‘
Get out of my sight, madam, before I do something I will regret.
’
Felicity swung
around to face him.
‘
Gladly, sir.
’
She dipped
a mocking curts
y.
‘
But be assured t
hat I shall see you again soon.
Very soon.
’
And with a toss of
h
er ringlet
s
,
she
turned on her heel and began
strutting
back to the house. Just as she wa
s parallel with Eleanor,
she
came to a halt
and
slowly
turned to face her. Eleanor shrank back further into the shadows, holding her breath. Felicity’s eyes lingered on hers for a brief moment, before
she
continu
ed
her route. Eleanor’s heart was beating so loudly she was sure even James
,
who was standing too far away for him to have seen her, could hear it. Thankfully
,
h
e
,
too
,
had taken his leave although she had not seen in wh
ich direction he had disappeared
.
Having he
ld her breath for what
seemed like an eternity, Eleanor released it on a sigh of relief. Completely alone at last, she found she was shaking – a state which was most definitely not due to the night air. She sat for several minutes more,
allowi
ng Felicity a
mple
time to return to the house. She couldn’t
be sure if the girl had recogniz
ed her or not. If she had, Eleanor dared not
think what she might
do.
Confident
that
both Felicity and James had
now sufficiently di
st
anced themselves from the spot
,
Eleanor
slipped on her second shoe and
began wandering tentatively up the
garden, keeping to the shadows of the trees.
‘
Ah!
’
She almost jumped out of her skin as she became aware of someone following her.
H
er immediate thought that it might be
Felicity, caused her chest to constrict
and the hair
s
on the back of her neck
to stand on
edge. She
whi
pp
ed around and
was relieved to see that it was not Felicity
, but a young man who, she realiz
ed immediately, had had significantly
more glasses of champagne than
the v
iscoun
t
.
‘
So here you are,
’
he leered.
‘
The best
-
looking chit in the place and only that fool Grayson had the courage to face that gorgon shielding you
.
Come and dance with me now.
’
He lurched
at
her.
Eleanor stepped
away from him but found herself hemmed between a tree and the wall.
‘
I
think perhaps it would be better if we went inside, sir,
’
she said, attempting to maintain a sense of calm so as not to agitate the man. If she could just persuade him to move a little, she could make her escape.
‘
After all,
w
e can scarce hear the music out here.
’
‘
Pah,
’
spat the man, waving a drunken arm in dismissal.
‘
Who cares about music? Indeed who cares about dancing? I have something much more fun in mind
;
something that does not require music at all.
’
He
lunged towards her again,
but this time she had nowhere to move to.
He caught hold of her arms and pinned them against the wall. Seeking out her mouth with his
,
he began covering her face in slobbering drunken kisses. His breath
,
st
ale with a combination of alcohol
and tobacco
,
made her want to vomit. Eleanor screwed up her face and turned her head quickly from side
to side. Then, in one
sudden movement, she brought
up
her knee sharply
between hi
s legs. He yelped in pain, releasing his hold of her and placing his hands over the affected area. Spotting her opportunity, Eleanor skipped nimbly to the side of him, but he was too quick for her
. He
caught her by the arm, dragg
ed
her back
a
nd press
ed
her once again up against the wall.
‘
Oh no you don’t,
’
he sneered.
‘
I’m not finished with y
ou yet. Not by a long
-
’
‘
Oh, I think perhaps you are, sir,
’
countered a deep, masculine voice.
‘
Release
th
e girl this instant, Smithers.
Or I shall
force you to do so.
’
The man dropped Eleanor’s arm as
if it had burnt him. Eleanor deemed
it a wise choice given the anger that was colouring both James’s face and tone.
‘
Com
e along, Prestonville,
’
simpered the man.
‘
Just having a bit of fun
,
that’s all.
’
James did not look in the least
amused.
‘
Then may I suggest you find something e
lse to entertain you
.
Something preferably away from this house.
’
‘
Of course
. Of course,
’
muttered Smithers, hastily taking his leave.
As
t
he
man
staggered over the lawn, muttering fiercely to himself, Eleanor remained against the wall shaking.
