Romance: Detective Romance: A Vicious Affair (Victorian Regency Intrigue 19th England Romance) (Historical Mystery Detective Romance) (20 page)

He smiled, and his strongly made face opened to me. “I have sought this for a long time,” he said.

“What is that, Duke?”

“Somebody with whom I could sit and hold hands and not have it be a cataclysmic event. Somehow I knew when I saw you in London that you were not like other women. It was in the way you carried yourself. You walked through the city, not like a star-struck woman, but almost like a man.” He winced. “That sounds monstrous, doesn’t it? I do not mean to call you manly. I merely mean to say that you, as far as I can tell, have shunned much of the extraneous womanliness that encumbers so many.”

I knew I could take offense if I wished, but I also knew exactly what he meant. Almost involuntarily, I squeezed his hand reassuringly. “I knew what you meant,” I said. “You do not need to worry.”

He smiled at me again. “I want to see you again, after today,” he said. “We must contrive a reason for you to stay. I have guest quarters where you and your maidservant may abide for a time, if you wish.”

This idea was glorious to me. I could
stay
within his proximity. I could
be
with him for a longer time. The obstacle was Father. He was under the impression that I could be back on the morrow. “I would have to send word to Father,” I said.

“I could do that,” the duke said. “If I were to contrive some party or gathering. Yes, that is what I will do. I will throw a grand party five days from now. If I write to your father personally, I do not see how he can object. I am, after all, a duke.” He said this with none of the condescension or social pretentiousness which is so common in this sphere. He merely spoke the truth. “I would send the missive by messenger,” he went on. “Your father would learn immediately, and so any social missteps would be alleviated. If he wishes for your return, of course you must go. But I do not think he will. What is your answer, Sarah? Please, say yes!”

He gazed into my eyes imploringly. I nearly reached out to touch his face, but I restrained myself. All around us life was happening, and yet I felt utterly disconnected from it all. Life was not happening out there; it was happening here.

“I will stay,” I said. I hastened to add: “But you must write to Father this instant. Make it clear that it is for the party, and stress the social benefits.”

“I shall,” the duke said, releasing my hand. “I shall write to him this instant. Will you come with me, Sarah? I will go to my study, and there are books there that I think might interest you.”

At the mention of books I stood as though by rote. “I will come,” I said, as naturally and unexcitedly as I was able.

The duke nodded and began to walk. After a moment I followed, not so close as to cause
murmur
, but not so distant as to be strictly proper.

*****

The main body of the guests still being occupied with the festivities, the library was a private meeting place for the duke and me. He led me into a chamber a Greek philosopher would be happy to stand in for a time. It was not so much the architecture of the room that provoked a profound response within me, but the character of the room. Everywhere one looked, books lay upon the shelves, hundreds and hundreds of them. I have never seen so many books in my life. I felt my mind turning, as though twisting around in a foolish attempt to see all the books at once.

The Duke walked before me, and then turned and smiled. “It is acceptable?” he said.

“It is—” I could not form words that would properly explain the glory of this room. Only a low light filtered in through slatted windows at the top, dusty with the age of books. It was every romantic dream I had ever envisioned in my youth. So rarely do we humble creatures get to really
live
our dreams.

The duke laughed softly and walked through the library as carelessly as if such grandeur were the norm for him, and I reflected, it must be. After a breathless moment, I followed him to a large, oak desk and chair, upon which he sat and began to write a letter. He wrote it quickly, and then handed it to me to read. It was simple and plain and undeniable. He, a duke, wished to keep the Archer daughter here for a time. It was a great honor. I knew right away that Father would agree. I handed the letter back to him and he nodded and sealed it within an envelope.

“I will send it this very day,” he said. “We will not have a reply until tomorrow, but I am sure you will stay until then?”

“Yes,” I said, far too quickly. I was finding it harder and harder to hide my eagerness.

He rose from the desk and offered me his arm. Looking around to ensure that we were not being observed, I took his arm. He led me
around
the library, allowing me to look more closely at some of
the more
interesting tomes. There were the missing volumes of Homer’s
Odyssey
. Upon seeing my excitement at holding these volumes, he pushed them into my hands. “They are yours,” he said.

“You cannot mean it,” I whispered, staring down at the books.

“I do,” the duke said. “It is worth it to see a woman who gets excited about books. Most women would rather be out there, at the fayre, but I see you are made of different material. I expect that your design has been a hindrance to you for most of your life.”

“It has.”

“That is a great dishonor to Man,” the duke said vehemently. “I would say you are the kind of woman whom a man needs to treasure, but that would be unworthy; I do not think you are any
kind
at all. I think you are simply Sarah Archer, a beautiful anomaly.”

I had never been flattered so endlessly. The effect it had upon me was jarring. I felt my mouth falling open like a village idiot’s, and yet I was powerless to stop it. I was in awe of this man and his words. I placed the books on the shelf, lest I drop them, and stood still for a few moments. Soon he put his hands on my shoulders, gripping them firmly, and turned me toward him.

“I wish to kiss you, Sarah,” he said.

Men are not as honorable as they would have us believe, and I had had this offer thrust before me many times before, with the full knowledge that it would be my downfall if the man was a rascal. For that reason, and the reason that I had never felt an overwhelming inclination to succumb, I had never kissed a man before.

“You wish…”

“To kiss you,” the Duke said firmly. “Will you allow me?”

