Page 75 of Intolerable
“I’ll watch you go back,” he said. “I daren’t accompany you.”
She nodded. “I hate that I have to leave you.”
“I hate that too,” he admitted softly. He leaned down to kiss her, their lips meeting in a soft but fierce collision full of promise. Could they continue like this? He hoped so even as he knew it was fraught with risk.
She stepped back and gave him a flirtatious smile, her fingers still entangled with his. “I know you don’t want me to say it, but I love you. I will count the hours until we’re together again.”
No, he didn’t want her to say it, nor could he deny the selfish hunger in his heart that was desperate to hear it. “Soon,” he responded, as he reluctantly let her go.
She spun about and dashed toward the house, the ribbons of her bonnet flying behind her because she hadn’t tied it beneath her chin. He watched until she was long gone, until his body was cold but his heart full.
They could wait until the end of the Season. He prayed his love for her would only increase.
Chapter 18
The glow of Ruark’s rendezvous with Cassandra the other night had finally begun to fade. He attributed that to the possibility that she was even now receiving callers and none of them were him. How could he call on her when his father had made it clear he wasn’t a welcome suitor?
He had to wait for Cassandra to smooth things over with him. And then what? Ruark would court her? What if things…changed by the end of the Season?
And just like that, the happiness he’d basked in the past day and a half evaporated. He put his elbows on his desk and cradled his head in his hands.
“Where are you taking Kat this evening? Time is wasting.”
Ruark looked up to see his mother standing on the other side of his desk. “We’ll go to a pleasure garden. Will that suffice?”
“Vauxhall?” she asked with expectant glee.
“Er, no. A smaller one, but it will be pleasant and there will be eligible gentlemen.” He hoped. “Vauxhall is so large. This smaller garden will ensure Kat is seen.” He hoped that too.
“I can’t argue with that.”
Ruark wanted to say she surely could but refrained from poking the bear. Withdrawing his elbows from the desktop, he leaned back in his chair. “What are your plans this afternoon?” He knew she wouldn’t stay home.
“Iona and I are going shopping.”
“Oh good. I’m sorry Iona hasn’t been out much.” She wasn’t participating in the Season as Kat was because their mother didn’t want to have to manage two daughters at once. Particularly since Kat typically took more management. Surprisingly, Iona hadn’t seemed too bothered. Ruark suspected she was glad to be left alone.
His mother waved her hand. “She’ll be fine. She knows the primary goal of this trip is to see Kat married.”
Ruark had to find a way to convince his mother to let Kat remain unwed. In pondering this problem, he couldn’t help but think of Cassandra, who would also be trying to persuade her father to allow her to delay marriage, at least until the end of the Season but perhaps longer.
Excusing himself, Ruark left for the boxing club, eager to work out his agitation in the ring. An hour later, he was disappointed to realize that his encounter with Cassandra the other night had done nothing to improve his focus in the ring. But that was likely because he was consumed with thoughts of whether she’d spoken to her father about delaying marriage or if she was even now hearing a marriage proposal.
Mort’s knuckles connected with Ruark’s ribs again. “Enough,” Mort said, shaking his head. “I’m telling Fred you can’t fight.”
Ruark knew it was foolish to go ahead with the prizefight, but it was in two days. “What if he can’t find a replacement?”
“I’ll find one,” Mort said decisively. “Garnham will pulverize you.”
“If there’s no one to take my place, I’ll just have to do my best.” He wasn’t going to leave Fred without a fighter, especially not after he’d asked to participate.
“You’re an honorable gent,” Mort said as they went to the bench where he picked up a cloth to wipe the perspiration from his brow.
Ruark wasn’t sure he agreed. An honorable gent would have proposed to Cassandra already. Would he though if he worried he’d hurt her by falling out of love? Because he was perhaps incapable of sustaining love?
He’d hoped she was different from the others. What if she wasn’t?
Ruark scrubbed the towel over the back of his neck. “I’m going to get changed, and then I’ll speak with Fred.”
