“Would driving with me be that bad?”
She thought for a moment. “If you left your footman behind, it might be. Especially if we were seen returning to the Park. As if from a longer drive…”
“From my home, for example…” He led her on, feeding the demon he sensed lay within her. He had his own demons; he felt qualified to judge hers.
“Quite, quite scandalous.”
“And that would be to your liking?”
She straightened. “I’m rather tired of the mundane, Mr. Seton-Mowbray. I have no expectations, and I’m much older than an Almacks debutante. I am not husband-hunting, since I intend never to marry. My family is settling into new lives, my brother has his own coterie of acquaintances, and my sister…well, Hecate is unique. I am…ornamental, I suppose. That’s all. So yes, I’m ready to be a little bit more than the delightful Miss Ridlington. I believe it might be entertaining were I to be known as the scandalous Miss Ridlington.”
“Then I hope you’ll allow me to assist you in achieving that goal, Ma’am.”
“Thank you, Mr. Seton-Mowbray.” Her smile was one he hadn’t seen before; a blend of enthusiasm and wickedness, lighting up her features into something remarkable. His body responded with a sharp bold of lust, rattling him from toes to eyebrows.
He swallowed. “Call me Max.”
Chapter Two
At five o’clock the following morning, Kitty wondered what the devil had gotten into her last night. It was still dark, bitterly cold, and here she was sliding into clothes suited for a drive in the Park. She must have gone mad, she thought. The remarks she’d made to Max…well they had turned into a personal declaration of her dissatisfaction with her life.
How shallow she must seem to him. She had so much—a loving aunt who spared no expense, a beautiful room in a beautiful London home—and yet she wasn’t happy. Or fulfilled.
Hecate seemed to have found her niche, helping others less fortunate. Her attention was on her Indian friends, making sure they had what they needed, helping them adjust to life in England, and spending quite a bit of time with the young daughter, a child who was not adapting well to the climate or the people. She told Kitty about them, and Kitty understood Hecate’s need to help.
But it was Hecate’s business, not Kitty’s.
Doing good works was laudable, and Kitty was proud of her sister. But she couldn’t emulate her, she knew. All her life, Kitty had been driven toward something, a goal she couldn’t define. London seemed the best change to find that goal, and she’d achieved much in the time she’d spent there.
But being a welcomed guest, honored and feted, even recognized by the Prince himself on a couple of occasions…it was all quite lovely.
But it hadn’t fired anything within Kitty. It hadn’t touched that empty part within her.
As she wrapped a soft wool scarf around her neck and fastened it with a pretty blue brooch, she remembered the feeling that had swept over her last night as she discussed this highly improper outing with Max.
There was something in his eyes that pulled at her. The chance to be outrageous lit a tiny fire within her, and his encouragement fanned the little flame. Did he know something about her she didn’t know herself? Could he have the answers to her most private questions? Ones such as who am I? Am I lost? Is there a place for me in this world?
Pulling her warmest cloak from the cupboard, she swirled it around her shoulders and latched the frog fastenings to secure it.
A pair of gloves completed the ensemble, and she spared a brief glance in the mirror to make sure everything was as it should be.
Her clothing was faultless, but she paused. For some odd reason, her face looked a little different this morning. She might almost describe it as alive, which was not the right word, since she certainly didn’t appear dead the rest of the time. But there was something, an expression perhaps, or was it her eyes? She couldn’t put her finger on it, but it was there, all the same.
Max. Perhaps it was Max, the prospect of seeing him, and the scandalous little adventure that lay ahead.
The clock struck the quarter-hour, and she turned to leave her room. It wouldn’t do to keep him waiting, of a certainty.
Silently she slipped downstairs, surprising a maid who was cleaning out the hearth in the hall. Kitty held a finger to her lips, and the maid grinned back and nodded, as the front door eased open with nary a squeak. The cold air almost took Kitty’s breath away, but then she observed an elegant and spotless carriage drawing up to the curb, with two beautiful horses snorting steam into the dawn.
Cautiously she closed the front door and hurried down the steps, hoping to keep her aplomb, but smiling all the same. “Good morning, Mr.…er…Max. What lovely horses.” She accepted his hand and allowed him to pull her up to the seat beside him.
“I’m glad they find favor,” he answered. “I’m not sure they were too keen on leaving their snug stables at such an early hour, but I explained it was for a scandalous outing. That changed their minds.”
He clicked the reins and they were off, the hoofbeats ringing loudly in the silent street.
“I’m charmed.” Kitty tucked her cloak around her knees. “Please relay my thanks to them when you have a chance.”
He grinned and turned down a lane. “Since it is so early, and the cold is such that I doubt we’d find pleasure from just driving aimlessly for a couple of hours, I have taken the liberty of ordering a breakfast for us at my house.”
She flashed him a quick glance. “Oh?”
“Yes.”
“You realize such a visit would really set tongues wagging…”
“Is that not what you desire?” His voice was rich, edged with something dangerous.
She’d love to explore her desires with him, she realized, but decided such a course of action was out of the question. It wasn’t like her to let her mind wander down such paths. But there was that damned something about this man that pierced her reserve and went straight to places she shouldn’t be thinking about.
“Well, yes.” She squared her shoulders. “Might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb.”
“Apt, I suppose.” He chuckled. “However, I trust our breakfast will not result in anyone on the gallows.”
She watched the passing homes grow fewer and the trees and fields encroach on the scenery. “Are you not concerned, sir? After all, you are one of the most eligible bachelors, ’tis said. Might you not be touched by such a scandalous breakfast?”
He shook his head. “I’m above reproach, Miss Kitty. Did you not know that?”
“So I will be pilloried, but you will be praised?”
“I know. Completely unfair, but there it is. The strange and absurd world we inhabit.”
“There are times I don’t like it very much.”