Page 6 of A Diamond for Christmas (Diamonds of the First Water #6)

G eoffrey was determined to see Lady Caroline again. And not only to see her but to speak with her.

“It’s not a case of wanting what I cannot have,” he told his close friend, Jasper Trent, who thought himself clever with women. They sat at a table in White’s dining room having finished a good meal. “I wanted her before I knew I couldn’t have her.”

“Then it’s Romeo and Juliet all over again,” Jasper said, sipping brandy. “You and the Chimes are the Capulets and the Montagues. Given that fact, we don’t want to end with so much poisoning and death now, do we?”

Geoffrey rolled his eyes. “We shall not.”

“What about her brothers?”

“What about them?”

“What if they come after you?” Jasper asked.

Geoffrey smiled wryly. “They’ll have to stand in line behind their father and mother and my own father and mother first.”

That tickled Jasper to no end, and he laughed at Geoffrey’s expense. After a minute, however, he spoke again.

“Maybe you had best throw them off the scent.”

“What do you mean?” Geoffrey asked, then drained his brandy, gesturing to the server for another .

“Escort some other young lady about Town. In fact, dance with everyone except Lady Caroline, don’t even try to speak with her. Laugh and chat with the other females instead so your parents and hers suspect nothing of your heart.”

“You dolt! That will make me look like a rake, especially to Lady Caroline. And how will that help me get closer to her?”

“I may be a dolt,” Jasper said, “but I am a willing one who would carry your messages to her in your stead.”

Geoffrey gaped at him. “You really do think I am Romeo come to life. That makes you Juliet’s nurse, by the way, as she was the one who carried all the messages.” He saw his friend smile again. “And you are liable to get me poisoned or stabbed after all.”

Besides, Geoffrey didn’t want to play games and pretend to care for other ladies. Why bring more people into it? He wanted to be frank. On the other hand, he could use Jasper’s help in communicating with Lady Caroline if necessary.

As it turned out, at the next assembly in a grand house on St. James’s Square, Lady Caroline was there with her indomitable mother. The woman’s head appeared to be upon a swivel, and she didn’t let her daughter out of her sight.

And thus, he needed Jasper after all.

“Dance with Lady Caroline,” Geoffrey instructed from a position behind a column. “And please tell her I’ll be waiting in the vestibule, next to the vase of flowers.”

Jasper, who had made sure to gain an introduction to Caroline early during the evening, saluted rudely. “As you wish, sire.”

After watching his friend take the coppery-haired Caroline as his partner, Geoffrey left the room just before the dancing ended.

He waited for half an hour, but she never appeared.

Eventually, forced to give up, he returned to the main hall and spotted her dancing with another gentleman, Lord Mangue .

Jasper intercepted him. “Your Juliet was willing, but there was no way for her to leave the room without her dear mother at her side.”

“Then we shall have to find another way. Will you dance with her again later in the evening?”

Jasper grinned. “People will start to link my name with Lady Caroline’s.”

“I shall risk it,” Geoffrey said. “Find out if she goes anywhere without her mother. With another chaperone or, better yet, with her aunt. If there is such a place, find out the time and I shall go there, too.”

It couldn’t have worked out better. Geoffrey met Lady Caroline at Hatchards bookshop on Piccadilly with her maid two days later. Jasper told him Lady Chimes considered it to be, in Caroline’s words, “a dull outing.” And therefore, safe.

Upon entering the shop at number 187 between the bay windows, Geoffrey spied Lady Caroline at once by her hair.

Although under a cream-colored bonnet with a yellow ribbon, enough of her glorious locks showed like a beacon.

What’s more, she had claimed a space in the middle of the ground floor, perhaps in order to see him easily.

Dressed in a lemon-colored gown of fine cotton, with a matching short satin spencer, she was the epitome of femininity, and he would have noticed her even if she’d been in a dark corner.

Her face lit up with a smile. He nodded, seeing her maid beside her.

Now what?

Moving closer, he browsed the books on the round tables, not actually seeing anything, too aware of her nearness.

“Keep an eye on these books,” he heard her say to her maid when he was a mere few yards away. “I am going to see if they have the latest Waverly novel. ”

“Yes, miss.”

