Lady Phillipa's Peril: Regency Romance Suspense Series ( Book 3) (Lords of Sussex 4) (8 page)

Her heart fluttered; she should struggle, stop him, but it was too late; that sizzle of passion raced through her body; she felt the hotness of his lips, his tongue. Good God, she never knew such kisses existed. In a second, he lifted her onto his lap, and moved her around to the back of the tree, having checked all was clear, no-one to notice.

He pressed her closer again, seeking her lips once more, his hand cupping the back of her head. Her body arched to him, her sighs languorous.  Gently, he sought her shoulders; on stroking them; he felt her shudder, as his hand went to her breast, feeling himself harden as his fingers slipped down inside the low décolletage.

She wrenched her mouth away from him, gasping, ‘Stop, oh stop –  I can’t bear it.’

‘What d’you mean you can’t bear it?’

‘Your hands, your mouth I never knew – had no idea it was like this, Oh please….’ With that, she clasped his hand, and drew him near, ‘Kiss me again, kiss—’

He groaned, kissing her throat, and bending his head; his tongue darted down to the cleavage, whilst his other hand gently lifted her skirt, the strong fingers stroking the velvet thighs above her garter.’  Instantly, he felt a small hand push him away, ‘No – I said kiss me, not ruin me.’

‘Can’t stop now, I’ve been longing to do this since first I saw your naked body before me.’

‘I thought you examined me too closely; no other doctor has dared to ask me to divest my clothes.’

‘How could I resist such an opportunity? But know this, I fell in love with you then.’ His hand continued stroking and caressing.

Hearing a tearful gasp, he relented, but not before caressing the velvet skin just once more. Taking away his hand, he smoothed down her skirt.  ‘Worry not, I will not debauch you; I hold you in too high esteem for that.’

‘Please don’t say that, I am to wed Hector.’

‘Do you have to? I can see you are enamoured of me. Tis I, you should wed. Good lord woman; I have now surprised myself. I had no thought of marriage until I met you. Come now, we suit do we not? You have time to call it all off, say you are ill, have a fever?’

‘I am not the type of woman to run away with a man.’

‘Then marry me; see I am bewitched. You have cast a spell on me.’

Pulling away from him, she held her hand to her chest, panting.  ‘No I cannot do that; Hector is my dearest friend; we have known each other from childhood; it would break his heart.’

‘Your friend? God zounds, you can’t marry your friend. Come now, he’ll soon recover his wits. Why all he needs is a day at the races, dinner and cards; being the Corinthian he is, he’ll soon come round.’

‘Don’t be so flippant, he loves me, adores me, and I could not live with the guilt.’

‘Guilt, and you a follower of Wollstonecraft? Freedom of choice? Where are your high ideals now?’

‘I promised. I will not break my word. I have the families to think of.’

‘You see? You ask me to change my views on outdated rules, and all the whilst, you adhere to them?’

‘No, I cannot listen to this; you put me in a quandary. In fact, sir, you have upset my whole world. I must go.’

‘Please dearest lady, I will desist for now. Come let me escort you back to the drawing room.’

‘Thank you, that is the most sensible suggestion you have uttered.’

‘Hmm, I will not give up
—
’

‘Hah, so there you are? Do you not know it is inappropriate for you to be with him Phillipa?’ Demetrius walked towards them, his mouth grim.

‘How dare you question my movements. You are dicked in the nob, go now, leave us.’

Delmare raised his eyebrows, such words from this sweet little kitten.

‘Come, come now my lady, don’t take the bristle.’ Demetrius spluttered, aghast at her language. ‘I intend only to protect —’

‘You  accuse me of being a barque of frailty, a woman of easy virtue? How dare you.’

‘Phillipa, go you back to the Manor, I will attend you later.’ Delmare said, his eyes narrowed to slits. 

Demetrius waved his arms, ‘No – no I shall escort—’

‘Go Phillipa.’ Delmare said, in a voice cutting steel.

‘I’ll kill you, you—’ Demetrius screeched, lunging towards him.

