“You seem flushed,” Lord Townsend observed as the dance ended. “Would you care for a refreshment?”
Meeting his gaze and seeing the concerned look in his eyes, Madeline once more found her decision made for her. “You are too kind, my lord,” she replied as she took his offered arm, forcing her voice not to betray the turmoil that lived in her heart. “However, I believe a little fresh air would be preferable. If you don’t mind?”
For a moment, he held her gaze before a knowing smile tugged up the corners of his mouth. “It’ll be my pleasure.” Then he escorted her through the crowd, and they slipped out one of the side doors onto the large terrace bathed in a warm glow as the last rays of the sun disappeared behind the horizon.
Releasing his arm, Madeline stepped around a large stone pillar and up to the rail. “It’s beautiful out here,” she whispered, gazing into the garden below as the warm breeze brushed over her heated skin. Her hands still trembled with the outrage that burnt in her heart, and yet, at the same time, she could feel her body shaking with the anticipation of what was to come. Would he kiss her? How would it make her feel?
“It is indeed.”
Madeline flinched as his breath tickled her skin, and she realised he had come to stand behind her, gazing over her shoulder. For a long time, they stood like this, quietly, without moving, without touching.
Annoyed with her own fluttering nerves as well as Lord Townsend’s obvious inability to simply sweep her into his arms, Madeline spun around and without another thought reached up and pulled him into a kiss.
For a split second, he seemed to be taken aback before his hands settled on her waist, pulling her closer against him. Returning her kiss with fervour, he spun her around and walked her backwards against the stone pillar, his lips hungry on hers.
Overwhelmed by the eagerness of his response, Madeline marvelled at the greedy way with which his mouth moved over hers, demanding and insistent, with no regard for her. Dimly, she recalled the gentle touch of her husband’s lips, the tender way he had looked at her?even if only for a moment.
“I never thought,” Lord Townsend panted as he pulled away, staring at her with a mixture of awe and disbelief, “that you were the kind of woman to be unfaithful to her husband.” He chuckled then. “Don’t misunderstand me though. I’m not complaining.”
Madeline swallowed as she felt the earlier enchantment of the moment fade away. Clinging to it with sheer determination, she ignored the doubts that settled in her belly. “My husband could not care less,” she gritted out, turning a blind eye to the stabbing pain in her heart. “I decide how to live my life.”
“I would have approached you much sooner,” he marvelled, his voice heavy and his gaze hungry, as he pressed his body to hers more firmly, “had I known you would so willingly agree to become my mistress.” Then his mouth claimed hers once more.
Stunned beyond comprehension, Madeline felt her limbs grow limp, her knees almost buckled and only Lord Townsend’s hold on her kept her from slumping to the ground into a puddle of misery.
Mistress?
That one word jerked the last shreds of enchantment from her hands and left Madeline feeling sick to the stomach. What on earth was she doing? How had this happened? How could she ever have thought she could be someone’s…mistress?
And he was right. That was what she was, what she would be if she agreed to this, if she did not stop him!
As his caresses grew more intimate with each heartbeat that passed, panic swelled in Madeline’s chest. She could not do this! This was simply not right; it did not even feel right.
Lifting her hands, she set them on his chest and pushed. At first, he barely seemed to notice. However, when she wrenched her head away, breaking his kiss, he finally stepped back.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, his arms still slung around her waist possessively. “Shall we find a quiet room?”
Shaking her head, Madeline pushed his hands off her and stumbled backwards, needing more distance between them. “I’m sorry,” she gasped, trying to regain her composure as he looked at her with incomprehension. “I was wrong. I thought I could…but I can’t. It’s not…I…I need to go.” And without another look back, Madeline hastened through the nearest door back into the crowded ballroom, utterly stupefied by her own behaviour and terrified of the woman she was becoming.
Chapter Ten ? A New Life
After many hugs and kisses from his mother and sister, Derek finally found a moment alone with Kara’s husband as the women tended to preparing supper. Strolling through the manor house, they surveyed the damage. While the walls and floors seemed fine and only a few of the window panes were broken, the roof presented a different matter.
“I’ve tried to cover some of the leaking areas,” Sean explained, pointing to a rather large number of pots and jugs set strategically around one of the upper rooms on the western side to catch leaking rainwater. “However, I don’t seem to be doing it right,” he shrugged, a disappointed look in his brown eyes.
Derek clasped a compassionate hand on his brother-in-law’s shoulder. “Don’t worry yourself. As far as I can see, you’ve done more than anyone could have.” Rather thin and lanky, Sean as a former valet was not quite adept to hard work as he had neither the strength nor the skill. However, his heart was in the right place, and despite everything, he had done his utmost to take care of their family. Derek would always be grateful to him for that. “What about the outbuildings?”
“Mostly, it’s the roof as well,” Sean explained as they headed outside. “Some of the wood is splintering here and there, too. However, since we manage to keep all the livestock in the barn closest to the house, I haven’t yet tried making any repairs to the other.”
Derek nodded, agreeing with his brother-in-law’s decision.
The following day, Derek set out on Arion and surveyed the land, trying to get a better impression of the property he had been awarded. However, as he spotted his tenants’ cabins dotting the countryside, his heart sank as he saw that their condition was not unlike those of his own buildings. They, too, needed repairs, which would prove to be a difficult endeavour as he and Sean had only found a handful of tools in the shed, most of which were covered in rust, almost unusable. In addition, raw material was scarce, and at present, Derek did not have the funds to make any large purchases. Not that he believed that would change soon.
The question remained: how was he to make repairs without tools and replacement materials?
Urging Arion closer to the nearest farm, Derek saw a scrawny man tending to the rundown shed by the side of his house, which looked to be in equal need of repairs. As he approached, the man looked up, and his gaze darkened. “Can I help ye…my lord?”
Tensing at the open bitterness in the man’s tone, Derek had trouble maintaining a friendly expression on his face. “I bid you a good day, sir. Allow me to introduce myself. I am…” For a moment, he gritted his teeth, wishing he could simply introduce himself as Derek McKnight, a farmer’s son, the equal of the man before him. And yet, he knew he could not. “I’m Lord Ainsworth.”
As expected, a dark scowl came to the man’s face. “Good day…my lord.” He stood up straight and raised his chin, and Derek could not help but smile at the pride that shone in the man’s eyes as he stood his ground in front of a gentleman he expected would only look at him with disdain. “The name’s Thompson. What can I do for ye?”