Page 8 of Midnight with the Marquess (The St. Clairs 2)

She sniffed. “I doubt that will ever be the case with me.”

“Rachel, you’re too hard on yourself. You were the prettiest girl who made her come-out this Season. You had scads of men fawning over you.”

“Then why, out of all of those men, did I not feel any sparks like you did with Alford? Like Jeremy and Catherine did?”

“Because that man wasn’t present,” Leah determined. “You have yet to meet him. That’s why I want you to be open at this house party. Alex said two more gentlemen will arrive tomorrow, as well as three more ladies close to our age. The party will be complete by then. Who knows? Maybe one of them will catch your interest.”

Rachel doubted it but kept silent, not wanting to dampen Leah’s optimism.

Leah yawned. “I’m off to bed. Are you coming?”

“No. I’m wide awake now. I’ll find something to read and be up later.”

What she wanted to do was think on what Leah told her about kissing and tongues. The prospect interested her greatly. Maybe she could try it out with one of Alford’s houseguests to see if it was something that pleased her. How to go about asking a man to kiss her that way would need some thought, though. She did her best thinking when she walked. She would take a long one tomorrow and mull over how to approach one of the men present with her unusual request.

Rachel rose and went to the bookshelves, skimming her finger along the spines of the books. Once, Eversleigh had a great library and she could find any book she desired in it. That was before Jeremy became Duke of Everton. Once he did, all of the volumes were immediately sold. Rachel understood why. She’d learned through eavesdropping on conversations between Jeremy and Cor that her father had gambled away the St. Clair fortune, leaving her brother a huge mess to deal with when he became the new duke.

Somehow, Jeremy had managed to fill the family coffers. She didn’t question him about it. Gradually, he was building a new library, often taking her suggestions as to what he should add to it. Rachel read voraciously and was pleased that Jeremy listened to her opinions. She knew money must no longer be a problem since he’d lavishly outfitted her and Leah for their Seasons. Many of her dresses had only been worn once. She decided that since she would undergo a second Season next spring, she wouldn’t ask for a new wardrobe and simply wear what she already had. A few petty girls might comment among themselves but she doubted any of the gentlemen would realize she hadn’t updated her clothes. Besides, it shouldn’t matter. A man should want her for herself and not care if she wore last year’s dresses.

Rachel finally found a volume that might interest her and pulled it from the shelf.

“Finally find something to read?” a deep voice asked.

She jumped and the book fell to the floor. From the shadows of the far corner of the room, a man stood in silhouette. He moved toward her. As he came into the light, Rachel saw the stranger was tall, with dark blond or light brown hair. He had broad shoulders and slim hips and wore no boots, his stockinged feet an odd contrast to being fully dressed. His face was tanned from long hours in the sun, making his azure eyes stand out.

Bending, he retrieved the book and handed it to her.

“I believe you dropped this.”

*

Evan had thoughthe should stand and let the two women know someone else was present in the room. He quickly realized who they were and found their conversation hard to interrupt. It was obvious they were close and comfortable sharing with one another. He already could picture Lady Leah in his mind from the description of her in Alex’s letters.

Lady Rachel, though, remained an intriguing mystery as he stared out the window and listened to her speak. Her low-pitched voice was deeper than most women possessed. When she laughed, it sent tingles down his spine.

Then the topic of kissing came up and Evan knew it was too late to interrupt without totally embarrassing the two women. Instead, he sat back and held in his laughter as they discussed which men of thetonLady Rachel had kissed and her obvious inexperience when it came to the process. Lady Leah insisted tongues were only put into play when love occurred.

Evan would beg to differ.

The more the two women spoke, the more he longed to see what Lady Rachel looked like. She seemed lively and intelligent and more than a tad curious about kissing. Alex’s fiancée mentioned how popular and pretty her friend was. It made Evan wonder why she hadn’t been deluged with several offers of marriage by Season’s end.

He listened as Lady Leah left and then rose, facing the room’s occupant. Lady Rachel had her back to him, perusing the shelves for a book. She was taller than most women of his acquaintance and had a long braid of midnight black hair that hung to her waist. He couldn’t tell much about her figure because she wore a dressing gown. Evan got a glimpse of her ankles as she reached for a book. The sight of them and her bare feet caused a hunger to rise within him.

He wanted to talk to her.

He needed to see her face.

More than anything, he wished to kiss her.

“Finally find something to read?” he called out and started toward her.

She jumped, the book tumbling to the floor. She didn’t scream or faint as most women would have done. Instead, Lady Rachel stood her ground and eyed him with interest as he crossed the long room.

Evan reached her and knelt, picking up the book and placing it in her hands. The moment their fingers brushed, that spark she had referred to ignited between them.

“I believe you dropped this,” he said huskily, his eyes falling to her full, bottom, very kissable lip. He wanted to suck on it, much as one of her fumbling suitors had tried to do—and failed.

“Thank you.” She turned and placed the book back on the shelf and then regarded him with interest. “Who are you? You weren’t present at dinner tonight. Are you one of Alford’s houseguests who arrived late?”

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