Delmare sprang to his feet, catching and twisting his attacker’s body in one swoop. Throwing him to the ground, he put his foot on his chest, drawing out his dagger. ‘One move and this will pierce a vein, the jugular to be precise. If you set a hand on this lady, I will kill you, I promise you that. For now, guard your back.’

Taking his foot off Demetrius’s chest, he kicked him in the buttocks, then  glaring at Phillipa. ‘Go – go now m’dear – go.’

Without further ado, she picked up her skirts and ran, damn men, damn – damn. If only she had a dagger or a pistol on her, she would show them. How dare they treat her like a bacon-brained piece of fluff.  His words seethed through her mind, ‘I will attend you later?’ She was just getting started on Demetrius; she could hold her own, the coxcomb; Delmare had no right to order her around. Attend her later?  In hell he would.

As she sped away in a flurry of skirts, Demetrius went to follow her, only to find himself flying through the air and landing against the seat post. Snarling Delmare leapt upon him, ‘You drivelling jughead, I warned you.’ At which point he punched him squarely on the jaw.

Demetrius being of no mean build himself, shook his head and hit back, landing a blow on Delmare’s aquiline nose,  With blood spurting, Delmare lifted him up and threw  him to the ground, and putting a foot on the wretch’s chest, drew a dagger from his boot. ‘I have a mind to kill you right now. But heed these words, you will not approach the lady again, d’you hear. If it were not for the marriage, I would slit your throat now.’

‘You would hang for it.’

‘I think not; you threaten an heir to a dukedom? You would be found floating in the Thames.’ Growling, Demetrius tried to wrench his body away, ‘I will report you – I—’

‘Don’t be childish you beef –witted fool.’

Although having a restless night, determining countless times she would snub Delmare, she could not sweep aside the hope that he would be in the breakfast room. On seeing the dark head bent over bacon and eggs her heart surged.  Amelia called to her to join her, but then he turned and immediately sprang to his feet, pulling out a chair. She tried not to show her delight as she approached.  Initially, she determined to show a coolness in her attitude but instead a girlish smile sprang to her lips.  

‘Good morning your ladyship.’

‘Not quite yet for a few days.’

‘Can I get you some food?’

‘Err, I would rather choose for myself thank you, I prefer fruit and a little bread and butter for breakfast.’

‘Hah I see, that would account for that slim waist.’

‘Yes, but I actually do not relish too much cooked food in the mornings.’

Seated together, he grinned before as he cut into a wedge of bacon, ‘Did you sleep well?’

‘Err, quite, but I’m afraid my erstwhile brother-in-law did upset me. I was miffed that you took over from me.’

‘Oh really, I did not realize. Please forgive me. I should have let you give him the hiding he so deserved.’

‘Hiding?’

‘Of course, he had the temerity to insult us both without just cause.’

She felt the blush come over her, ‘I think there was just cause or did I forget certain—’

He smiled wickedly. ‘When I left I think he believed his life to be in peril.’

‘You didn’t? I mean he is a dastardly cur, but I do not….’

Her voice trailed away, his words struck her, “in peril?".' The message on the dressing table flashed before her eyes, how peculiar that he should use the one word that held her in fear. Was it he who wrote it? Did he have some cause to write to her so? He didn’t even know her then. How would he deliver the note? He was nowhere in the vicinity, or was he?

‘What is it? You seem suddenly preoccupied. Is there something amiss?’

Looking into those electric blue eyes, she saw only bemusement. Could she trust him? Maybe he would cast some light upon the dark missive.

‘I shall tell you after breakfast. However, first I must spend time with Hector.’

‘Has he not informed you?’

‘No, what?’

‘His steward came in earlier and said his man of affairs had arrived requesting an audience. He returned only minutes ago to inform me he would be tied up with the estate for some hours.  He asked me to entertain you ladies, take you boating or some such thing. He says there’s to be a rout this evening – dancing and likewise.’

