The first stirrings of
respect that Phillip acknowledged would have blossomed still further
had he heard the conversation Melissa and John were having. John
wasn't recounting the information he'd had from their most recent
conversation: instead he was discussing the initial chat he and
Phillip had a few days previously.
Melissa had pointed out
that as each member of their group was under supervision they needed
to schedule their meetings very carefully. Phillip would know that
John had been at her house, and would be suspicious of any
conversation. The only thing that might make him drop his guard is a
belief that John didn't buy into Melissa's story and was only
operating with her in order to keep an eye on his cousin and friends.
However, any time he spoke with Phillip, he could not then speak with
Melissa until there was some sort of cover story in place. At this
moment, Phillip would be thinking that John was recounting the
failure of his recent conversation, when the truth was he was sharing
the much more valuable information taken a few days earlier.
Melissa considered the
implications – they knew that at least one of Phillip's agents
would be in the area James was going. That made it likely it as
either a stopping point on the way to the planned assassination point
or a central focus of their reconnaissance. Given the location of the
meeting point (James had not had the same restrictions on
communication as John had and she'd had several hours to contemplate
the various options and outcomes of the information received) she had
extrapolated that it was only viable as a point of reconnaissance if
they had a clear route of escape to England or a neighbouring allied
nation. She'd mused over the map long enough to have the image clear
in her mind. John had no knowledge of the location Phillip had sent
James to, so he couldn't provide her with any help until the next
day. For now, he left her to her cogitations and she continued
flirting her way around the ballroom.
Phillip had been
watching her for some time and now manoeuvred his way towards her to
ask her for the dance. The two of them settled comfortably into the
steps and she felt again the relaxing security of his certainty
settle over her. Some part of her responded to the implied power he
wielded with his confidence and she really wanted to see what would
happen when he exerted his assumed authority more forcefully. She
felt a ripple of sensation quiver through her as they moved around
the floor and she quelled it with a light reproof at his with holding
information that might keep her boys safe.
Phillip still stiffened
when she mentioned her boys affectionately – despite his apology a
few days earlier about his reaction to encountering a scantily clad
male who was not a relative in her home, he had not truly forgiven
her for being so very unconventional. Beyond his learned response
that women had to be pure or be cast aside by respectable society, he
had also encountered her own confidence as a sensual woman and
although he was in no way intimidated, he was disturbed by the
implication of experience. In his mind, he had separated the women of
his world into those he could view in a sexual manner (courtesans,
for instance, certain married women and widows) and those who were
off limits (everyone else, but particularly the young and unmarried).
Melissa had, by virtue of her attitude and language, crossed the line
and he was finding himself entertaining indecent thoughts about her.
He felt guilty about
it, he had lived his lines between clearly delineated lines and she
was destroying his belief of what it was right and proper for him to
do. Seeing James in her house in a dressing gown had been a relief,
because it had convinced him she was free with her affections and he
could also engage with her. When James had explained the situation,
he had been mortified at the thoughts he had been indulging about a
respectable, arguably even noble, woman. His apology had been
sincere, but her response had once more confused him. In order to
reduce his internal conflict he had rigidly adhered to his
positioning of her in the list of “respectable” women thereby
putting her firmly off limits and refusing to entertain any further
fantasies.
Until he took her into
his arms, he thought he had succeeded. Unbeknownst to her, Melissa
did not dance like an innocent woman. Her life had made her
accustomed to have people within a much closer personal space than
the typical Regency-era young lady, and her experience of life had
made her comfortable to share her body with relative (and
occasionally complete) strangers. Dancing with a man, known or
unknown, with several layers of clothing between them did not seem to
her to be noticeably intimate and her movements reflected that. With
Lord Penthvere especially, her interest caused her to seek out the
moves which she responded to. He felt her urging him towards certain
points of the dance, although she never crossed the line into leading
him.
Now, poor Phillip was
desperately trying to hold onto his composure and control the wayward
thoughts which threatened to overcome his external appearance of
placidity. In short, he was concerned that by the end of the dance he
would be sporting an erection.
Melissa resolved the
problem for him by her remark about his endangering her boys. It gave
him the opportunity to channel his shame and frustration into anger.
The two of them spent the next ten minutes snapping back and forth as
they whirled around the floor. As the dance concluded, she let slip
the name of the town she anticipated would be the center of his
operations and when she observed his reaction – absolute deadpan –
she thought she might be onto something. Any town with no relation to
his activities would have earned her some response at least –
possibly a snippy comment relating to her French adventures – and
his lack of any response suggested he recognised the name and it
meant something. As it was mid sentence, she was able to disguise her
interest in his response and so move on without raising his
suspicions too high.
After the dance she
slipped out of his hold and glided to the side of the floor. There,
she bumped into a very large man. For a moment she was shocked into
stillness by her utterly spontaneous reaction – she briefly felt
like she had been electrocuted. She gazed up at him. Blond hair swept
into a more formal style than that which Lord Penthvere affected,
piercing blue eyes and a beautifully groomed moustache presented
themselves before her gaze. She was particularly interested because
he had responded as rapidly as she – his pupils had dilated before
their gazes met and for a brief moment they were trapped staring at
each other. Suddenly she gathered herself and swept a curtsey. His
response was the epitomy of polished grace and correct behaviour: he
bowed, apologised for his clumsiness and invited her to dance. As he
swept her onto the floor, she barely noticed the gaze of Lord
Penthvere watching her rapid accord with her new partner.
Where Phillip had been
hinting at control and assurance, the new gentleman was assuredly in
control. His aura of power encompassed her and his frame allowed her
no leeway. Each time he discovered a motion that drove a response out
of her, he immediately took the initiative to chase that response.
She felt utterly in his charge. His presence was oddly not
intimidating to her, and neither did she feel hounded or forced. It
took a while but when he did cross a line she stiffened and he
immediately backed off. From that point he didn't experiment with
teasing or intimacy, he simply restricted himself to the moves he
knew she enjoyed.
By the end of the dance
she was a quivering mass of anticipation. He delivered her to the
edge of the floor and, instead of kissing her hand, pressed his lips
against the rapid pulse on her wrist. His lips felt scalding on her
cool skin and she gazed after him. Seconds later she shook herself
and moved on. She didn't observe anyone she knew as they watched her
response to the large blonde stranger: Phillip was tense and alert,
John was concerned and – far across the room – Michael was
surprised.
The next day it was
Michael – the other newcomer to town life – that told her who her
partner had been. Sir Francis Carlisle, notorious rake, adventurer
and man of action. He rarely danced and when he did it was typically
with a specific kind of woman. To dance with her suggested either
that he assumed she was that kind of woman, or that he had been swept
away by her. Both suggestions seemed unlikely, but of the two, the
idea he had been swept away by her was less likely.
Her neighbours had paid
her gossipy visits before 11:30 that morning, eager to quiz her about
the gentleman and all she had been able to tell them was that she
suspected he had been disconcerted by their collision and had
attempted to reassure her by dancing. It was, she argued, the only
civil thing to do in the circumstances. Her neighbours agreed,
although sceptically, and she was concerned slightly by the attitude
of one of the neighbour's daughter, who had clearly ferreted away the
information that the only civil way for a gentleman to escape a
collision was by an invitation to dance.
Raising her eyebrow
slightly as she observed the girl, she encountered a look from her
mother who subtly indicated to Melissa her intention of addressing
such a behaviour. The byplay was not missed by the girl who flushed
furiously but, aside from that and her nervously twitching thumbs,
hid her discomposure behind an armour which would serve her well in
years to come.
