Bertrice Small - Deceived

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her slowly, smiling down into her eyes, nibbling tenderly upon her lower lip. "Good night, Aurora, my darling. How I long for the night when I shall not have to let you go to a lonely bed." Then he whispered softly in her ear, "I shall insist we sleep naked, and I shall caress and kiss every inch of your lovely body until you beg me to take you. And I will!" His hands were fastened about her small waist, and he held her so that her breasts just touched his chest. "I am going to tease and taunt you until the day that you marry me, darling. I know that that little secret place of yours is even now throbbing and wet, isn't it?"

Surprised, she nodded. "I think you are very wicked, St. John," she murmured low. "If you tease me, I shall tease you, and that tine fellow, as you call your member, will ache with longing for me even as it now does, doesn't it?" She daringly ran her tongue along his lips.

The library door opened, and the duke spoke sharply. "Go to your room, Aurora. St. John, go home. I'll have no scandal in my house."

With a chuckle Justin St. John kissed the tip of Aurora's nose, and releasing his hold on her, bowed mockingly at his cousin as he departed.

Valerian Hawkesworth had an angry look about him. "You will remember, miss, that I am your guardian while you are here in England. You will not play the strumpet again, or I will have you confined to your room on a diet of bread and water. Do you understand, Aurora?"

"I understand that you are arrogant, my lord, even as I have always believed you to be. You may force my sister to your will, but you will never force me. I shall probably marry St. John, although I have not yet decided to do so, and if you believe that I would compromise my own good name, you are sadly mistaken. I bid you good night." She ran up the staircase and hurried to the dowager's room, knocking politely.

"Yes, miss?" The dowager's Jane answered the door.

"If her ladyship is still awake, I should like to speak with her," Aurora said politely.

"Come in, miss, she's been waiting," Jane replied. She was a tiny woman with a cheery smile who always wore a neatly starched mobcap over her gray curls, and was utterly devoted to her mistress.

Mary Rose Hawkesworth was already settled in her bed, her nightcap with its blue silk ribbons tied beneath her chin. "Well?" she demanded. "Did he propose, and did you accept him, Aurora?"

"It was the seventh time he has proposed," she said with a small laugh. "I have always refused him."

"He has proposed to you seven times, and you refused him?" The dowager was astounded. "Gracious, child, what can you be thinking?"

"I did not refuse tonight, but neither did I accept, although I am of a mind to accept, ma'am," Aurora told her sponsor.

"Why now?" The dowager was curious. Aurora, she was discovering, could be a most unpredictable young girl. Stubborn, Martha had said.

"He kissed me," Aurora replied. "I liked it. I liked it very much, ma'am. He has been so proper and so polite until tonight. He was rather masterful this evening. I found it intriguing, and quite delicious. He is not the fop I thought him to be, and now perhaps I shall accept his offer because I believe he will be a most interesting man to have for a husband. I might even be falling in love with him."

"Ahhhh," the dowager said, nodding with approval, her eye meeting that of her servant. "You will not get a better offer, my child. St. John is well off without your dowry, and so he has no ulterior motive involved in asking for your hand. He has not sought to marry before now, although heaven knows there have been several most suitable young women he might have had. I suspect he has fallen in love with you."

"He has asked me to tea tomorrow to meet his mama," Aurora told the dowager.

"Excellent!" came the enthusiastic reply. "I shall, of course, accompany you. It will show Mistress St. John that I fully approve of any alliance contracted between her son and our family." There was a smile of utter satisfaction upon her handsome face. It was going well, and it was going to work out precisely as she had hoped. "Have you thought about when we shall have the wedding, my child?" she asked.

"I have not told St. John yes yet, ma'am." Aurora laughed.

"But you will, of course, and the sooner the better," the old lady advised her charge.

"Would late spring be too soon?" Aurora wondered. "I suppose we should probably wait a year not to appear unseemly, but I have always wanted to be married in the spring. Cally should be well recovered from her childbirth by then, and can be my attendant witness, as I was for her when she married the duke last winter."

"Spring would be a perfect time," the dowager agreed. "April or May, my child. Mid-May would be beautiful! And who cares what the old gossips say. St. John is eager, and so, I suspect, are you now." Her blue eyes twinkled mischievously at the girl. "I well remember those heady kisses of my youth. None are ever quite so sweet as those."

"I respect your experience," Aurora told her playfully. "Now, however, ma'am, I suspect that you would like to retire. I bid you good night." Impulsively, Aurora bent and kissed the dowager's wrinkled cheek. Then with a quick curtsy she was gone from the room.

Mary Rose Hawkesworth touched her cheek, and a tear rolled down her face. "Why, that sweet child," she said softly.

"She is that," Jane agreed. "A pity she weren't the one we got for Master Valerian."

"Yes," the dowager agreed. "A great pity indeed."

“Hold still, miss," Martha said as she carefully laced up her young mistress. "'I've never known you to be so fidgety!"

"I've never been invited to meet a gentleman's mother before, and frankly I'm nervous," Aurora admitted to her maid.

"The dowager will be with you," Martha replied. "Just let her do all the talking. Answer politely and try to appear mannerly, miss. Mistress St. John doesn't have to know you ride astride or like to swim naked in the sea. Just be what every mama wants for her son. A well-mannered, loving girl who will devote herself to her husband."

"I haven't told St. John that I'll marry him yet," Aurora protested.

