Page 24 of Loving a Noble Gentleman
Do I like him because of what our marriage will offer everyone, or do I like him because of the way he makes me feel?
Mary needed to work that out, and she hoped it was something she would discover sooner rather than later.
“Come on, let us go and see the books,” she said happily. “Walter will come looking for us soon, and we do not wish to be caught not doing what we have promised.”
As she turned and moved, Edmund paused for a second while he watched her walk away. There was something about her sunny disposition that utterly thrilled him. He felt very lucky to have been given the opportunity to get to know her. After all, if it had not been for the surprising letter that he received from Mary’s father, he would have never crossed her path in any other way. His business kept him away from Ladies like Mary, and she was much too quiet to ever be at one of those awful balls ... unless she was forced to be there.
Of course, even if they had met that way, the terrible first impressions that they gave one another would have halted any chance for romance right away.
As the couple reached the bookshelf, there was something brand new in the atmosphere around them. Somehow, they seemed to find their flow with one another, and every single movement was performed with ease. They appeared to seamlessly know how one another would move, and they slotted their own behaviour around that.
“Wuthering Heights, Little Women, Jane Eyre ...” Edmund commented. “Hmm, maybe we do not share the same tastes in books after all.”
“Actually, those are the books my sister loved,” Mary told him. “And they are also the books my father wanted me to like too. I could not help myself; I always preferredDracula, The Picture of Dorian Gray,andThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.Something with a bit of drama and excitement. Something where the storyline would take me somewhere thrilling. There is only so much excitement in romance ... or so I have always thought.”
She did not realise how provocative that sounded until she felt Edmund’s eyes prickling on the back of her neck. As it hit her, an intense heat burned up from her toes and raced all the way to the top of her head. Edmund found it completely adorable that Mary was so embarrassed. It showed just how sweet she was. He could never picture her doing something as forward as Victoria, which left him feeling much more comfortable.
He reached forward to take the book from Mary’s hand, to see what she was examining with such intensity, but as he did, his skin accidentally brushed against hers causing electrical sensations to flood him. He jumped backwards, his eyes opening wide with surprise, and when the book hit the floor with a loud thump, he knew that she felt it too.
Mary could not deny it anymore; she could not imagine that she was only convincing herself that there was something between her and the Duke to make life easier for everyone else. When he touched her then, she felt something so deep within her it was unreachable. Her heart and chest warmed up; her tummy twisted again, and her brain buzzed with emotion.
I like this man,she thought decisively.I really like this man. Maybe I could even love him.
“I ...” she started, but Edmund interrupted her.
“We ...” Edmund trailed off awkwardly too as he realised that they both wanted to speak at the same time.
There was nothing that they could say; there was a magnet between them, desperately trying to pull them in together. Mary could feel it tingling on her lips, and she had a real need to kiss him, an urge so deeply ingrained that she was not sure she could resist it. When Edmund took a step closer to her as if he was feeling it too, Mary knew that she would not be able to stop him. She was aware that it could ruin her, both of them actually, if they kissed any time before their wedding day, but how could she turn her back on an urge so strong?
Do not do this,Edmund tried his best to tell himself.This is not the right thing to do.
Yet somehow he could not stop moving towards Mary. Those plump lips of hers were crying out to him, begging him to kiss her. This was nothing like it was with Victoria; this was something he wanted. Something he felt that they both wanted.
“Lady Mary Roberts?” As a voice rang through the hallway, they both leapt back as if they had been set on fire. “Your Grace?”
It was Walter, finally alerting them to the fact that they had been far longer than ten minutes at the bookshelf. They had only intended to go and see a few pieces of literature, but instead, they had found themselves falling into the abyss of feelings for one another.
“Erm, yes?” Mary called out while smoothing down her hair. She was acting as if she had something to be guilty about, even though they had not done anything. “Yes, we are coming back now.”
They did not move right away; they stared at each other while panting heavily. It was as if they were both out of breath despite the fact that they had not been running or doing any form of exercise.
“What do we do?” Edmund whispered. “Should we go back?”
Mary burst into giggles at the thought of slipping her hand into Edmund’s and running out into the garden with him. They would not go far; her impulse would not be too naughty, but she already knew for certain that it would not end well. She had come to learn that Walter was not the sort of man that should be messed about.
“I would love to run off,” she leaned in to tell Edmund. As she did, their foreheads almost touched, bringing back all the same sensations as before. “But I feel we might get locked up in jail if we did.”
Edmund agreed with mock seriousness. “Yes, you are right. Walter is not to be played about with. Let us go back in there. I will share one more drink with him, then I think I shall leave.”
Mary’s throat constricted with panic. “You will come back soon?” she asked breathlessly, not even caring how that sounded. Maybe she should have been trying to keep herself in check, but it was hard with him confusing her, making her feelings swell.
Edmund placed one of his hands over hers for just a second. He tried his hardest to ignore all the feelings that filled him, but they did not wish to be pushed down. “I will be back; you do not have to worry about that.”
Edmund knew that he would always come back. Now that he had opened his heart to Mary, and she had come inside, he knew that he would not let her go now. Not for anything.
