One True Love (5 page)

"I would not have missed it. Of course, Jocelyn would sulk for days if we did not come, and neither mother nor I can abide her sulking." Cassie laughed as Jocelyn narrowed her eyes.

"You are right. I had to come; otherwise, I would never break free of
your
sulking over the absence of Mr. Parker." Cassie grimaced at Jocelyn's comment.

The girls chatted for awhile about the local ladies and gents. Lady Anne pointed out the most eligible bachelors, including Mr. Jones, a handsome and wealthy land-owner. Jocelyn's eyes widened when she saw him across the room. He turned their direction, and came over to address Lady Anne. After an introduction to Jocelyn, he whisked her away to the dance floor. Cassie's heart tugged with jealousy. She wished Mr. Parker was here.

"Oh, William is here." Lady Anne tugged on her sleeve. "Come, I must greet him. He must have just come in from London. He left the day after the dinner party."

Cassie froze.
Oh, dear heavens!
She did not expect to see him here. Granted, she knew it was possible, but she truly thought she would be safe. How could she possibly face him? Her insides quivered. She did not want to greet him, look into his face, his eyes; see his mouth. She instinctively covered her mouth with her hand. Her lips burned from the memory of their kiss. Why did he come tonight?

Cassie knew she would not be able to avoid him. She tried to imagine he would stay in London, or go back to his new home, and she assumed she would not see him before her wedding. Once she married Mr. Parker, she would be safe from Lord William, safe from his intrusion into her thoughts.

Lady Anne dragged her through the thrones of people across the room. The closer she came to Lord William the more ragged her breaths became. She struggled to compose herself.
He is so beautiful.

Oh, what could she be thinking! She must smash these wayward and sinful thoughts. She could not think about Lord William, and how his kisses heated her from the inside out, how they melted her resistance, how they made her desire him above Mr. Parker. No! She loved Mr. Parker. Truly she did.

"William, I am so happy to see you here. When did you arrive?" Lady Anne reached out to hug him as he bent and kissed her cheek.

Heat rose in Cassie and warmed her entire being. His arms were around Lady Anne and his mouth kissed her cheek, but his eyes went directly to Cassie's soul. The look he gave her stripped her raw, burned through her, sending shockwaves through her body. She thought she might swoon.

Ridiculous! She never swooned in her life. She was not the swooning type. She had a strong and healthy constitution, and she certainly was not a milksop. She held herself erect and placed a cool mask of indifference across her features. She would not cow or waver or faint. She would be polite and move on.

"Miss Chambers, how do you do?" Lord William took her hand and kissed the air above it which she found disappointing. She mentally scolded herself. Lord William did not need to kiss her hand, or her lips...

"Fine, thank you,
my lord
." She curtsied while considering a way out. She had to find a way to leave his presence. She desperately tried to create a mental image of Mr. Parker in her mind, but it came like a ghost haunting a house, fading away as soon as she conjured it up.

"May I have the honor of the next dance?" asked Lord William.

No. No you cannot.

"Yes, of course."

Lord William took her hand and escorted her onto the dance floor. She should have made up an excuse. She should have told him she was about to visit the lady's retiring room, anything to remove herself from this awkward situation, but the words left her mouth before her brain had time to process his request. Wonderful! The next set would last at least half an hour. She just placed herself in the company of the one man she should avoid.

She set her hand on his arm. Waves of tiny sparks moved across her skin. A heavy achiness spread to her most intimate regions. Her knee buckled slightly causing her to grasp his arm tighter. He turned and raised an eyebrow in question, but he did not say anything about her near misstep. She tried desperately to compose herself as they moved onto the dance floor, and stood across from each other until the music began. He was so handsome in his formal attire consisting of a dark blue coat, white shirt, and striped blue and gold knee breeches. He almost looked like a London dandy, but no, the way he carried himself and the lack of ornament made him seem more masculine somehow.

Mr. Parker was a dandy, perfectly groomed and dressed and sometimes ornamented to the point of being obnoxious and she loved it. She secretly thought his wardrobe hysterical. The bright colors suited his sanguine personality. He was always laughing and joking, and making everyone around him laugh. Mr. Parker made laugh, and oh, how she needed laughter in her life. Her staid and stoic existence bored her beyond belief.

The set began. They moved together and apart, at first quiet, but the contact of their hands caused the gooseflesh on her skin to rise. She pursed her lips in an attempt to mask the feelings bubbling from the surface.

"Miss Chambers, you must accept my apology for the...um...events that occurred recently." His voice startled her out of her own contemplations.

"I need no reminders Lord William of my one indiscretion in life. I prefer to sweep it away and forget about it. Please do not speak of it again." She watched his eyes lift in question. She surprised him with the coolness of her answer. Good. She had no choice.

"Of course," said Lord William.

They continued with the dance for a few more minutes before he spoke again. "It was not an indiscretion."

"What?" She nearly stopped in the middle of the dance floor upon his odd declaration.

"There is something between us, something we would be bound to explore if it were not for your betrothal. However, we cannot change our circumstances, so it is pointless to carry on."

She hissed between her teeth, "We are not carrying on. And you are right, my lord, I am betrothed. I love Mr. Parker." She raised her chin. She could be as haughty as any aristocrat if need be.