James approached her slowly.
‘
Did he hurt you?
’
he asked, his tone low and soothing.
She managed a weak shake of her head.
Coming to stand directly before her, James reached out and ti
lted her face upward
so that she was looking directly into his eyes. With his other hand, he br
ushed a stray lock of hair
from her cheek.
The feeling of his skin against hers and the
intensity of his gaze caused Eleanor’s
heart to skip a beat. Then, before she was aware of what was happening, he lowered his head to hers and kissed her.
Eleanor had never been kissed before. She had never wanted to be kissed before. Indeed, she had never even thought about being kissed before. But, as James pressed his lips to hers and his tongue expertly probed the inside of her welcoming mouth, her insides melt
ed
and a warm, fuzzy feeling suffused every one of her bones
.
Then, all at once,
he pulled away from her, turned on his heel and marched briskly back to the house.
Eleanor remained against the wall
, e
very one of her senses reeling.
Eleanor
had no idea how long she
had
remained in the garden but when she did eventually
r
egain
a little
equanimity
,
she returned to the house weak with exhaustion
.
As she
entered the ballroom, she
immediately
bumped into James
with
Madeleine reattached to his arm.
For a split second
Eleanor’s heart
stopped
. What on earth should she say to him? She was vaguely aware that she had come to a sudden halt and was gawping at him
, and that a
deep flush
was
cre
eping
o
ver her neck and face. James
,
conversely,
apart from a deep frown etched
on his forehead, appeared
calm and composed.
‘
Ah, Lady Eleanor,
’
he declared briskly, as though he had not set eyes –
n
or indeed anything else - on her all evening.
‘
I have sent for the carriage. Lady Madeleine is a litt
le peaked. Please collect my a
unt and meet us in the reception hall. We shall be leaving in five minutes.
’
Unable to speak, Eleanor
nodded her compliance.
She could think of nothing she wanted more than to go home, crawl into bed and to only come out again when the world around her had cal
med down a little. She was un
accustomed to such strange happenings as seemed to occur in London. She was used to a quiet life in the country. Indeed she had liked her quiet life in the country very much.
The people there were normal
. Here in London, she was beginning to think they were all quite mad.
Returning to where she had left her,
she was relieved to find
the
d
owager
still on her gilt chair, sipping
yet
another glass of champagne and chatting merrily to her fellow chaperon and new
-
found friend. With some coaxing, Eleanor managed to drag her away and lead her into the
hall
within her allotted five minutes - exactly as she had been instructed. James and Madeleine were already ther
e. James pacing
up and down
impatiently
.
‘
Do hurry up, Lady Eleanor
.
I do not like to be kept waiting.
’
Eleanor t
ossed
him an infuriated glare. He was obviously in an extremely bad mood. She wondered
in
what part his encounter with Felicity had added to his humour and
in
what part their kiss. Whichever way it was, there was no need to be so rude. She couldn’t do anything about the Felicity incident and she had certainly not asked him to kiss her. He was no doubt regretting the whole ridiculous incident. Well, he had no one to blame but himself and she would not be shouted at when she had done nothing wrong. She opened her mouth to protest but then thought better of it. There had
already
been far too much drama for one evening.
A
ll four of them descended the steps of the house.
Due to the stream of coaches returning to collect th
e departing guests, their coachman
had seen fit to tu
rn their carriage
around so it faced the direction in which they would be heading.
This meant that they had to cross the street to reach it
. They did so in
complete silence. The
coachman held
open the door on
the far side
.
Lady Madeleine was the first to
climb in
, followed by the
d
owager
who needed a little help due
, apparently,
to
her
rheumatism
.
Eleanor was next
. She
had placed one foot on the bottom step
when Madeleine suddenly cried
,
‘
Oh no. I have forgotten my wrap.
James, y
ou w
ouldn’t be a darling and retrieve it for me
, w
ould you?
’
From his pla
ce behind her, Eleanor heard James
release an exasperated sigh.
‘
Of course,
’
he muttered coolly.