Geoffrey waited a few moments, moving toward the bookshelves that lined the walls, keeping his back to the maid. He picked out a thick volume, inspected it, and returned it before starting to hum quietly.

Sauntering along in the direction Lady Caroline had gone, he increased his pace as soon as he was out of the maid’s view.

“Here,” Lady Caroline said when he nearly passed her hiding place, squeezed between two bookcases.

Grasping her hand, he pulled her along behind him farther into the back of the shop.

“That was a good ruse,” he commended, “gathering up so many books your maid would have to stay put.”

“It wasn’t a ruse,” she said. “I really shall buy them or at least some of them, with my allowance, and the Waverly novel St. Ronan’s Well , too, if I find it.”

He was impressed.

“Besides,” she said, “if I went home empty-handed, that would be suspicious indeed.”

“You are a clever lady,” he praised.

And they reached the last of the public area at the back of the shop.

“I suppose this will have to do. Perhaps next time, we can meet upstairs.”

“Next time?” she murmured softly.

He sighed. “I know this is hardly ideal, but unless your aunt accompanies you to another ball —”

“She will not. My mother won’t allow her to be my chaperone again.”

“I see.” Geoffrey couldn’t imagine how they would begin any kind of meaningful association if they could only meet for a few minutes in a dusty bookstore.

“There is always Gretna Green,” he said.

Lady Caroline visibly startled .

“Merely a jest,” he assured her, although if he did fall in love and there was no other way, he was not entirely opposed to a Scottish border wedding.

They remained silent a moment. He didn’t find it the least bit awkward, happy simply to be in her presence.

“My friend, Lord Trent, doesn’t mind carrying messages between us,” he said.

“That’s kind of him. And he is a good dancer.” Suddenly, she sighed. “This is ridiculous.”

He flinched. Was she ready to give up?

“What can my parents do if you simply come claim me for a dance at the next ball?”

Relieved to learn not only wasn’t she giving up, Lady Caroline was ready to stand up to her parents, he drew her into his arms. Instantly, a sizzling heat raced through him. His attraction to her was like nothing he’d ever experienced.

Without asking or waiting, he lowered his head and kissed her.

At once, she melted against him. Having never swived with a woman he was in love with, he could easily imagine how good it would be with a beloved wife.

One could take years to explore the other’s needs and desires.

That might be life’s best adventure of all.

With her hands grasping his arms, he tilted his head and kissed her as thoroughly as he could against shelves of books that threatened to tumble down upon them. Their tongues danced briefly, and she sighed into his mouth, making his loins take distinct notice.

Wanting to plunge his hands into her hair and disturb the pins and her adorable yellow bonnet, instead Geoffrey took care not to leave her in the slightest disarray.

“My lady,” came her maid’s voice, and they broke apart.

Dammit all! he swore silently. “We hardly had a minute, it seems. Can you be at Vauxhall tomorrow night?”

Her eyes were a little glazed, and he was pleased to have caused her distracted expression .

“I believe so,” she said. “I’ve been once before, and Mother said we could return. If the weather is fine, she will allow it.”

“If you come, Lord Trent will find you between the Turkish Tent and where the orchestra plays. He shall tell you where I am.”

“It’s pointless,” she began. “Wherever I go, my mother will, too.”

“Don’t you have a friend you can meet by chance and walk with? Maybe if Trent escorts you to the Rotunda, I can run into you.”

“Maybe,” she said, sounding forlorn but tugging on her spencer to make sure she was in good order.

“Tell me why you taste of orange and lavender,” he asked.

“Lip balm,” she said.

“You taste delicious.”

That brought a smile back to her face. “What’s your favorite color?” she asked in return.

“My lady?” came the maid again.

“Why?” he asked.

“I simply want to learn more about you. If I come away with a little nugget of information after each meeting, eventually, I’ll know you.”

“At this rate, I will need a cane before you get through my likes and dislikes.”

“I must go,” she said. “Tell me your answer.”

Without hesitation, he said, “Your hair. That is my favorite color.”

Her cheeks pinkened, and she turned to leave.

“And yours?” he asked quietly.

She glanced back at him. “Blue,” she said, gesturing at her own gown. “Like your eyes.”

And then she was gone.