"I see." A shadow passed over his face and his jovial features were replaced with a face of cool stone. He tensed. And when their hands connected she noticed he withdrew his contact just enough to continue the dance, but not enough to touch her as if he held her.

It appeared she put an end to whatever stirred between them, except she felt a pain, a great pain of loss. How could she feel loss for something she never had? Not really. A small glimpse is all. One that created turmoil in her mind and heart. How could she possibly regret the loss of something that exhilarated and tormented her at the same time?

"Anne tells me you have joined her committee for raising funds for a local home for orphans." At least he changed the topic to something safe.

"Yes, I have already noticed a number of homeless street urchins running around the area, unchaperoned, or cared for, begging for food or scraps of cloth for clothing. It is shameful any child should be left on their own devices."

"It is a shame. I am in full support of the endeavor. I promised Anne to escort the committee on their search next week for a suitable location for a home." His eyes crinkled in the corners when he smiled and his straight white teeth gleamed in the candlelight.

Cassie might have sighed, except for the panic rising up within her. She also promised to go with Anne, and a few select members of the committee on their search. If she had know Lord William would act as their escort, she would have invented a reason to decline.

Her stomach churned at the thought of spending the day in Lord William's company. The unsettling feeling caused her to stumble and step on his foot. "Oh dear, how clumsy of me."

He braced her arm with his hand and gave her a questioning look. Surely, he did not think she stepped on him on purpose? Oh, but of course he did. She wished she had a fan to smack him over his head.

"Think nothing of it sweetings."

"I am not your sweetings!" Cassie spit out. How dare he? The man itched her last nerve.

He laughed.
Laughed.
A rich, warm, bold laugh that put her on the edge of a cliff where she felt herself tumbling heart first. How could she possibly spend an entire day with this man? Her strange and uncertain feelings reminded her of a trip she once took with her family on a sailing ship, and how the angry sea roared through her body causing her to be weak with nausea and rolling stomach cramps. Except this time the sea did not upset her constitution, but the man before her.

"I apologize if I offended you Miss Chambers."

The dance continued. How much longer would she have to endure this sweet torture? His eyes skimmed her face and landed briefly on her bosom. Her breasts throbbed like they had in her dreams at night, dreams that plagued her since meeting Lord William. The room suddenly grew hotter. Perspiration formed on her forehead and in the crevice between her breasts. She longed for the snapping cold of the February air.

The dance came to an end. He bowed; she curtsied. He took her arm and headed towards the punch table. "Perhaps you should escort me back to my mother."

"I thought perhaps you would like a drink."

"No. I want to return to my mother's side, now, if you please." She did not intend to sound snappish, but she was on edge, teetering on a line where panic poised to snatch her at her throat.

"Of course, Miss Chambers." A flicker of raw emotion passed over Lord William's face before turning back into cool, hard, stone. A mask. They both wore masks to disguise the growing frustrations between them. The man positively rattled her, and left her unsure of her own feelings. Would things have been different if she met Lord William before Mr. Parker?

No. She was merely a vicar's daughter, a commoner.

But he was a commoner too, despite his courtesy title. However, he was the son of a marquis, second in line for the title.

Mr. Parker was also in line for a title, and was assured he would become the next Viscount Winnington in his lifetime. The viscount was an old man, in his seventies, near his maker's door. Yes, her Mr. Parker would inherit the title and she would become a viscountess, the mother of the next Winnington heir. And yet, she was a vicar's daughter, her father the son of a fourth son, the grandson of an earl.

She never knew her grandfather. He died long before she was born. She only met her uncle twice before he cocked up his toes and left the earldom to his son. Granted, a little blue blood ran in her veins, but now it was far enough removed that she determined it did not count or matter.

She knew she was fortunate Mr. Parker overlooked such a thing as her common birth. He did not care. He loved her. He wanted to marry her, despite the obstacle of convincing his uncle of her worthiness as his bride. He did not wait for his uncle's approval, but instead, he proposed to her, promising her the moon and the stars and a lifetime of love.

She did not need the complication of Lord William. She had her Mr. Parker, and he was all she ever needed.

***

William watched Cassie dance with Lord John, a young buck barely out of knee breeches. The pink of her dress added a blushing glow to her porcelain skin and face. The dress flowed against her womanly curves, ripe breasts, and swaying hips. He groaned.

She tried to act cold to him during their dance, but only half succeeded. He felt her shivers and racing heartbeat through her hands and at the mere touch of her waist.

She wanted him. He knew it. She denied it.

He should turn away from his desire for her, but she was like a river of rushing water for a man dying of thirst. Miss Cassandra Chambers was his very own mirage. He wanted to drink, knowing it would never, could never, be enough.

He tried to shake her away; remove her from his thoughts, his dreams, and his every waking moment, but found it impossible. He journeyed to London to seek relief for his pain, but only found emptiness.

Lady Quartermane was happy to oblige him. He went to her bed, touched her body, kissed her lips, sank into her warm depths, but left feeling incomplete. Miss Chambers face never left his mind. It was her image he saw when he closed his eyes and thrust into Lady Quartermane's body. It was her voice he heard cry out when her body shattered into thousands pieces of light. Not Lady Quartermain. Miss Chambers. Cassandra. Cassie.