“Very much.”
“Something is troubling you. What is it?”
She raised her eyebrows. “No, there’s nothing. Why would there be? I had another fitting, and I think you’ll approve of my ball gown.”
Hart thought she protested too much, but he let it lie. “Come and sit by me for a moment.”
“I shouldn’t stay long,” she said as she sat close to him. “It will be rude to keep Diane waiting.”
“Diane was a married lady. She will understand. And I suspectThe Mysteries of Udolphowill hold her attention.”
Maddie grinned. She spoke of her aunt and cousin’s visit, but Hart wasn’t in the mood for talk. He framed her face with his hands and kissed her with increasing passion.
“Oh, Hart…” Maddie sighed against his lips. “I’ve missed you so, but I should…”
“No,” he said, his voice husky. “You should not.”
She wriggled. “A footman might come in. Or heavens! Crispin!”
“They know better than to do that.” His fingers threaded through her hair as he bent to smell its lavender scent.
“Don’t you dare unravel my chignon, it took Jane ages to… Oh, Hart! What will Diane think?”
*
Maddie forgot aboutDiane. She forgot everything. She had missed him so much. To have him here with her, revealing how much he’d missed her. She gave in to him, and leaned back with a soft moan as he drew her gown up over her legs.
Hart adjusted his breeches and pulled her astride him. Her urgent breath matched his with a moan of pleasure as she rose and fell in a hasty coupling which ended with them both gasping.
Twenty minutes later, flushed, her heart beating rapidly and her hair escaping the pins, she ignored Hart’s entreaty to stay and hurried from the room, mounting the stairs to restore her appearance.
When she came back into the salon, Diane smiled with a knowing look. “It’s good to have him home, isn’t it?” She held up the book. “I have marked a passage you might enjoy reading, but I suspect life far exceeds anything on the written page.”
Maddie flushed and took the book from her. “Yes, it does.”
“It warms my heart to see you both so tender with each other,” Diane said. “I sorely miss that.”
“Oh, you would miss it, Diane,” Maddie said, her embarrassment forgotten. “But you might meet someone special this Season. Perhaps it will never equal what you and your husband shared, but to be alone is not a good choice for anyone.”
Diane smiled. “It doesn’t happen just because you wish it, Maddie. There’s something magical in meeting someone you could love.”
Maddie nodded. Hart certainly desired her, and he was a caring husband. But he never really told her what was in his heart, so was that any different from the other relationships he had before her? But she would not let such thoughts destroy her happiness, now with her uncle gone from her life. Her monthly courses were late, and her breasts tender when Hart touched them. Might she be pregnant? It was far too soon to tell, and she probably imagined it. After the horrid scandal sheet which suggested theirs was a forced marriage, would a pregnancy bring more gossip? She didn’t care. She wanted Hart’s baby. They would become a family.
On the evening of the ball, dressed in her gown, Maddie added a touch of rouge to her pale cheeks. Then she rose to view herself in the long mirror.
“The color suits you, milady,” Jane said with approval. “You look ever so lovely.”
“Thank you, Jane.”
Butterflies batting about in her stomach, Maddie left the room. In the hall at the bottom of the stairs, Hart stood waiting. Maddie descended in her claret red ballgown. She wore diamond earrings and bracelets, but nothing at her throat except the locket with her parents’ likenesses inside, because she wished they could be here with her. A dainty diamond tiara Hart had brought from the bank graced her hair.
Hart’s eyes told her all she wanted to know. “There will be many ladies wearing that red after tonight. You look lovely, Maddie.”
He gave her the courage to face the inquisitivetonand those among them who might be critical of her. Diane, after Maddie told her about the scandal sheet, thoroughly agreed with her choice. It was nothing like the understated white gown Maddie had planned to wear. But after receiving that vicious newssheet, she returned to the dressmaker and had this one made. She wanted to make a statement. To show those who might not approve of her that she was not a woman to be intimidated. The French woman chose the red fabric, and Maddie thought it perfect. The color alone was enough, the low scooped neck trimmed with red satin understated, yet the dress would stand out among the many white and pale hues women chose in the spring. Madam Benoit, as good as her word, delivered it a day before the ball. Maddie had tried it on and almost faltered and changed her mind. The other gown hung in her bedchamber, the safer choice. But having gained Diane’s support, she would wear it. If she was to become the subject of gossip, she did not intend to fade into the background and scurry away like a mouse, but face them head on with her head held high.
In nervous anticipation, she glanced in the mirror in the entry as Hart slipped her evening cloak over her shoulders. She pulled on her long white gloves and took up her fan and black beaded reticule. With a deep breath, she took Hart’s arm as a footman opened the door.
“Ready?” Hart murmured.
