Page 22 of Seven Swans a Swimming

Arabella dropped her gaze immediately to her food. His parents were right there, on either side of them! What on earth could the man be thinking?

He was a conundrum, he really was. At times taciturn, at other times charming, the only consistent thing about Lord Nathaniel Cartier was that he was completely inconsistent.

A tingle flickered across her heart. If only Arabella did not find that utterly irresistible.

Because he was different, Arabella thought, as she tucked heartily into her salmon and potatoes. She could not say something foolish if her mouth was full of food.

Nathaniel was different from any other man she had ever met, and she had met plenty. One did not live in London in a popular family full of beautiful sisters without receiving a good number of invitations to parties, dinners, luncheons, tea. She even had attended Almack’s last Season, which was rather a coup for her mother.

Arabella had not had the heart to tell her that their inclusion was surely due to Caroline’s new raised status, as Countess of Cheshire, rather than any individual merit of Arabella’s own.

But still. The point was, Arabella thought as she delicately placed a sliver of salmon on her fork, that she had not been entirely ignorant of what gentlemen were like, and she had known precisely the sort of gentleman she had wanted to discover Nathaniel to be.

Kind. Considerate. Caring. A good listener, of course, but also with plenty to say.

And handsome. Attractive. Arabella shivered as she recalled that kiss. A kiss which told her, in no uncertain terms, that she was more than happy to receive his kisses for the rest of her life, if that one was any indication.

Nathaniel certainly knew his way around a woman.

The thought seared through her mind, and Arabella almost dropped her fork again—but the thought this time did not dissipate.

He would know how she wanted to be touched. How she wanted to be kissed. How every inch of her skin could give rise to pleasure, if only he knew how to caress it properly…

“Are you quite well, Miss Fitzroy?”

Arabella started…and dropped her fork.

“You certainly seem most distracted this afternoon,” continued Lady Cartier, a look of genuine concern on her face. “You know, what with our plans, I was perfectly happy to leave you to it, but now…”

Nathaniel looked up. “What plans?”

A look passed between Lord and Lady Cartier—a look Arabella did not like. It was the sort of look her parents shared when they had planned something rather unpleasant for their daughters but had not yet told them. Like a visit to an elderly great aunt that no one liked, or an invitation to dine with a family who simply did not have a good cook.

“Well, dear,” said Lady Cartier slowly, which only raised the tension in Arabella’s shoulders. “You know we have been meaning to visit the Spensers for such a long time—”

“Very old friends of the family,” said Lord Cartier in a conspiratorial whisper to Arabella, which carried across the table.

“Very old,” said Nathaniel dryly. “I would say they are in their nineties, the pair of them.”

“Goodness,” said Arabella genuinely. She could not recall ever having met anyone who had reached that old age. “What marvelous specimens.”

Heat flooded her cheeks as she realized she had not merely thought but spoken that thought aloud. Nathaniel grinned while Lady Cartier pretended not to have heard.

Well, it was all Nathaniel’s fault! Him and his scientific talk only an hour ago, by the lakeside. Was it her fault she could not stop thinking about the way he had spoken with such passion about the natural world?

And kissed her with that same passion?

“Well, we will be going to visit the specimens—the Spensers,” corrected Lady Cartier hastily.

Arabella caught Nathaniel’s eye, and they shared a look that made her heart flutter. This was a gentleman she could adore, she knew. How utterly frustrating he seemed determined to dislike her, at the very least.

“And as it is such a journey, we will be staying there overnight,” Lady Cartier finished.

Arabella looked around suddenly, her mind putting together all the things her hostess had said. If Lord and Lady Cartier were going to visit the Spensers, and they were going to stay overnight, that meant…

She swallowed and tried not to look up at Nathaniel. She knew he would be looking at her, she just knew it. Reviewing her expression. Watching her.

When she did manage to glance up, she immediately looked down again. She knew it.

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