Page 64 of A Single Obsession

Eliza followed him along the corridor and down the servants’ stair, and soon they were outside in the cool night air. Beau took her by the hand, leading the way down the hill to the woods by a footpath that was much more direct than the track they had taken on horseback. She had forgotten to pick up her gloves and warmed at the feel of his fingers entwined with her own.

Down the length of the path they hurried, Eliza scurrying to keep up with Beau’s long strides. As they entered the trees, he slowed his pace and turned to her, a lopsided grin on his face.

“I still can’t believe you got dressed in ten minutes,” he said with a chuckle. “My sisters would have taken the best part of an hour.”

Eliza glowed with pleasure at the compliment, but decided not to inform him just what she was wearing. “I doubt you could persuade Frances to get up and dress in the middle of the night at all. I can imagine the look on her face at the mere suggestion.”

She could see Beau’s answering smile in the moonlight, but then his expression grew more serious.

“I don’t suppose there is any other lady who would have done,” he said, looking down at her, his eyes strangely intense, “but fortunately, I wasn’t tempted to ask anyone else to come with me.”

With no warning, he cupped her face with his hands and brushed her lips with his own. “You’re a girl in a million.”

In silence, he retook her hand, and led her further into the woods.

Eliza walked beside him in a daze, raising her free arm and touching her fingers to her mouth, as if she could recapture the embrace that had caught her by surprise. Her heart was pounding so loudly she thought the whole wood must be able to hear it.

She’d often wondered how it would feel to be kissed by Beau, and now she knew. Even such a brief caress was magical, and she knew it was significant. He had overstepped that line at last, and the kiss was a seal—a promise of what was to come.

Or was it? There was nothing loverlike in Beau’s behaviour now, dragging her unceremoniously through the wood. Had the kiss meant nothing to him?

It was painful to admit, but she knew Beau had kissed other women in the past. Not ladies of their class, but…other women. She recalled how he had stared at her just a short while before, when she had opened the door to him like a veritable hussy. Perhaps this was the inevitable response to her brazen behaviour.

Beau jerked to a stop, breaking in on her thoughts, and pulled her away from the path to crouch behind some bushes. She was about to object to such rough treatment, but before she could utter a word, he laid his finger across her lips, urging her to keep quiet.

With a great effort of will, she ignored the tingling sensation caused by him touching her mouth, and concentrated hard on where he was pointing. It must be the entrance to the set.

Her position was uncomfortable, but she didn’t complain. She could feel Beau’s warmth behind her as they waited, in silence, for something to happen.

They didn’t have long to wait. She heard a noise and Beau stretched out his hand and pointed to one side where an adult badger was emerging, ruffling the undergrowth as it went.

Eliza was transfixed as she watched the striped animal move about, just a few feet in front of them, snuffling this way and that, presumably in search of food. Her eyes already glowed with pleasure when another badger came out of the set to join the first, with two babies in tow.

She could not drag her gaze away for a moment until, almost half an hour later, the badger family disappeared into their underground home.

“Happy?” Beau asked.

Eliza nodded fervently.

He helped her up, and stood looking down at her, his expression unreadable.

It was only now, when she no longer shared his warmth, that she realised how cold she was, and her teeth began to chatter.

Beau slipped off his greatcoat and draped it around her shoulders and drew her toward him. “We’d better return to the house,” he said, somewhat wistfully, as though he, too, was reluctant to end their time together.

Eliza agreed and took his hand once more as they made their way back through the woods.

As they came to the edge of the trees, Beau stopped and turned to face her. He seemed to struggle to find the words he wanted to say.

“I meant it, Eliza,” he said in a more serious tone than normal. “You really are a girl in a million. No one else would have been up for such an adventure. No lady, that is. Ant would have come with me, but ladies are always bound by propriety. But not you. You’re different, and—”

“You don’t need to remind me I’m totally lacking in principles,” she interrupted with a groan. “My father would be furious if he knew.”

“I didn’t mean that. I meant you’re game for anything. That I really…”

Beau stopped mid-sentence and, putting his arms around her, he drew her close.

Eliza tilted her face upward and waited, not daring to breathe, as he lowered his head and claimed her lips with his own.