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.“Caroline,” he whispered.Only that.But all his heart was in that one word.Caroline.She must have heard all the ache, all the longing in his voice, for her lips parted in an expression of wonder.“Justin,” she whispered.“Justin.”He glanced quickly behind them.Everyone who was on the terrace had gone back inside to join the waltz, but the windows all stood open.“Walk with me in the garden,” he urged.“I.” She looked around uncertainly.“I should look in on Phoebe.”“My mother is no doubt watching her.It will only be for a moment.Please.”She nodded and walked with him down the terrace steps into the small garden adjacent to the sea.Once they were outside the light, he slid his arm about her waist.She leaned against him, her pale hair brushing against the shoulder of his coat.They stopped beneath the sheltering branches of a tree, and Caroline turned to face him.“Did I shock you with my words of love?” he asked.She shook her head.“It has been a long time since I was shocked by anything.Though I was rather surprised.We have not known each other very long.”“Does that mean that you do not return my feelings? You know you need only say the word and I will bother you no more.”She gave him a little half smile.“Bother me? Silly man.Don’t you know that I love you, too?”Joy unlike any he had ever known blossomed in Justin’s tired heart.Joy and another unfamiliar emotion.Hope.Hope for the future, for a happy life, a family of his own.With this woman, who was so unlike anyone he had ever met before, all things seemed possible.In a burst of emotion, he pulled her closer to him and lowered his lips to hers.Her mouth was soft and cool, and it yielded so sweetly, so perfectly beneath his.He felt her rise up on tiptoes and slide her arms about his shoulders, her fingers tangling in his hair.The kiss, so gently begun, caught fire.Justin drew her even closer, urged her lips to part under his passion.She responded, clinging to him, mingling her sighs, her soft moans, with his.Suddenly, he knew that if they went on this way he would not be able to stop with a kiss.He would not be able to let her go all night.He pulled away from her slowly and dragged in long, ragged breaths of warm night air.Her forehead fell to his shoulder, and he felt her slim frame tremble under his hands.He held her away a bit and saw tears on her cheeks, shimmering in the moonlight.“Caroline!” he cried, shocked at this reaction to his kiss.Was he so terribly out of practice, then? “What is wrong?”She shook her head and wiped away the teardrops with her gloved hand.“It is just that I am so happy.I have never felt this way before, ever.It is too wonderful.Too wonderful to last.”He drew her back against him, holding her very tightly.So tightly he could vow he felt her heart beat against his chest.He rested his cheek against the silk of her hair and closed his eyes.“Of course it will last,” he said firmly.“Of course it will.”Her grip tightened, crushing the fabric of his coat.“Justin, promise me that, no matter what, you will always remember this night, this perfect, perfect night.And remember that I love you with all my heart.”“I shall have to remember it, won’t I? To tell our grandchildren someday.”She gave an oddly hysterical little laugh and answered, “Yes.” Her voice turned suddenly sad, as if she knew a secret that he did not.“Yes.”Late that night, after the assembly was over and everyone else was abed, Justin sat in his library, staring out the window at the waning moon.The same moon he had kissed Caroline Aldritch under.It had been a glorious kiss, the most wonderful, the most intimate of his life.It had felt almost as if he held the very essence of her in his arms and shared himself with her in a way he had never done with anyone else.And she had seemed to feel it, too.But then she had pulled away, her face sad and strangely bitter.She said she loved him.But did she then change her mind?He longed to see her again, right that moment.The wild boy he had once been would have gone to her house and climbed up to her window, demanded to know the truth of what was in her mind, in her heart.The respectable earl he was now knew he would have to wait until the next day to see her, to talk to her.But it felt like a hundred years until daylight.Caroline also lay awake in her bed, listening to the distant sounds of the sea whispering through her open window.Her scarred ankle itched, and as she reached down to rub it she thought about the moments in the garden, going over each one carefully, minutely.They had been the most perfect moments of her life, and she wanted to memorize each one, tuck them close, and hold them forever.For she knew it could not last.Justin truly loved her.She did believe that.He understood her, understood her struggles, as she understood him.But she could not be with him.Once he knew the truth about the Golden Feather and Mrs.Archer, he would look at her very differently.He might understand the forces that had led her along that path, but he had a family, a title, and a position to uphold.Yes, he might now be talking about the grandchildren they would have together, but he would not be after he found out about her past.And she knew, as surely as she knew she loved him, that she would have to tell him.Soon.Chapter Seventeen“What shall we do today, Caro?” Phoebe asked, stretching out on a chaise set in a patch of morning sunlight.She looked like a satisfied little cat, lazy after the dancing and talking of the night before.Caroline looked up from the book she was ostensibly reading.In truth, she had not turned a page in fully fifteen minutes; she was too caught up in thoughts of Justin to concentrate.“Whatever you like, I suppose, dearest.We have no engagements until the Westons’ supper this evening.Would you want to go to the shops?”Phoebe wrinkled her nose.“It is too warm to shop.Last night I thought I would faint for lack of air in the assembly rooms.”“You seemed to be having a fine time.”“Oh, I was! Anytime I can dance is a fine time.” She slid Caroline a sly glance.“I noticed you quite vanished before the supper.”Caroline looked back down at her book.“I was in need of some air.”“Ah, yes.Apparently so was Lord Lyndon.” Phoebe leaned forward eagerly.“Is there anything you want to tell your sister, Caro? Anything at all?”Tell Phoebe that she kissed Lord Lyndon in the moonlight, but she couldn’t marry him because she had once been the proprietor of a gaming hell? Caroline thought not.“I did happen to stroll with him on the terrace for a while,” she answered carefully.“But there is no need to act like this is scene from one of your novels, Phoebe.There were many other people there, and.and nothing of any consequence happened.”“Nothing at all?”She just lost her heart, that was all.“Nothing.”Phoebe fell back with a disappointed little huff.“How very vexing.I was hoping this would be a romantic summer.”Caroline laughed at her pouting expression.“I believe you have enough romance for the both of us.This house is flooded with bouquets from your admirers every day.”Phoebe tried to shrug carelessly, but she looked too pleased for it to be effective.“But that is not really romance!”“It isn’t? Then what is?”“Grand emotion! Passionate declarations! Embraces under the stars!” She peered closer at Caroline.“Did you and Lord Lyndon embrace under the stars?”Caroline laughed harder [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]