well what he meant. ‘I was to be married to a man I did not care for. It wasn’t settled yet but if I had stayed it would have been and I could not spend the rest of my life with him.’

A simple, honest e
xplanation.
‘You could not just
tell your parents you did not wish to marry him?’

A wry smile.
‘I have delightful parents but they are both malleable to the point of soft clay. My aunt – a very forceful woman – wished me to marry her nephew and she would have had her way.’

Cass thought about this for a moment. Marriages were arranged every day and were often perfectly acceptable although he knew full well that it was not always the case. The amount of young ladies who were sold into highly unsuitable arrangements –
into
spring and
winter unions,
given over
to drunkards and
profligates - was alarmingly
high. He hesitated over his next question, not wanting to ask it, knowing that he must. With every word he said, he felt himself sinking deeper.

‘What is this
man’s name?’

She looked surprised at this but answered readily enough. ‘Mr. Ainslie Hester.’

Cass winced.
He knew of Hester, although he certainly wasn’t a friend or even an acquaintance. He had an unsavoury reputation as a man with a p
roclivity for vice. It was rumo
red he frequented the less
respectable districts and that he enjoyed causing pain to the women he hired by the hour. It was only a rumor, of course but Cass had always been inclined to believe it had substance.
Ainslie Hester was the worst kind of reprobate.

‘You can’t marry him!’

‘I don’t intend to. That is why I ran way.’

‘You’re aunt
’
s nephew…’ he thought about it for a moment. ‘Good God, is your aunt Lady Leticia Hester?’

‘Yes,’ there came a sigh. ‘It is very unfortunate
but nothing can be done about it at this late stage
.’

His lips twitched at this but he was running through families and relationships, the large, occasionally complex network that joined the
ton
together. ‘So you must be… i
s your father
Henry Lambert?’ he questioned, working it through.

‘
Indeed he is.
And my mother is Elizabetta Lambert
. Italian,’ she added with a flash of defiance, ‘which my aunt has never cared for.
I am Caprice, their only child. I don’t’ she added quite cheerfully
, ‘come up to London frequently. A
part from my presentation
I have been but once
.’

Caprice Lambert.
Caprice
… my God, how appropriate! He
did not know the family
so he had no idea what their situation was, apart from the fact that they were perfectly respectable.
Perfectly
respectable.
This girl was exactly what he has assumed her to be; a lady, born and bred.

‘You little horror! Your parents must be worried sick.’

‘I was going to write to them as soon as I reach Angelique.
Viscountess Ellington.
My friend,’ she explained, ‘at Steadman Hall. We were neighbours in Warwickshire before her marriage.’

He shook his head in wonder. ‘You were just going to arrive? Dressed like that?’

Miss Caprice Lambert looked down at her clothes,
then
shrugged. ‘
We are
very
good
friends.
’

Cass found himself in the curious
position of wanting to laugh while simultaneously
wanting to reach out and drag
her into his arms. And
her next words did not help the situation at all.

‘
Are
you going to kiss me? For I have to say, I very much enjoyed it before and that was when I was holding a tray.’

Outrageous, he thought but somehow he was reaching for her anyway. It should have been smoother, more polished. Something in his usual style, for he was considered a skilled lover but there was something about this girl that made him
forget everything. Something about her
drove him to distraction.
I was doomed from the moment I saw her in that lake. I should have just given in then and accepted my fate.

Crus
hing her to him, he sought that soft mouth again and,
just as it had the first time, she
yielded imm
ediately, opening up beneath the crushing pressure
to allow ready access into the soft warmth within. His body had hardened into aching life and this time there was no tray
to stop
her from feeling his arousal but she did not draw away in shock, not this girl who merely pressed herself closer, twining her arms around his neck to hold him fast. This tension, this yearning was as new to him as a schoolboy’s first infatuation and he felt as if he had about as much control.

Whatever the kind of female Caprice Lambert was, he knew that he could not forget her now. Not holding her in his arms like this. As ridiculous as it seemed, she was imprinted on him forever and he was a slave to the feelings she provoked in him.

She was his, every part of her and he knew that his determination to send her on her way had been a ruse he had played on himself because he was terrified of the power her lithe, lovely body might have on him.

Caprice moaned beneath the searching exploration of his mouth, her fingers tangling in his hair. Reaching his hands behind her, he pulled her upwards without
breaking the kiss, hands cupping
the softly rounded buttocks as he lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his hips and he
moved blindly, searching for a chair, a couch, something to fall back into. He did not want to let her go. He did not think he could, not now when her tongue had discovered a will of its own, darting daringly into his own mouth. The back of his knees hit the arm of the di
van and they collapsed
in a tangle, his
arms never releasing her. Caprice lay against his chest, hands running over his face fervently while his own slid the coat open, fingers searching for the curving swell of her breasts that he knew lay beneath the clever vest she wore. He found buttons and began to pop them, searching beneath with hurried haste. When he found the hard nub of her nipple he felt her gasp against his mouth, then gasp again when he squeezed…

‘Oh my
God
!’

