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She felt somewhat mollified by that. A simple embrace did not seem so ruinous. But she knew that to the broader society it would be seen as such.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I believe that is so.’
‘We shall meet there.’
‘Yes. And in the meantime, endeavour not to draw suspicion.’
She waited. Waited until the hour drew closer for her brother to begin to make his way from the ballroom. They would have to get there before him. With a bit of time.
James was already gone.
She swept from the room, taking care not to be
seen, and tiptoed up the stairs, towards her brother’s library.
The only light in the room was that cast by the fire in the hearth. She hoped that the staff would not precede her brother to light candles for those who would soon occupy the room. The staff might offer her discretion. She did not want discretion.
She wanted to be ruined.
She sensed movement in the corner, and she turned, her stomach tight with nerves, her entire body nearly surging with unnatural amounts of energy. And then she heard footsteps. Just at the same time. And before she could think, before she could do anything but act, she did so. She flung herself at the figure in the corner, wrapping her arms around him. But he was so much taller than she had expected him to feel.
So much more solid.
The figure...the man...moved against her, and she nearly fell backwards. And then he lowered his hand, cupping the rounded globe of her buttocks. And she knew that hand was much too large to be James’s.
Terror streaked through her, but just then, the door flung open wide, and along with the open door, came the light.
‘What in the devil is happening?’
She looked towards the open study door and felt...everything shatter. It was not merely her brother and a few colleagues; it was a house tour. Complete with some of the sharper-tongued gossips of the ton.
And then she looked up, up at the man who held her in his arms, to see familiar blue eyes. Far too familiar.
The stars. The sun.
Briggs.
His hand was still planted firmly on her buttocks, and suddenly the warmth of his body became an inferno, the strength of his hold a revelation.
She could not breathe.
You can breathe. No man is allowed to steal your breath.
Even so, the fact remained...
She had flung herself at Briggs. And her brother had walked in just in time to see it.
‘I demand an explanation now. Or I will have no choice but to call you out.’ She could see murder in her brother’s eyes, and she knew that he was not speaking in jest.
‘There is nothing untoward here.’ Briggs released his hold on her slowly, ensuring that she did not fall.
‘And yet, we have all witnessed something quite untoward, sir.’
‘It’s my fault. It’s my...’
‘There is no question. There is no question of what must be done.’
She looked back at Briggs, who was gazing at her brother with fury in his eyes. ‘Of course.’
