Secret Pleasures (21 page)

“I know,” he said.

“How could you?
”
Diana had befriended Ivy after her broken engagement to Darien
.
Before that, neither of them had dared to run in Diana’s heady circles
.
“My relationship with Diana was rather unique, private.
”
Ivy decided not to tell Darien that they understood each other
.
He would assume something sinister, which her relationship with Diana definitely was not.

“So was mine
.
Diana would put me up when I was too belligerent to be admitted to any London establishment, respectable or otherwise.”

“She never mentioned you two were friends.
”
But then again, she had always talked of Darien Blackmore in the familiar
.
Ivy only suspected the reason being that Diana was on such intimate terms with the earl,
so
it would be natural for her to discuss his troubled family as if she knew them personally
.
Diana had loved Darien’s romantic nature and scorned his father for sending his music teacher packing, or selling the boy’s instruments
.

“Her profession called for discretion, did it not?”

“You slept with her?” Ivy said a little too loudly and was relieved Melody had not been startled
.

“You should not sound so outraged.
”
He grinned a little too smugly
.
“I have not been celibate all these years.”

“I never expected you had.
”
All right, she had
at least fantasized about it
, and this latest revelation was just more overwhelming proof to the contrary.

Darien walked to where Ivy sat on the step and leaned on one knee before her
.
“Diana and I were friends,” he said quietly
.
“I don’t wish to dishonor her memory by saying anything more or less
.
In fact, we were kindred spirits in a way.
”

Ivy clutched her daughter to her breast, sure she was working herself up into a panic for no reason whatsoever
.
Melody shifted and Ivy loosened her grip.

“Play the tune again
.
She’s about to wake.”

He seemed to relax, believing Ivy had accepted his vague declaration
.
Little did he know, Ivy only had more questions but needed time to ensure she ask them very carefully.

He bowed, then brought the violin to his chin
.
“Diana liked this melody, too.”

Melody
.
Diana had named her child Melody, fathered by a kindred spirit
.
Ivy closed her eyes and cherished the feel of Darien’s child in her arms for one shining moment before dread curled around her heart.

But to my surprise, delight and sheer dismay, I have been forced into the light
by love
.

Arianna eased her mount upon the stone bridge
.
She paused to listen for another rider
.
Strangely, a
violin’s mournful song cut across the forest’s
whispers
.
Below, a stream gurgled past
hidden
croaking frogs
.
Wooded silence stretched out in the distance
.
The music drifted from somewhere not too far away
,
but
she found
the tune more haunting than comforting
.
A twig broke behind her
.
Arianna turned in her saddle, causing the unfamiliar horse to stumble forward
.

Her heart raced with the knowledge that she had no idea if Robert had actually received her message
.
Arianna had no knowledge of Devon, not the land, nor the people
.
She had been a fool to risk going about at night alone, but Robert’s family resided only a few miles north
.
It was the closest they’d been to each other in what seemed like an eternity
.
Robert would come
.
He had to feel her presence just as clearly as she did his.

A figure emerged from the shadows
.
His dark coat blew out behind him
.
A brimmed hat shadowed his face
.
He appeared an unearthly visitor cut out from the night
.
Arianna held her breath at the sight of him
.
They had not spoken a word in almost six months
,
but Arianna had thought of nothing else but the feel of his lips pressed against hers
.
She had relived their every moment together in vivid detail, extending the encounters to the most lurid conclusion she could imagine
.
Studying anatomy and listening to whispered rumors could only get a semi-sheltered virgin so far.

Arianna slid from the horse, wanting to run to him, embrace him, but she hesitated
.
He stopped and watched her from the other side of the bridge
.
He seemed taller, more broad shouldered
.
Perhaps it was the coat he wore, one she didn’t recognize.

“Are you angry?” she called.

His face remained in the shadows
.
Moonlight spilled onto his crisp, white
neckcloth
.
Except for his shirt, his clothes were entirely black but obviously well tailored
.
He wore highly polished knee boots that reflected soft light from the moving brook below
.
Robert had always been too busy with his studies to polish his boots much less cut his shaggy hair.

“Robert, is that you?
”

The man did not move
.
Did not say a word.

