To his consternation, however, Meredith Bright had a grip that would try the strength of a Titan.
They engaged in a rather embarrassing tug of war before he had no choice but to release Louisa’s hand, lest one of her arms be pulled from the socket. Lucas’s laugh did nothing to improve his mood.
Hugh glared at him then raised a mocking brow.
“That means you don’t get to celebrate either.” Hugh he reminded his brother with a sly smile.
“I have a life time of celebrating,” Lucas shot back, and Hugh scowled because the bloody man was right.
“And with that we bid you goodnight.” Meredith tugged Louisa from the room before Hugh even got the chance to speak to her.
Hugh thought it would be rather childish to chase after them and drag her back, so he let her go, feeling more frustrated by the second.
She turned back to glance at him and offer a small smile. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do until he got to speak to her again.
CHAPTER NINE
IT HAD BEEN A whirlwind by anyone’s standards and as Louisa watched her sister waltz in the arms of her husband, husband, she couldn’t help but smile.
It really had all worked out between those two.
The days leading up to the wedding had been spent frantically putting together a trousseau and organizing the wedding, deciding on hairstyles for Meredith as the bride and for herself and Sara as the bridesmaids.
Sara had taken longer to come round to the idea than Louisa herself had, but finally Sara had witnessed with her own eyes the love between Meredith and Lucas and it was undeniable.
Louisa sighed in contentment and, she had to admit, envy.
Seeing Meredith in the arms of a man who so obviously loved her would make anyone want the same thing, she reasoned.
The fact that she only wanted it with Hugh was something that she would just have to keep to herself.
She’d barely seen Hugh since that night in the library.
Truth be told, there’d barely been time.
Her mama and the duchess had been zealous in their preparation and nobody was given a moment to spare.
She missed him, Louisa had to admit.
Missed his teasing, missed his arrogance, even. And she especially missed his kisses and the pleasure they could give.
Snatching a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, she sagged against a nearby pillar.
“Ladies do not sag.”
The sound of Hugh’s soft voice in her ear brought a wide smile to her face and she turned to see him watching her with those incredible eyes, a wolfish smile playing around his mouth.
“And how would you know?” she asked.
“I have it on good authority,” he responded sagely.”A lady has told me all there is to know about — er — being a lady. And I’m quite sure she would never lean against a pillar in such a fashion.”
Louisa tried to match his serious expression but she was just so terribly pleased to see him.
“And are you well acquainted with this lady?”
In an instant, he looked like a predatory beast, and Louisa’s heart took off in response.
“Not as well as I’d like to be,” he said with a wicked smile.
Louisa gulped at her champagne, hoping the liquid would cool her heated skin.
“Walk with me?” he asked.
“Where?”
He shook his head slowly.
“Still so suspicious,” He smiled. ”Come, I want to show you something.”
Wild horses wouldn’t have stopped her from going with him while he smiled at her like that.
Placing the champagne glass on the tray of yet another passing waiter, Louisa took his proffered arm, and they slipped unseen from the ballroom.
Instead of going down the hallway, as she expected, he moved them toward the back of the house and out through the conservatory door.
The gardens were blanketed in thick white snow, looking for all the world like a fairy land.
“Hugh,” she hissed, “it’s snowing. We cannot go out there.”
“Oh ye of little faith,” he answered cryptically before lifting his hand to signal to someone.
Two footmen who had obviously been waiting in the shadows came forward, their arms filled with things.
Louisa watched as Hugh removed a deep red, velvet cloak from the first man’s arms and placed it round her shoulders, pulled up the hood and tied it deftly.
When he was satisfied, he turned back and took a basket from the man. The poor footmen must have been freezing while waiting for them to appear.
Then he took a pair of her sturdy walking boots from the second man.
Louisa couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“You’ve thought of everything,” she said.
“Indeed I have,” he answered proudly before bending and removing her satin slippers, replacing them with the boots.
Louisa’s cheeks heated with embarrassment. What must these footmen think of her, allowing a man to remove her shoes out here in the snow?
Hugh ran his hands ever so slightly up her calf and she gasped and bit her lip, her cheeks heating for an altogether different reason now.