‘You are just like one of her heroes. Although perhaps not. They were inclined to beat their chests, rather. And relapse into brooding silence. But still…’
‘What a monster you are,’ Isabella observed idly. ‘Ignore her, Mr. Kirkwood. We indulge her far too much. But what about you? Did you enjoy the Season? I don’t recall seeing you -’ she broke off, obviously remembering Mr. Kirkwood’s status in Society. She blushed, the warm color turning her creamy skin a pretty pink.
‘I am not much of a one for social events, Mrs. Carstairs,’ he returned, amused. ‘Which is fortunate, as few invitations come my way, as you can imagine.’
‘Why is that?’ Millie demanded, before anybody could leap into this conversational breech. ‘Don’t people like you very much?’
‘Now Millie,’ Mama said again, the note of warning a great deal clearer in her voice now.
Millie looked both bewildered and offended by what she obviously considered an unjust rebuke. Even so, she readjusted her tactics. ‘I am sorry. I do not think before I speak,’ she explained.
‘A refreshing quality,’ Mr. Kirkwood assured her.
‘And you must admit it was a reasonable question. Does it not seem reasonable to you that you receive no invitations because you are not well liked?’ Millie demanded judiciously. ‘Invitations arrived all the time in London. If even half of them were accepted none of you would ever have been home, so if somebody does not receive any invitations it must be because nobody wants him to come.’
‘It is rude to ask anybody about their circumstances unless one knows them very well, as well you know,’ Mama replied quietly while Audrey squirmed in her chair and Allingham looked singularly uncomfortable. The aura of tension had settled back into the room and this time they could not blame the fractious Lady Allingham. Everybody but Millie knew that Kirkwood did not receive any invitations because of his status in Society, but it was hardly something anybody would be inclined to bandy about. Certainly, Audrey reflected, Kirkwood himself must shy away from the subject.
But she had underestimated the man. ‘I do not receive invitations,’ he said in his deep, lazy drawl, ‘because people do not find me a suitable dinner companion for the most part.’
Audrey spoke quickly, knowing full well her sister would be unlikely to leave it there now that her curiosity had been piqued. ‘I am sure we do not mean to pry into your private affairs,’ she interposed. ‘Indeed, it is rude of us to do so. You should apologize to Mr. Kirkwood, Millie.’
‘Why?’ Millie demanded, genuinely puzzled. ‘What did I say?’
‘It’s what you are going to say,’ Isabella replied, sitting up in her chair and eyeing her younger sister grimly. ‘We are all well acquainted with that unfortunate tendency to utter the first thing to come into your head. Quell that urge, if you please. Mr. Kirkwood will think us all very uncivilized.’
Audrey looked at Kirkwood and met the full force of his gaze. There seemed to be a challenge in his eyes but she could not imagine what he would have to challenge her with. Once again, her mind went back to the dim, private world they had both briefly shared together and her insides clenched fiercely in response. No matter that she knew how very uncivilized Kirkwood could be, unfortunately he had the ability to provoke a very uncivilized response in her.
‘I am not flooded with invitations,’ Kirkwood said coolly, still looking at her while he continued on as if nobody had spoken, ‘because I am not considered respectable by the ton.’
‘Kirkwood,’ Allingham said softly. Warningly.
‘It’s the truth, after all.’ Kirkwood glanced at his half-brother fleetingly. ‘I do believe my status hurts you far more than it hurts me.’
‘This is hardly the time or the place. Or,’ his brother added grimly, ‘the company.’
Kirkwood gave a wry smile. ‘I take your point. My profoundest apologies.’
‘Are you a rake?’ Millie asked eagerly. ‘For I have heard all manner of things about rakes but nobody ever really explains what makes them so dreadful.’
Isabella made an unexpected sound, shock, exasperation and amusement mingling together to induce an inadvertent noise between a gasp and a giggle. She covered her mouth with her hand and coughed gently while Lady Hathaway attempted to remedy the situation.
‘Once again, Mr. Kirkwood,’ she began, ‘I beg you to excuse my daughter.’
Kirkwood glanced again at Audrey and shook his head. ‘Does such impetuosity run in the family, Lady Hathaway? Are all your daughters so forthright?’
‘I would be inclined to say yes,’ Harry said, obviously trying for a lighter note. ‘Apart from Audrey, of course. One may depend on her to behave with circumspection.’
‘Oh?’ Kirkwood had not looked away, refusing to release her eyes and Audrey found herself helpless to do so. A heavy warmth was flooding her body as he allowed her to catch a flash of the desire in his eyes. She swallowed heavily. ‘But it is always the quiet ones that surprise us the most, is it not?’
A welcome distraction occurred in the form of Mrs. Fumble as she entered the room with a tea tray.
‘I brought you all in a little supper before going to my bed. Unless you’ll be wanting anything further?’
‘We are very well taken care of, Mrs. Fumble,’ Lady Hathaway smiled at the woman. ‘You must be exhausted with all the extra work that you’ve had to do.’
‘Oh now,’ Mrs. Fumble waved this away good-naturedly. ‘T’isn’t your fault you folk landed here. We’re happy to have you. Now then, Fumble’ll be in shortly to bank the fire down for the evening.’
Mrs. Fumble’s arrival allowed Audrey the opportunity to free herself from Kirkwood’s tyrannical gaze and she shifted her eyes to the housekeeper determinedly. Kirkwood seemed keen to disconcert her and she was annoyed that she was allowing him to do so. He was, she reflected uneasily, being a good deal more provocative than was necessary. As if he wished to rouse her. To challenge her. What did he want from her?
The obvious answer made her hot and cold all at once. Would she be able to resist him if he took it into his head to kiss her again? Of course she would. The very idea of that wicked mouth crushing her own made her breath catch at the back of her throat. Her response to him was as compelling as it was absolute. He had taken advantage of her, of her inexperience and her innocence and had used her quite shockingly.
And she had reveled in every moment of it.
I must make sure that I am not alone with him for even a moment, she thought grimly. Indeed, there must be somebody with me at all times, no matter what. For there was a real danger in being so close to Kirkwood and she knew she could not trust herself to behave as she ought. It was a demoralizing thought but at least she knew enough to understand her own vulnerability.
Half an hour after the landlord had come in to bank down the fire, Lady Hathaway put her sewing away and rose to her feet. ‘I do believe it’s time for bed. For you as well, Millie dearest, if you please.’
Millie looked mildly mutinous but Audrey rose with alacrity. Retiring was the obvious solution to a very difficult, emotionally overwrought evening. Allingham looked equally relieved that the night was coming to an end and she could hardly blame him. She had been on the edge of her seat that Kirkwood would say something that would set Millie off, worried that Millie herself would press him on the subject of his unpopularity among the ton. And, as the night had worn on, she had suffered the additional worry that she would forget herself and her surroundings enough to find a way to touch him, for the urge to do so was remarkably strong. Such thoughts were madness and yet they were remarkably hard to dislodge, once they had taken up residence in her head.
It was all extremely unsettling and she needed the sanctuary and the safety of her bed. Tomorrow… well, she would deal with tomorrow when it arrived.