‘Oh that will be fun; I shall look forward to that. However, I wonder, who we will have for partners?’ Many of the men have left for the continent.’

Phillipa picked up her napkin and wiped her mouth, smiling impishly, her heart lightening at the thought of the day ahead, a day spent with him. This man fascinated her, arousing feelings strange and so conflicting; irritation, desire, and passion. ‘I would love that but first I must meet with Venetia.

‘So when do we meet up?’

‘Say around three of the clock?’

‘I will arrange a skiff and so on with the steward.’

‘And I shall have chef prepare a little picnic for us, and some wine – what fun.’ Phillipa said, feeling a strong urge to throw her arms around him and kiss him. Instead she bit down on her full lip, feeling the excitement sizzle in her stomach.

‘Oh my, Pippa how grand, and this is your very own private drawing room, you don’t have to share with the dowager?’

‘No, as I said she will move to the west wing after the nuptials.’ Looking around at the sombre stone walls, the tapestries and armorial plates, she said, ‘It needs updating. I wish to lighten the place. There is not much I can do about the walls, but I can hang silk curtains of a lighter colour, and introduce some Hepplewhite and Sheraton furniture.’

‘Hmm, tis rather dark, I may say.’

‘Gloomy would be a better description, but with rose silk brocade upholstery, some Aubusson floral carpets and rich rose pink curtains, I can certainly lift it all. On thinking about it, I could hang some silk hand painted fabrics on a couple of the walls, it is in thing for wall paper in some of the great houses with interior stone walls. I am opined to blend in the old with the new.’

‘What about the tapestries, I mean they look hundreds of years old.’

‘And laden with dust, ingrained with the grime of centuries. The dowager tells me that she longed to be rid of them, but the late Baron Thurston opined the manor would stay in the tradition of old.  So they remained, and they are far too precious to clean without the lightest touch of a cloth.’

‘What are Hector’s sentiments?’

‘Oh he is in agreement with me; we wish to bring new life and some semblance of modernity to the place. Of course, as I said, we wish to keep a sense of the ancient, but really tis time for change.  I shall remove them to a waiting room, or corridor, there is no need for us to be confronted with them here.’

‘The suits of armour are so intriguing.’

‘Oh I rather like them; I think to commission an artist to paint some light colourful medieval scenes of ladies and their knights and place the armour nearby, giving an Arthurian touch. But wait, I have something to show you.’

Going to a carved armoire, she pulled out a small trunk.  Opening it, she beckoned to Venetia, ‘Come see.’

Leaving her chair, Venetia walked over, her eyes widening as she saw the scarlet uniform decorated with gold braid.  ‘La, the uniform, so you’ve really done it. Does he know?’

‘No, not yet, I do not wish to cause ructions.’

‘But how will you conceal it?’ Venetia asked, stooping to stroke the gold trim.’

‘In the bottom of my trunk, between my shawls, I don’t want it to crease.’

‘I am sure I would be on tenterhooks. Why I’d be continually locking the trunk.’

‘You won’t breathe a word of this will you?’ Phillipa asked, her hand on her chest.

‘Of course not.’ Venetia’s pale cheeks flushed the colour of her rose muslin gown. ‘Though, it would be the talk of the neighbourhood, nay even the century.’

‘Just so, it is not a matter for gossip; it could be a case of life or death – Hector’s.’ Rising, Phillipa took the uniform replacing it carefully in the trunk.

‘But to go on the battlefield, it is unusual Phillipa; you will be in the utmost danger.’

‘No more than Hector, and it is not as unusual as your think, I hear of other ladies doing the same without any perturbation at all.’

‘Well I would be terrified. I would like to say I would risk my life for Horatio but—’

‘I am sure you would dearest.’ Phillipa smiled, carefully tying the package up again. ‘You cannot plan how you will act when it comes to the one you love.’ She frowned, ‘I just wish I could give him the kind of love he deserves. I just do not desire him as I should. But enough of that, I am sure we will have a comfortable life together. Maybe I will come to feel that for him in time.’

