Page 30 of Twelve Drummers Drumming

No, it was all of Jemima he wished to see, Hugh thought, his hand clenching into a fist. He had seen much of her soul, but it was her body he wished to ravish now.

To bed her, to show her what pleasure was. To prove to himself he could still bring a woman to such ecstasies she would cry his name and—

“Nonsense.”

Hugh’s eyes darted over to the colonel.

“If you love this woman,” said the colonel with an intense stare, “if there is even a modicum of acquaintanceship with her, then the least you can do is attend her sister’s engagement ball. I loved the one I lost, and the only solace I have now is in writing to her parents. If there had been one single moment I could reclaim with her, even if it was under the most uncomfortable of circumstances, I would take it with both hands. Even if I had lost both legs altogether.”

A stunned silence followed this. Hugh swallowed.

Then he strode toward the door as best he could with his crutch, flung it open, and walked through it without a backward glance.

It was only now Hugh wondered whether he had acted right, yet Jemima’s expression was certainly softening.

“Oh Hugh,” Jemima said softly, taking a step closer to him. “Why did you not tell me that—or when Papa invited you in the first place? We would have understood—”

“Would you?” Hugh said bitterly, and he hated himself for the way it made Jemima flinch slightly. “You seemed very quick to assume the worst of me.”

“It hurt that you were not here,” Jemima said simply, all her anger dissipated. “I had wanted you here so badly, and you were not here, and I thought…”

Hugh’s eyebrow raised quizzically, his bitterness gone. “What did you think?”

Jemima swallowed and whispered, “I did not know if my kisses…whether they pleased you. We have not spoken of them, so I did not know—”

It was all Hugh could do not to sweep her into his arms. Freeing his hand from hers, he raised it to her chin and tilted it up so that she was looking straight into his eyes.

“Hear this, Miss Jemima Fitzroy,” he said in a dark tone full of emotion. “If we were not standing in a ballroom surrounded by other people, I would be doing much more than kissing you at this moment.”

*

Heat rushed throughJemima’s body like a wave, and she found herself transfixed by Hugh’s mouth.

“If we were not standing in a ballroom surrounded by other people, I would be doing much more than kissing you at this moment.”

She had no thought, no conscious decision about what she was going to do: almost of its own accord, her hand clasped his and she started to walk.

“Jem—Miss Fitzroy, where are we going?” Hugh voiced his confusion as Jemima began to hear murmurs around the room. She knew she was attracting the attention of those watching, but there was no going back.

Jemima smiled. “We are going to dance.”

“Dance?” Hugh’s voice was firm. “We are doing absolutely no such thing. Did you not listen to a word I said? The whole reason—”

“Jemima? Who is your friend?”

Cringing internally at Caroline’s falsely interested tone, Jemima ignored the lady of the ball and marched down the set of dancers to the end.

Hugh stopped dead, and there was nothing Jemima could do to move him. “No, I cannot do this.”

Jemima smiled at him, all anger and bad temper melted away. Though unsure precisely what it was called, this emotion that flooded her veins whenever she saw him, she knew it was here to stay.

She wanted him. Needed him. And she would prove it to him.

“Hugh,” she said quietly, “I understand you were nervous about coming here—and if I had any hint of intelligence in my bones, I would have known that before you told me. But can’t you see? I…I’m not embarrassed or nervous of you, and I am not ashamed to be seen with you! In fact,” she said, gaining boldness, “Iwantto be seen with you. I want to dance with you, and I want to do it now. Here. Before my family.”

There was a strange look on Hugh’s face, and suddenly Jemima was unsure of herself. Had she spoken too much, been too abrupt or forward?

She had certainly never spoken to any other gentleman in this way. She had never wished to.

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