I stood on the edge of a cliff, the wind whipping at me. One way there was ecstasy, the other was oblivion. What if I succumbed to this man and he was rascal? What if I was one duped woman in a line of duped women? I looked into his eyes, searching for any sign of duplicity, but all attempts to read him were lost in the solid ice-blue of the deep pools of his irises.

Then I tossed intellect aside, a rare thing for me, and consulted my heart. The consultation did not last long. I wanted this, I realized.

“It must not last long,” I said hurriedly, “lest somebody come in and find us.”

“Yes, my lady,” the duke – Francis – said.

He touched my cheek with his hand, and then leaned forward and placed his lips upon mine. I had been afraid that I would not know what to do, but it felt as natural as walking. Our lips brushed as though they were old companions, and his tongue snaked into my mouth. This was most scandalous, and yet I opened my mouth in return and allowed our tongues to dance.

We kissed for longer than was agreed upon, and would have kissed for longer had there not been the clapping of shoes behind us. We both turned swiftly just in time to see Charlotte enter.

“Miss, I feared something had happened to you!” the poor girl exclaimed.

“The duke was just showing me his books, Charlotte,” I said. “You did not have to worry.”

“Yes, Miss,” Charlotte said. “Would you like to come outside now?”

The duke stepped forward. “We shall all go outside and join in on the fun.”

The girl’s face lit up like a fire at that. Then she clapped out of the room. The duke turned and stared into my eyes. “One more,” he said.

I nodded.

Our lips, our tongues, even our teeth, all of
them
mashed together in a dance of unearthly pleasure.

*****

It had been three nights from the date of the fayre. I lay awake around three in the morning, thinking over the previous three days. Apart from a short stroll around the grounds on the second day, upon which event Charlotte was also present, the duke and I had not spent any time together since the first day. This was mainly due to exterior events in London, which I will not bore the reader by delving into now. But late on the evening upon which I lay awake, waiting, the business in London had concluded and the duke’s advisors had left the castle.

And so our romance could resume.

For the sake of our closeness, the duke had arranged for Charlotte to have her own room down the hallway. This was agreeable to me, because it made nights like tonight much easier. The duke was to visit me tonight. We were to spend some time alone together. My nerves were aching with anticipation at this point, and I had already decided that if he didn’t arrive tonight, I would return home. There is only so much a woman can take, exterior factors or not.

I watched the moon make its passage across my bedroom wall, the shadows of trees dancing in the pale blue hue. I had been reading the books the duke had gifted me until early in the morning, but now I was eager to recommence my affections with the duke. It is unwomanly to say so, but if he had walked in right then and kissed me without permission, I would not have objected.

I must make my state of mind clear, as a defense of sorts, because already the men among you are judging me, calling me unwomanly, perhaps even witchy. For the longest time Father had been trying to get me to marry, as was proper, and I do not blame him for it. If I could only attach myself to a prosperous family, I might elevate the Archers out of the rut they had been stuck in for generations. But my father was too soft-hearted to push with too much insistence, and I was allowed, for the most part, to form my own character.

I chose the character of a book-dweller, spending most of my early adulthood among books, neglecting my “social obligations.” And whilst Father did not hinder me, neither did he approve. So at the point of meeting the duke, I was afloat in a sea of unrecognition. I desperately wanted somebody to recognize me for what I was, not for who I was supposed to be.

And then came the duke. His words in the library, his beautiful words which I shall always remember, resounded in me, multiplying each day and increasing in force. The duke, I was sure, recognized me. And there was something else. There was a bodily reaction, also; my body called out for him, and the taste of his lips on mine was still fresh.

I was his, mind and body, from the second we kissed in the library. I believed with my entire soul that I had found my equal in life. But if he left me now, to wait all night… If he did not come—

Then there came a knock at the door, a secret, soft knock.

I rose and crept to the door, being careful that my steps did not
made
too much noise. Upon opening it, I saw that it was the duke, dressed only in britches and a shirt, without any of the adornments that befit his station. He smiled and nodded to his clothes.

“I do not need to dress ceremoniously for you, my love?”

“Of course not,” I said. In fact, it made me feel closer to him that he felt comfortable appearing before me in this fashion. I opened the door wider. “Please, come in.”

He came into the room, and before long we were in each other’s arms.

*****

I wish to tell this tale of a poor Archer girl and a duke with the utmost honesty and openness. To that end I will describe the next section in detail that many of you will find scandalous. It thrills me to recount it, but it may not thrill the more prudent among you, the more “stuck in the past” among you. For the duke and I, two unmarried persons, made love this night. We made love and I am not ashamed if the world knows it. If I am strung up for a hussy upon publication of this account, I will still hold my head high with pride. Those that would string me up no nothing of real love, with their pretense and boundaries and guidelines.

The duke and I lay upon the bed, having fallen there in mutual reverie when he entered. His lips were on mine and my hands, as though hungry themselves, roved over his body. There was
an oppressive
and yet not unpleasant warmth in the room. It was as though the two of us were kissing and touching within a stove. I let out moans of pleasure, throwing myself wholly into the moment, something I rarely did. My hands moved down his body, down to that part of a man’s body I had only heard whispers of, but had never seen, let alone touched.

I moved my hands down, down, down, and
grabbed
that part of him. It was rock-hard to the touch, and I felt my body respond immediately. So, I thought, this is what is meant by lust between a man and a woman. He let out a low growl when I touched him there, a growl filled with pleasure. I rubbed it up and down, up and down, and was glad to hear his growls intensify. My own privates were very wet and hot now.