Abandoned to the Prodigal - Mary Lancaster Page 0,65

take himself too seriously. But unlike Dan, she sensed he was playing a role, that of empty-headed dandy. A social convenience, perhaps, to cover a natural shyness?

The dance came to an end, amid mingled cries of disappointment and applause for the fiddler, who bowed and effaced himself. Juliet stood with her family in the entrance hall to bid their guests farewell, for apart from her uncle’s family, the Alfords, the Kings, and Lord Barden, their guests were all traveling home.

The carriages were summoned, and the servants were kept busy carrying cloaks and hats and finding outdoor shoes. Juliet yielded her place as eldest daughter to Kitty and stood a little farther back, so that anyone who wished to pretend not to see her could do so. Nobody did. But that may have been Mrs. Stewart’s fault, for she went right up to Juliet to shake hands.

“I hope we may meet again, Lady Juliet,” she said with a smile.

“So do I. When do you leave Myerly?”

“Wednesday. I have commitments in London. Such a pleasure to meet you, my dear. Goodbye!”

Behind her came Dan.

“How will you all get home?” Juliet asked. “Will you young men climb onto the roof?”

“I did suggest it, but Colin won’t play, and Hugh is too concerned for his coat. So, the carriage will take all our parents and come back for us.” He smiled politely, but the soft words breathed through his teeth still reached her. “Meet me.” And his eyes flickered to the left. To the side door.

There was no time to reply or even think, for Dan was already wishing Kitty happiness, and the vicar’s wife was shaking her hand. “So good to see you, my dear…”

Dan would, surely, have to wait an hour for the carriage to return. His cousins clearly were in no hurry to leave the house for the chill of the evening. But Dan, after seeing his mother into the carriage with her sisters and brother-in-law, would wait outside. For her.

Her heartbeat quickened. Why? Had he learned something important? Was he in trouble of some kind, or just wished to talk? Whatever the reason, she knew she would not refuse him.

When the last of the guests had departed, save the Myerly cousins, Ferdy hailed the young men off to the salon for a final brandy. Her parents and Kitty returned to the drawing room to say goodnight to their overnight guests.

Juliet had been sent to her chamber so often since coming home that no one noticed she did not follow Kitty upstairs. Instead, she walked across the hall toward the back of the house and swept up her old cloak from the stand under the staircase. She turned into the dim passage that led to the side door. Fortunately, there was enough light filtering through from the hall.

She could hear the servants’ voices calling to each other as they carried what glass and crockery they could to the kitchen. But they used their own staircase, and there was no one to see her, or even hear her draw back the bolts of the door and ease it open.

She stepped outside, opening her mouth to whisper Dan’s name, but without warning, was seized against a man’s hard chest, and his mouth devoured hers.

She did not need light to see that it was him. After the first tiny instant of shock, she knew him by his very scent, by his feel, and by the angle of his mouth as it claimed hers. With a gasp that was almost a sob, she threw both arms around his neck and gave herself up to the embrace.

Something was different this time. He wasn’t just giving in to sudden impulse. He had planned this; he had arranged it because he wanted to hold her and kiss her. The knowledge was intoxicating. Her mouth opened wide under the onslaught of his, and she adored the caress of his tongue and even his teeth. It was as if he kissed her with all of him. His body wedged intimately with hers, beginning to move, stroking her in the same rhythm as his wild kiss.

Her knees buckled. Only his arms kept her upright. But as he drew back, as if afraid of hurting her, she pulled his head down again and kissed him, pressing herself against him in blind, half-understood need.

Finally, the sounds of voices filtered through her sensual haze. The grooms and stable boys going home… He must have heard them, too, for abruptly, he whisked her back inside