Caroline was not surprised to hear of the duke’s misfortunes with money. It told her everything she needed to know and specifically why he had wanted to marry her for her dowry. Her dowry was so large, significantly greater than any other lady’s dowry he’d heard of. In one fell swoop, it could wipe out all of his father’s remaining debts, allow him to plunge money into the surrounding farm lands, and commence with new shipping investments to recover his fortunes.
“Now, it will probably just remain a dream forever,” David said, turning to place his back flat to the wall. He looked up at the stars over their heads again. “Like your dream of freedom.”
“That’s not as distant as those stars. Look at me now.” She backed up a little from him and turned in a circle with her arms outstretched. “Is this not freedom?”
“You think being ordered around by a housekeeper is freedom?” he asked, wide-eyed.
“It’s better than some existences. Believe me,” she murmured, looking away.
“I’d say you’re hiding things, Miss.”
“I’d say it’s none of your business,” she countered, turning back to look at him with another snorting laugh. David crossed his arms over his body, his eyes moving up and down her again.
What does that look mean?
She wondered briefly if he felt it too, this pull towards one another, this need to know each other better. He showed no sign of walking away from her, clearly content to stand and talk with her out here under the stars, even though he had finished smoking his pipe.
“How about I just ask one more question then?” he proffered up the idea. “Then you have my word that I will not ask you anything more tonight – as long as you answer me honestly, of course.”
“A strange sort of deal.” Yet she was tempted. It would mean no more questions about how unlike a maid she was. “Very well, what’s your question?”
He stepped away from the wall and dropped his arms from their folded position, moving his hands into his pockets instead. He stopped a very short distance in front of her, his hazel eyes unblinking as he stared at her.
“Why did you come to see me in the stable the other day?” His question hit the air like a stone plummeting in water.
She said nothing, the silence apparently never-ending as they looked at one another. He stepped towards her again, and she was too dumbstruck to move back.
“We both know you didn’t come to give me a message,” he whispered, being the first to break that silence. “So, why did you come, Miss?”
“I …” She began, though the sound faltered fast.
“Did you come to see me?” He was now so near to her that she should move back. She could lift her hand and, in that act alone, she would be brushing his arm. He smiled down at her, that mischief still glinting in his eyes. “Did you come to find out what a kiss would be like, Miss?”
The attraction, all that tension and excitement, suddenly evaporated into a cold fury.
“How dare you!” Caroline threw the words at him. She thought he would stagger back at the sheer strength of her words or at least respond in some defensive way. Instead, he just continued to smile. “How can you say that to a woman!?” She had to be the one to step back instead. She raised her hand. Had she been at a party of the ton, she would have slapped him for his insolence, but she noticed suddenly that he was laughing.
That act made her hand drop to her side. “Why are you laughing?”
“I am teasing you,” he said between his chuckles. “Believe me.” He stepped towards her again, lowering his voice as if wary of being heard out here in the darkness where they were completely alone. “Forgive my troublesome ways. I’m well aware a maid as fine as you are would never consider a man like me.” He winked and walked around her, stepping away.
She felt she had been kicked in the stomach by his words. Why would she never look at him? Did he really feel so ill about himself after she had mistakenly thought him so confident?
Before he could leave the garden, she caught his arm. It was a sudden movement, her fingers latching rather tightly across his forearm. He looked back at her as she gasped, stunned at the feeling of muscle and strength that quivered beneath her touch.
“Something more you wish to say to me, Miss?”
She didn’t have the words. She couldn’t tell him that she had not stopped thinking about him since the day they had met. Neither could she tell him that she had indeed been thinking for many days what it would be like to kiss him.
Without knowing what to say, she stepped towards him instead, her hand still upon his arms.
“Ah, it’s not something you wish to say, is it?” he whispered, a knowing smile appearing on his lips. There was something gentle in his eyes now as he bent down towards her. She held her breath, moving closer to him as he neared her too.
Then Caroline closed her eyes as his lips met hers.
Her hand had been kissed before by gentlemen of the ton, but never had she known what a true kiss could be like. What stunned her was how soft David was. It was almost as if she was made of porcelain, and he was afraid she would break. The sweetness of his lips against hers was tantalizing, making her yearn for more and more.
Her hands somehow ended up nestled against him. One was clutching the edge of his waistcoat as the other clutched his forearm. His hands came up to the curve of her waist, his fingers resting gently on the top part of her hips. She was basking in the thrill of his lips on hers, stunned at both the sweetness and the excitement, and then suddenly, it was over. He leaned back from her just an inch, looking into her eyes.
