The Lady's Guide to Well-Endowed Dukes: a passionate historical romance by Emmanuelle de Maupassant

Author:Emmanuelle de Maupassant [Maupassant, Emmanuelle de]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dark Castle Press
Published: 2024-03-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

Replete from the cannoli, a companionable calm descended upon the four of them.

The Misses McTavish were an eccentric pair, clearly bent on furthering the acquaintance between himself and Mrs. Bongorge—or Stella, as the others referred to her. However, he couldn’t find it in himself to be annoyed. The ease he felt contrasted with the formality between himself and Miss Maitland. As amiable as her parents were, he hadn’t found himself able to relax and laugh in their company as he had today.

Rockley felt surprisingly amenable. Impulse had driven him to join them ashore, despite his earlier resolution to keep his distance. He was a grown man; not some adolescent ruled by sexual caprice. He was capable of enjoying the company of Mrs. Bongorge without casting off all his principles.

At first, she’d been somewhat prickly, no doubt uncertain of his motives in accompanying them. They’d parted in a way that could only be described as uncomfortable. However, it hadn’t taken long before she indulged her usual playful manner.

She was looking particularly lovely, too—in frothy white muslin embroidered with rosebuds. He didn’t usually pay much attention to the details of a woman’s dress, but he approved of this one. A wide sash accentuated her waist, above the padding and contraptions going on beneath the skirts. He’d a feeling her own hips would be perfectly adequate in giving the outfit shape, creating just the right counterbalance to the curves within her bodice.

He didn’t mean to stare, but perhaps he was, for she adjusted the positioning of her hat, hiding her face behind the great saucer. “If I sit much longer, I shan’t be able to move at all. A short turn about the square, I think. Please remain as you are.”

“Nonsense, dear,” said Margaret McTavish. “Lord Rockley will accompany you. Even if you are in plain sight, we’re in a foreign country. Better to have a gentleman by your side.”

“We might climb one of the bell towers, if you’re feeling up to it? The steps don’t number more than about a hundred, and the view is worthwhile.” He found himself hoping, very much, that she’d consent.

“Oh yes,” the other Miss McTavish prompted. “You must see that, and there’s no need to hurry back. We’ll sit until you collect us.”

Mrs. Bongorge rose and took his arm, walking in step with him across the piazza, towards the western of the two belltowers. The spiral upward being narrow, he sent her ahead. All was quiet, but for the sound of their step and the slight brush of her skirts over the rising stones, though she lifted her hem, giving him a view of white boots and a modest heel.

She kept a good pace, though her breathing came more noticeably as they approached the final turn. Emerging onto the open-windowed balcony of the summit, she pressed her hand to her chest, laughing and triumphant.

It was just as well they were alone in having made the ascent, for there was little enough room for the two of them.

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