Venetia sighed, ‘I pray you do Pippa; I know not where my beloved will be or what he is doing.’

‘You could come with us. There are plenty of chaperones for you. Amelia and Lily are with us. You would be welcome you know that.

Venetia shook her head, ‘No; I have enough to do; Horatio is backing my plans for a foundling shelter for the orphans of the war.’

‘Why that is a wonderful scheme Venetia.’

‘You know I nurtured for some time, but it is such a big undertaking. I was not sure how to go about it and really whether Horatio would permit it. I did not want to start off our marriage with arguments. I planned to bring it up again later.’

‘So you are not under his thumb then?’

‘No, it’s a matter of compromising really. But I did fully intend doing it, the only question of when.  But he is as interested as I am. It has really touched his heart. So I can start building on the plan.’

‘I am so pleased for you. You have a wonderful purpose in your life. Isabella wrote of how there are many children in a pitiful condition in the camps, almost starving at times, and clothed in rags.’

Venetia nodded. ‘She wrote and asked me to join her, as Henrietta had such an awful time out there with that ghastly husband of hers.’

‘But thankfully that has been sorted now. I could not believe Vaughan would actually sell her. What a terrible experience.’

‘Yes, but he has been punished for his sins and rightly so. I could do with some more tea. Would you like some?’

‘Now that would be a good idea, my mouth is quite dry thinking of Henrietta’s suffering.’

‘Well she is safe now, and Isabella tells me she has the most handsome beau, a Duke no less and a prince.’ 

‘Yes, Henrietta’s express arrived in the post yesterday morning. I am so glad for her.  I am surprised she has a beau, you know how shy she was of men.’

‘La, do you remember Isabella’s wedding when she told us of her fear?’

‘Yes, to think Etta actually believed that when a man was aroused his member grew from his navel and was the size of an elephant’s trunk.  It was cruel of us to laugh, but it was hilarious. Her mama should have explained the basic facts to her.  However, she deserves her happiness after her ordeals. When they marry, the Duke will settle in Sussex, so we will not be separated from her dear company.’

Seeing the maid enter, Phillipa returned to her seat. ‘Oh Mary, would you bring some more tea please.’ Turning to Venetia, she said, ‘Are you hungry? Would you like some scones or cake?’

‘Either please. I am peckish. Then I must go; dear Horatio will wonder where I am. I said I would only be an hour, upon which he laughed, and said to make it three.’

‘He is such a tease, always has been. But will you and Horatio come boating with us?’

‘Dearest, you know I will not go near a boat.’

‘Oh very well, but perhaps come to the picnic? T’will only be the twins, with Delmare and Lieutenant Wilkinson. Hector is with his man of affairs and is caught up in the estate. There is so much to do before we travel.  La, that reminds me; how could I forget; Hector has the most wonderful surprise for me. Last night, he appeared brandishing tickets, for … you’ll never guess—’

‘Tell me.’

‘On the way to Ramsgate, we are attending a dinner at the home of the Marquis of Billington, and he has engaged Madame Morella, to sing after dinner.’

‘Oh my goodness; Pippa you lucky girl. She is the most famous singer in all of Europe.’

‘Yes, and the most beautiful. But she loves her money, does she not?’

‘Yes, I heard that her husband gave the Duke of Osmington a bill for eighteen hundred pounds for seventeen songs. Can you believe it?’

‘Tis said, her husband is very handsome, but also very jealous. He once called out a Swiss marquis who insulted her. The marquis chose the sabre, which happens to be Morella’s favourite weapon; he sliced the man’s nose in two.’

‘Good Lord, that sounds quite horrific.’

Conversation ceased, as the maid entered with a tray of porcelain cups, saucers, plates and a large Royal Doulton teapot. Putting it down on the table, she curtseyed and with a bright smile and a bob shut the door quietly behind her.

Pouring the tea Venetia said, ‘I will miss you so Phillipa, what with Isa and Henrietta in Brussels.’

‘Change your mind dearest, come with us.’