“Excuse me, I must be confused.
”
Arianna took a step backward
.
“I am meeting someone here.
”
She
turned and
reached for the reins of her horse
,
but the animal must have wandered
.
A glance over her shoulder found her mount on the other side of the bridge, nosing around in the grass.

Then t
he man’s boots sounded against the stone bridge as he started toward her
.
Had he slipped off his horse so silently
?
Arianna picked up her skirts and ran for her horse
.
How foolish could she be
?
She should have at least waited for a reply from Robert.

After stumbling only a few desperate steps, he grabbed her firmly under her breasts and dragged her roughly against him
.
Her anguished scream only managed to spook her horse
.
The mount galloped back down the path they
’d
come
, probably returning to the stable
from
where she
’d
“borrowed” him.

The man shoved her against the stone railing
.
She swiped at his face
.
He grabbed her wrists and held them tightly.

Arianna took another breath to scream
.
The violin continued to wail in the distance
.

“Stop it, Arianna
.
Do you want to awaken all of Westhaven?”

“Robert,” she
said,
immediately
ceasing
her struggles
,
but he did not release his painful grip.

His hat had come off and his shorn hair made him appear older
.
He’d grown tanner and more fit in Cornwall
.
And much more serious.

She tried to kiss him but he turned his head, pressing her harder into the bridge
.
The fact
he used his body to hold her in place
made
Arianna
not
mind at all.

“I’ve missed you
.
Did you receive any of my letters
?
Father had been pinching them
,
but I figured a way to sneak them past him.
”
She searched his face and could not find an ounce of happiness to see her
.
His gaze remained dark
,
unfathomable.

Robert suddenly let her go and stepped away
. 

“
In my letter
I told you my father wanted me to marry an earl.” Arianna rubbed her abused wrists
,
but her pride had been so much more offended.

“But you failed to mention it was my grandfather,” he said through nearly gritted teeth.

“I had no idea until I found out who would be performing the ceremony
.
Please tell me it’s not true
.
I’m sure my father is only trying to torture me.”

“Which part of this complicated story did you just become clear on?
”
Robert retreated to the bridge’s opposite railing
.
“That you are marrying my grandfather or that I will be performing the ceremony
?
They are both true.”

“None of this is my fault
.
My father has planned this all my life
.
I have been under virtual house arrest for over a month.”

“You were certainly flirtatious for a woman who had a betrothed all this time
.
Your father should have kept you under lock and key sooner instead of allowing you to roam the halls of
Guy’s Hospital
, disturbing the sanity of men of science and letters.”

Having backed himself against the railing, Arianna
stepped to him and
pinned him there
.
She slid her arms around his waist under his stiff black coat
,
and
pressed
her head on his chest
.
No longer did the scent of ink, ale and musty libraries cling to his neatly pressed clothes
.
Dear God, he had begun to smell like a minister
.
Polishing wax, red wine and incense
.
She lifted her head to look into his face
.

Robert did not return her embrace, but neither did he brush her away
.
He stared down at her, his dark gaze a combination of naked desire and horrified fascination.

“So I disturb your sanity Reverend Fitzgerald?”

“Yes, you do.
”
He
lifted his hands and
squeezed her shoulders
, then
forcefully guided her a couple of steps back
.
“Are you mad to go traipsing around at night without an escort
?
I would not have met you at all but I was terrified you would be accosted by Lord knows whom
.
I’d have gone directly to your father if I knew where you were staying.”

“We’re just down the road at an old inn on the outskirts of the village
.
It’s shocking my father would stay in such a place
,
but he wants to be close to Westhaven
.
He’s literally blockaded the earl, afraid he will sneak off without marrying me
.
The old man can hardly tolerate my presence.”

“I seriously doubt that.
”
Robert’s grip loosened and he slid his hands down her arms.

She cupped his face, turned her mouth up to his
.
“You look different, Robert.”

“You don’t.
”
He curled his long fingers around the back of her neck, rubbed her throat with his thumb
.
Arianna closed her eyes and slightly parted her lips
.
He brushed her lips with his own, but pulled away too soon.

She crushed his stiffly pressed lapels in her fists, stood on her toes while drawing him down
.
This might be her last chance to be alone with Robert and she kissed him with a fervor she never dared show, tempting him with a soft flick of her tongue.