He was so caught up with desire that it took a moment.
A long moment.
Caprice did not seem to notice anything at all, but he removed his hands to catch her face between them, pulling her lips gently from his own. Turning his head, he stared at the shocked face of his cousin Hadley.

‘Ah.’
It was all he could manage.

‘I never suspected,’ the man shook his head, clearly astonished. ‘I mean, had I known. But really…’ And then, obviously vastly amused, he smiled. ‘Well done, Merridew. I didn’t think you had it in you. Although I can’t say I care for your taste, over much.
I like the occasional rough myself but there are limits, my dear boy.’

Caprice was looking at Hadley, bewildered. ‘What is he saying?’

Cass sighed. ‘I will explain later. Go away, cousin.’

‘Oh, assuredly.
Although,’ he added, heading for t
he door, ‘Uncle’s man of business
is downstairs and wants to see you. Shall I tell him you are… indisposed?’

‘No,’ Cass snapped, ‘tell him I will be with him directly.’

After Hadley
Ravener had gone, he sat up, bring
ing Caprice with him. He settled her on his knee. ‘
You have destroyed my reputation.’

‘Have I?’ she didn’t seem in the least bit repentant. ‘Must we stop?’

‘Yes we jolly well must.
I am inclined to seduce you,’ he observed wryly. ‘In fact, I have never been so inclined in my life
but there is a time and place
.’

‘Would this be it?’
She sounded quite hopeful.

‘No! I should never have… that is to say, you make me forget myself.’

‘Well that is a good thing, is it not?’ Caprice murmured, looking at him from beneath her lashes. She blushed a little. ‘I mean… I would
not be
averse
to being seduced
.’

‘Hoyden,’ he muttered, although he was not displeased. He had never met a female with as little dissembling about her. She might be a first class liar with all her nonsense about bastard sons and the like, but she was refreshingly honest for all that. ‘I
t’s for the best we were interrupted. I
rather think we should do this properly.’

She looked bewildered at this. ‘Properly?’

‘I’m a
fraid so. Marriage seems to be indicated, wouldn’t you say?
’

‘Marriage?’ she repeated, astonished. ‘But you have only just met me!’

‘You were prepared to be seduced by me not three minutes ago,’ he reminded her, exasperated.

‘Yes, but…’ she blushed again and any doubts he might have had about her were banished. She was as caught up in the intensity of her desires as he.

‘You do not want to marry me?’

‘I did not say that. I would be delighted. It’s just that,’ she touched his cheek lightly and looked into his eyes, ‘there’s a great deal of waiting about if one is getting married.’

‘Waiting about?’

‘For the wedding night.’

He laughed at that, arms going around her so he could hold her close. ‘Good God, what am I getting myself into!
’

‘But -’

‘I might escort you to Steadman Hall later on today.’

‘My lord!’

‘And, after you have been there for an hour or so, I shall call and pay my respects to my new neighbours.’

‘You will…’ she drew back a little to study his face,
then
said. ‘That would be a very neighbourly thing to do.’

‘When I am there, I will undoubtedly meet their newly arrived guest, Miss Lambert.’

‘I daresay you will. In a dress
, although if you’re only going to be an hour I’ll have to hurry
.’
She smiled, face radiant. ‘Wait until you see me in a dress! If you like me as a boy you will probably be very happy with me as a girl.’

He grinned at this. ‘
I don’t like you as a boy but I will be very happy with you as a girl.’

Hadley’s meaning suddenly seemed to hit her and she sat up straight, clapping her hands to her cheeks. ‘Oh no! Your cousin thought -’

‘He did.’ When she went to speak, he held up a hand.
‘Silence, you wretched creature.
I am outlining my plan to you.’

Her lips quivered but she nodded. ‘Yes, my lord.’

‘Having seen the delightfully feminine Miss Lambert
I shall be
very
taken with her.’

‘Will you? How taken?’

He curled his fingers around the nape of her neck, drawing her in for a brief kiss. ‘Very taken. So much so that I will be forced to visit again the next day.’

‘She might be interested in seeing you.’

‘She had better be. I am thinking three visits before I pop the question.’

‘Three? That’s rather a lot.’

‘Believe me, three is the minimum, even for a man who cannot stay away. And then, of course, I will need to go to Warwickshire. You may come with me.’

‘Mama and Papa,’ she sighed. ‘They will be shocked.’

‘But not too shocked, I hope.’
His face softened. ‘I will be standing beside you. Trust me when I say you will have nothing to fear.’

‘Oh I’m not fearful
.
I imagine they will be delighted to see you. You are perfectly respectable and
I’m sure they will be very relieved.
I hope
,
’
she added darkly, ‘that Mr. Hester is still there. You could, perhaps, find reason to draw his cork.’

‘A very indelicate term but I imagine I might find an excuse.’
C
ass cocked an eyebrow at her. ‘
Why
might your parents be r
elieved? My sweet Caprice, is there something you’re not telling me?’

She grinned at him. ‘My d
ear Lord Merridew, you have no idea!’