Lady Frederick...
She must be married to a younger son, presumably, but surely Ivo would have said if he had a sister? Then the other woman came down the stairs and Jane saw she must be forty, perhaps older.
‘French. Who is this?’ Her voice was perfectly pleasant and the housekeeper did not react to the omission of the courtesy title that even the Marquess used.
‘Miss Newnham, Lady Frederick. Miss Newnh
am, Lady Frederick Merton.’
‘Ivo’s little bride? Come, let me look at you. That will be all, French, I will see Miss Newnham finds the luncheon table.’
Jane made a point of thanking the housekeeper before she turned back to the other woman.
Little bride, indeed!
‘Lady Frederick.’
‘I am Ivo’s aunt,’ she said. ‘His father’s sister-in-law and, apparently, the only one in the family who sees fit to wear mourning for him. Let me look at you. You look intelligent, at least, although you are a plain little dab of a thing. How satisfactory he has had the sense not to propose to some pretty spoiled chit given to high drama—presumably he has had enough of that.’ It was all said with a smile and such great charm that it took Jane a second to realise that she was being insulted.
‘I believe that your nephew values character over looks and, I hope, kindness over beauty.’ Jane wondered what she had meant about pretty spoiled chit. She smiled as sweetly as she could manage at the older woman.
‘You have claws. Well done.’ She smiled apparent approval of Jane’s retort, but the warmth did not reach her eyes. ‘I suggest you do not show them to Ivo before you have his ring safely on your finger. But I forget, you have already been seen quarrelling with him in the middle of Bath. Very reckless of you. And here he is.’
Ivo came through the door and joined his aunt on the landing. ‘Aunt Augusta. I did not realise we were expecting you.’
‘You were not but, as by some apparent oversight I have not received an invitation to meet your betrothed, I decided to drop by. A mere twenty miles out of my way. So nice to meet you, dear, I will see you again at luncheon, no doubt.’ She smiled at Jane, nodded thanks to Ivo who held the door for her and swept out.
‘Ouch,’ Jane said. That interview had hurt, as it had clearly been meant to. ‘Your aunt is glad you have settled for a plain little dab of a thing with some intelligence as opposed to some spoiled, pretty chit given to high drama, whatever she means by that.’ She felt too bruised to hide her feelings.
‘Plain little dab?’ Ivo said thoughtfully as he descended the stairs to her side. ‘Definitely nothing little or dab-like about you. Five feet six inches, I would guess, and everything very nicely in proportion.’
Jane swallowed. If he meant her bust, then it was the first time anyone had ever said anything complimentary about it. It was there, of course, but it paled into insignificance against her friend Prue’s magnificent bosom, the sight of which in an evening gown tended to reduce gentlemen to mumbling incoherence. ‘Thank you,’ she muttered.
‘And plain? When I opened my eyes and focused on your face in the chaise I saw long-lashed hazel eyes and a face that made me think of a charming and curious cat. Charming and curious,’ he repeated, tipping up her chin with one finger. ‘Not some pretty little chit, but an interesting young woman.’
He was clearly about to kiss her and Jane had no intention of making it difficult for him. She swayed forward an encouraging few degrees and found herself in his arms being kissed with a thoroughness that was almost alarming. The alarming thing was how much she wanted it, how much she seemed to have learned about kissing after only a few experiments. She knew the taste of him and the texture of his lips, she knew how to stroke her tongue between them and had learned not to jump when he did the same. The heat and the intensity and the intimacy were frightening and, at the same time, so exhilarating. Her body felt alive, responsive, uncomfortably excited.
She was panting a little when Ivo finally broke the kiss.
‘Are you all right, Jane? Forgive me, I was too forceful, perhaps.’ His breathing sounded regular, but then she saw the pulse hammering in his throat—it was curiously exciting to realise that kissing her had produced that response.
‘Yes.’ She smiled at him and took a deep breath. ‘I like it when we kiss and I am beginning to wonder what it will be like when we...’ The dark intensity in his eyes stopped her. That last deep breath might never have been taken because her lungs felt quite empty.
‘I think you will find that it is equally enjoyable, although we might not get it right first time,’ he said. His hands were still on her, one at her waist, one on her shoulder, and the warmth of them was another enticement. ‘We will have to learn each other: lovemaking is a skill and an art.’
‘An art? I enjoy learning new things.’
* * *
Ivo found that they were smiling at each other as though sharing a delicious, rather naughty, secret and the realisation came to him that Jane, although clearly an innocent, was a very sensual one. Even as he thought it, she drew back, the colour up in her cheeks, and he told himself not to rush, not to snatch.
‘I had come to find you to show you to your room if you wanted to wash your hands before luncheon,’ he said, seeing her relax a little, the colour ebbing.
No, rushing would not be a good thing with Jane. It had not been so with Daphne. She had been impetuous, sensual, eager. She had wanted everything and it had called for every ounce of self-discipline that he’d had as a young man in love not to take what she offered him.
As they climbed the stairs out of the tower room he wondered why there was the difference. He did not love Jane, of course, but it struck him suddenly that it had been a rigid regard for the conventions that had given him the resolution to resist before. With Jane it was concern for her, a desire to ensure that her first experience of physical love was a good one. He had not expected to find himself so much in tune with her feelings.
‘Your aunt seemed not to approve of our match,’ she ventured as he closed the heavy old door behind them.