Dangerous in Diamonds - Madeline Hunter [46]
“I would lay odds they are. I know Hawkeswell from well before he reformed, and one of the joys of marriage is that one can be bad again. As for Albrighton, he ignores rules that are inconvenient to his goals.”
She was about to argue when she remembered the gaze Jonathan and Celia had exchanged and Celia’s private smile. The notion that her friends were in the dark back there, engaging in “marital bliss,” dismayed her.
She sat again and eyed Castleford suspiciously. “Is that why the lanterns are only on this end of the barge? You are a very thoughtful host.”
“I was thinking only of myself. I hoped that deep shadows beneath a starlit summer sky would lure them away from us. Lo and behold, they have.”
She set her gaze at the remnants of wine in her glass. If she had not had more than was wise, perhaps she would be indignant and outraged and would pointedly discourage him from any seductive intentions.
Unfortunately, the warmth provoked by the wine and the happy laughter of the night only made her weak to the inexplicable appeal of this man. Even the knowledge that he was dangerous to women and represented potentially serious trouble for her in particular only managed to titillate her right now.
She turned her attention to the front of the barge. In the distance, beyond the bend of the river, she was sure she could see some of the lanterns of Vauxhall Gardens twinkling like tiny stars.
“We should probably head upriver now,” she suggested. “We will never get there if we keep going back and forth like this.”
“We will arrive soon enough. I do not want to rush our mutual friends. Do you?”
She was trying hard not to imagine what their friends were doing, let alone estimate how long it would take. Scandalous images wanted to enter her mind of how they were doing it too. Were there even beds back there?
She felt herself flushing. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Castleford turned toward her slightly on the rather small settee, his head propped on his hand and his elbow propped on the table.
He watched her ever so calmly—almost, it seemed, with consideration—and she would be hard-pressed to identify anything particularly threatening about him. He appeared quite sane and not even especially seductive. His attention might be that of any host to a guest left to her own devices by friends who forgot their duty to her.
All the same, her instincts screamed that she would be wise to run away—if only there were someplace to run to. She felt him there, felt his proximity and gaze, and she noted with alarm the sensations sparkling inside her.
“I have something for you,” he said. “A small gift.”
She turned to him, surprised. “I do not think—”
“Hush.” He took her hand and held it palm side up. He dropped something small and hard in it. The candlelight caught the item, and a new star was born in the night.
He had just dropped a diamond in her hand. A goodsize one.
“Of the finest clarity, as you demanded,” he said.
“I did not demand any—” She lost the path of her thought. She had to pick up the stone and hold it to the light. The clarity astonished her. But for all its brilliance, the human warmth of his hand on hers distracted her more.
His touch felt so good, so intimate and human. She should withdraw her hand, but she did not. The careful, firm support seemed protective. What would it feel like to turn her hand, so it was palm on palm?
She placed the diamond on the table. The dancing candle flame made its surface flash. “I cannot accept it. You know that I cannot.”
His other hand reached toward the stone. The move angled his body closer to her. His long fingers turned the diamond, almost absently, while he looked at it. She gazed at it too, keeping her eyes averted from that face and that dangerous appeal.
“What are you afraid of, Mrs. Joyes? If I thought to buy you, I could do better than this.”
Tonight the implied proposition charmed her more than irritated her. No doubt that was the wine again.
He angled