Читать книгу Beloved Enemy - Mary Schaller - Страница 11

Rob gaped at the young woman. Had he completely misread her character? She swayed slightly and hiccuped. Steadying her on her feet, he realized that she probably did not have the slightest idea what she had just asked him. Glancing through the gap in the curtains, he was relieved to see that no one was nearby. Best to sober up the Fairy Princess, then deposit her on one of the side chairs that lined the dance floor. Rob could not remember ever being caught in such a ticklish situation as this one. The lady hiccuped again.

“Oh, dear,” she murmured, more to herself than to him. “I do believe that I have made a splendid hash of this.”

Rob had no idea what she meant. “It’s the champagne,” he soothed her. “It has a way of robbing our good sense. Those naughty little bubbles make us say the strangest things.” He glanced between the curtains again to make sure that no one had wandered in range.

Her fingers tightened around his good arm. He prayed that she wouldn’t faint on him—not in this secluded spot.

“No, Major,” she said in a soft slur, “I did mean exactly what I asked. I must be ruined, whatever that is. I am desperate. Can you do it?”

Rob groaned inwardly. It was like asking him if he knew how to breathe. His loins awoke with a start. His mouth went dry. He cleared his throat. “Pardon my hesitation, miss, but do you have any idea what you are asking me to do?”

“Of course!” She nodded vigorously. Her holly wreath threatened to slide off her head. “That is, no,” she countered. “I fear I do not have a precise definition of ‘ruination.’ My books failed me in that respect. I had presumed that you, being a man and a Yankee, would know what to do.”

The way she said “Yankee” gave Rob some pause. Was he in the company of a Confederate spy? Was this a ruse to blackmail him into revealing government secrets? Before he could take action, she fell against him. Her eyes flashed with unfeigned shock.

“Oh, my! This is not what I had planned at all. Do forgive me, Major. I’ve never had more than one glass of wine before. I had no idea how fluffy it makes one feel. Will my intoxicated condition present a problem for you? Can you ruin me anyway?” Her beautiful eyes focused into a look of pure desperation. “Please, sir,” she whispered. “You are my only hope.”

Rob ignored his distaste for Rebels—at least for the moment. Confederate or not, his Fairy Princess was clearly a lady in real distress. He turned her toward the open window. “Hold on to my arm and keep your eyes open. Breathe deeply.”

She gripped him as she leaned over the jet of cold air that blew inside. When he felt her steady herself, Rob continued, “Now, please explain to me why you wish to have me…ah…ruin you. Before I do anything, I must understand the particulars.” Despite the cold air on his face, perspiration dampened his hair.

The auburn beauty nodded. “My parents want me to marry my cousin down in Richmond.” She paused for breath. “He’s a toad.” She stopped again, as if to gather her strength. “So I thought that if I were well and truly ruined by another man—a total stranger—” She breathed in again. “Payton would refuse to have me, and my parents would not object to me becoming a schoolteacher,” she finished in a rush of words.

Rob grunted. She was beginning to sound more reasonable. He gave her a weak smile. “You want to teach children?”

She looked up at him as if he had offered her the world on a silver tray. Her askew holly leaves and her fetching black mask made her even more like Shakespeare’s fairy queen. Rob recalled that Titania had also done some silly things while under the influence of a flower’s potent juice.

“Very much,” she replied softly. “Little girls and perhaps even some of the black children, now that they are free. But my parents would be dead set against that idea. Proper ladies do not teach school.”

“So you decided to be improper—with me?”

“Exactly so,” she confessed, looking away from him. “Just a little bit. As you have discovered, I have no idea how to do it. My apologies, sir, for embarrassing you.” She straightened her smooth shoulders and pulled up her fringed shawl over her ivory flesh. “I feel like such a fool. But you can have no idea…” She sighed.

Don’t get involved. She’s a Reb.

Rob’s skin prickled. He moved closer to her until there was no space between them. Her violet scent filled his nostrils. Her lips, moist with her outrageous request, were less than twelve inches from his yearning mouth. He knew they should return to the ballroom before someone missed them. Miss Cobweb did not have any idea of the true cost of a ruined reputation, but Rob knew. Even if she were a Confederate, he did not want to be the one to debauch her. He wanted revenge for his injury, but not at the expense of this innocent. What she needed was a good fright to put some sense back into that pretty head.

