“I promise I have no wish for you to behave any differently than the kind, genteel lady I have come to know.”
“Well! I ... I ...” She closed her mouth and then sighed. “I cannot argue with you if you are going to be magnanimous.”
“Why do you wish to argue with me?”
This time, her gaze rose to meet his and well-nigh knocked him back a step with the dazzling shimmering depths of her eyes.
“Because,” she said softly, “I want — no, Ineedfor us to keep our distance until the wedding. I nearly shamed my family, and whenever you are too close—”
Lady Diamond approached. “Everyone is going in.”
Matthew escorted the ladies into the auditorium, decidedly frustrated at not hearing from Purity’s own lips what she felt when he was close.
Purity knew she wasbeing the worst primsy-pate ever. Yet she’d never experienced anything like the surges of longing that assaulted her with Foxford’s presence. Not only did her stomach flutter unbearably when he was near, but parts of her throbbed and pulsed, yearning for his touch.
She’d lain awake reliving their kisses and imagining his hands upon her most private parts many nights. Thus, the concert was torture. Seated beside him, breathing his familiar citrus and woodsy scent, she recalled how his mouth felt upon hers and how his hands had kneaded her flesh and caressed her back and hips.
With their joining as man and wife being imminent, the physical act had become all she could think about.
At that moment, she was unable to concentrate on anything except the sizzling of her body that had her squirming in the velvet seat. Relieved when the last notes died out, she rose, only to hear, “Encore.”
The cry for more was caught up and repeated throughout the audience, and she regained her seat.
Her mother was clapping joyfully on one side of her, while Foxford leaned close on the other.
“You seem ready to leave. Are you not enjoying the performance?”
“I am,” she promised, unable to tell him the truth. Their heads were practically touching. If she moved an inch and turned her head, their lips would meet.
Quickly, she swiveled in the other direction.
“The musicians are very good, are they not?” her mother asked. “And Monsieur Berlioz is an excellent conductor, even for the pieces that he did not compose.”
“Indeed.” Then Purity fell silent until the extra movement finished, and once again the clapping began. Finally, they rose to their feet and started the ambling movement out to the lobby.
“The answer to your earlier question,” Lady Diamond told Foxford, “is no. I don’t believe my daughter could have played any better. It was stirring, was it not?”
“It was,” he agreed.
Purity knew she’d felt stirred for the entire performance and would love at that moment to be alone with her fiancé. She ached to press herself against him, to mold her curves to his planes, to sink her fingers into his hair, and to kiss him soundly.
With tongues.
“Mm,”she sighed, humming with desire as they shuffled up the aisle. It was like a madness.Did it ease off after one consummated?She only half hoped that was the case.
“I was taken by the—” Foxford began but trailed off as something or someone caught his eye.
Purity followed his gaze.Lady Varley!She was standing by herself, one hand on her hip staring directly at the two of them.
“By the timing,” he concluded. “A conductor is like a puppeteer, able to command each musician to start and stop precisely upon a flick of his hand.”
Purity heard her mother agree, yet she couldn’t help returning the lady’s frank regard. Lady Varley was an attractive woman, no doubt, but her expression, one of unadulterated dislike, spoiled her good looks.
Not to mention causing a shiver to snake down Purity’s spine.
Having last seen Lady Varley at Syon Park, exclaiming over Foxford being a “thundering buck,” it wasn’t a far cry to imagine the lady was jealous. After all, Lord Varley had little reputation for anything except losing a fiancée once to another man.
“Before we leave,” her mother said, “I must speak with Lady Frances. She’s waving me down. I think she just heard about the engagement. I shall return anon.”