Martha turned the girl about and looked critically at her garb. Apple-green silk gown with a petticoat panel of ivory brocade embroidered with multicolored butterflies; tight sleeves to just below the elbow with creamy engageants; a pretty rounded neckline modestly edged with a lace ruffle. She nodded, satisfied. "Of course you're going to marry Mr. St. John, miss," she said. "That's what we come from St. Timothy for last winter. To find you a husband, and Mr. St. John will make you a fine one. Now, here's your shawl. It's not cold, so you'll not need a cloak." She draped it over Aurora's shoulders, then handed her a pair of lace mitts and a reticule of pale green silk. "There's a handkerchief inside, and a little painted fan if it gets too warm. Now, you hold still a minute while I affix the finishing touch." She put a small bunch of little cream-colored silk flowers in the girl's hair and stepped back. "Yes," she nodded. "It's just perfect. Now, go and join the dowager, and remember what I told you. A modest and mannerly demeanor and a gentle voice will impress Mistress St. John best."

Mary Rose Hawkesworth stood with her grandson as Aurora descended the staircase. "How pretty you look, my child," she complimented her.

"Thank you, ma'am" came the response, and then Aurora looked at the duke and said, "Do you think I look pretty, Valerian?"

"Conserve your flirtatious manners for my cousin, Aurora," he sharply put her down. "I am certain he will be delighted to see how boldly you have dressed for him."

"Boldly? What in heaven's name is bold about my appearance?" she demanded angrily.

"The neckline on your gown is immodest," he grumbled.

"It is edged in a lace ruffle, and Martha says it is quite decorous," Aurora snapped back at him. "You surely don't consider yourself an arbiter on women's fashions, sir?"

"Enough," the dowager said, raising her hand, and then, "Come, my dear, or we will be late to Primrose Court." She gave her grandson a hard look and then took Aurora's arm.

He stood watching as the carriage drew away from the house. She had looked utterly adorable, and the thought that she had dressed with the idea of pleasing St. John was infuriating. Did his cousin love Aurora? Really love her? Would he make her happy, or would he break her heart when she discovered St. John's penchant for women? All women. St. John would do what so many of their contemporaries did. He would take a respectable wife with a respectable dowry and have several children, all the while keeping a bit of fluff hidden away. Valerian Hawkesworth knew his cousin's bad habits, although St. John had always been so utterly discreet that virtually no one realized what a cad he could be. Of course, the duke admitted to himself, he had taken a wife for precisely the same reasons they all did, and while he did not love Calandra, he had never been unfaithful to her except perhaps in the deepest and most secret place in his heart. With a sigh he returned to his library, and pouring himself a whiskey, sat down.

The ducal carriage quickly left Hawkes Hill behind. It would be almost half an hour's ride to Primrose Court, as the St. John home was known.

"Margaret St. John will be delighted to have Justin finally married," the dowager remarked as they rode along. "You are very fortunate, my child. Primrose Court has a dower house, and Mistress St. John has been eager to move into it. She has spent the last several years preparing it for her arrival. You'll have no mother-in-law in your house."

"But, ma'am, I still have not decided whether to marry St. John or not. I hope the good lady is not presuming I will." Aurora shifted nervously in her seat.

"Now, my child," the dowager said, patting Aurora's hand, "you must cease this maidenly dithering. It is not at all becoming to a girl of your intellect. Of course you will marry Justin St. John. He's an excellent catch, and your mama will be absolutely delighted." She smiled encouragingly at the girl. "I know you are a little frightened, but you do not have to be, Aurora. If your mama is in St. Timothy, the rest of your family is here with you, and everything is just going to be fine." She patted the lace-mitted hand again.

The vehicle traveled on past orchards of apples and pears now being picked. The air was sweet with the scent of ripe fruit. Finally they turned off the main road, going through an open gate and down a narrow tree-lined way that led to Primrose Court. It was a lovely warm, pinkish brick mansion of Tudor vintage that had been modernized over the years to include large windows and a round pillared porch. The coach horses trotted smartly up the graveled drive, finally stopping directly before the house. Immediately servants were hurrying forward to open the carriage door, draw down the steps, and help the passengers out, escorting them into the building.

Justin St. John was awaiting them in the foyer. "Welcome, your ladyship," he said, kissing the dowager's hand. Then he turned to Aurora. "Welcome home, my darling," he told her, and she blushed.

"Oh, St. John, don't be such a fool," she gently scolded him.

"Come into the drawing room and meet Mama," he said with a small smile. How pretty she looked, he thought to himself. She seemed to have gone out of her way for him today. She was going to say yes. He just knew she was going to say yes! His heart raced, and for a brief moment he felt like a schoolboy again. Leading the two women into the salon where his mother was standing to greet their guests, he let his parent greet the dowager first.

Mistress St. John curtsied to Mary Rose Hawkesworth. "How lovely that you could come for a visit, ma'am," she said. "I am so sorry that the ague kept me from your grand ball last May. The neighbors are yet speaking of it, and such a dramatic climax to have the young duchess faint, and everyone to learn she was with child. Is she well?"

The dowager smiled thinly. "As well as any young woman in her condition, Margaret. I have brought the duchess's sister with me today. St. John! Introduce Aurora!"

"Mama, may I present Miss Aurora Spencer-Kimberly," he dutifully said, drawing Aurora forward with a smile.