The cold moonlight shining through the windowpane glinted in her jade-green eyes. Staring into their depths, Rob tried to ignore their magnetic pull on his senses.

“To ruin a young lady means to take her virtue,” he began in his best attempt to remain impervious to her attractions.

“Oh!” gasped the Fairy Princess. Her eyes grew wider.

Rob continued in a hurry. “A kiss on your lips by a stranger like myself would be enough to ruin a respectable young woman such as yourself.” How he wanted to do it right away!

Puzzlement filled her green orbs. “But I have been kissed already. Frank did that before he went off to fight the…to war,” she finished.

Rob thought of his cold bed back in his hotel. “Why don’t you marry Frank then, instead of this cousin? It would save you a great deal of grief.”

The lady looked down at the floor. “He was killed at Manassas,” she whispered. She touched a silver locket that she wore around her neck. “And he only kissed me once—on the cheek.”

Rob was tempted to take her in his arms for comfort’s sake, but that would defeat the point he was trying to make. “I am sorry for your loss,” he said through stiff lips. “But to return to your present…um…problem.” His loins stiffened. He hoped it wasn’t noticeable. “If I took improper liberties with you—”

She looked up with warm expectation. “Yes?” she breathed.

Rob groaned as his manhood throbbed under his frock coat. How did he get himself into this hell? He had to end this nonsense quickly before he did something that he would surely regret—later. I must be cruel to be kind.

“To ruin you,” he growled, “my kiss would be hard. It would bruise you.” He tore his gaze away from her lush mouth. “And…and I would not stop with just one kiss. Oh, no, I would kiss you many times…in many places.” Sweat rolled down the back of his neck.

The tip of her pink tongue darted between her lips. “Fascinating!”

Rob squeezed shut his eyes. A sane man could only withstand so much temptation. Miss Cobweb had no idea how warm she had made him. He had to conclude the little lecture now.

“It is quite unpleasant, miss. I doubt you would like it at all—and neither would I,” he ended with a profound lie.

Rob backed away from her and lifted the drape. Fortunately, their corner was still deserted. “It’s high time that we rejoined the party,” he muttered, every nerve in his body aflame.

She gave him a soulful look. “So you will not ruin me after all?”

He pushed her into the supper room. “That remains to be seen.”

Though her plan had failed miserably, Julia felt relieved. Who would have ever guessed that she would happen to find the one and only true gentleman in this roomful of churlish Yankees? She looked up at him and caught his sidelong glance. Though his mask covered half his face, she could tell that she had made him uncomfortable.

To ease the tension, she whispered behind her fan, “I thank you for protecting my reputation, sir, but, at least, could you say that you had your way with me? I mean, if anyone happened to ask you.”

He looked stricken. His mouth thinned, then he replied, “I pray that there will be no inquiries. I have no intention of eating buckshot for breakfast.”

Just then, Joe Jackson announced a polka. Couples at the refreshment table pushed past Julia and her major to claim a spot on the dance floor.

As the music began, Julia saw her sister for the first time that evening. Carolyn was in the center of the room in the arms of an officer wearing bright red Turkish trousers. The man was practically galloping her down the length of the dance floor.

Leaning down, Rob observed, “Now there is a pretty minx who will leave many a broken heart in her wake.” He nodded toward Carolyn. “She’s a candidate for ruination.”

Julia gulped. “I fear you are right. That’s my sister.”

Rob groaned. Then he turned to her with apology in his chocolate-brown eyes. “Forgive me again, Mistress Cobweb. It is the knavish spirit within me. Is your sister named Peaseblossom for the color of her gown?” he added in a rush.

Julia knew her mother would swoon if she saw Carolyn just now. To the major’s anxious look, she remarked, “No, we left Peaseblossom at home to grow some more. That is Mustardseed, so called because she will indeed add a great deal of spice to life.”

Finally, Rob smiled at her just as he had done earlier in the supper room. Hoping that their awkward episode was behind them, Julia returned his smile. Then she glanced back at the dance floor.

“Hellfire!” she gasped with horror under her breath.

As Carolyn’s partner whirled her faster, her sister’s mask slipped down to her neck, revealing her identity for all the world to see!