Part 38 (1/2)
John leaned back against the motorcar, one boot resting upon the running board, his hands thrust into his pockets. ”Indeed it is.”
”I had to escape the house for a bit. Do you think they've noticed my absence yet?”
He nodded. ”Likely so.”
”And how are you enjoying Edith's party so far, Mr. Leyden?”
”Tolerably well, I suppose.”
He heard her sigh. ”That's progress. Four words,” she muttered.
”Pardon?”
”Four words, Mr. Leyden. That seems to be your limit today. I'm only trying to make conversation. You could put a bit more effort into it. After all, you were nearly chatty last time we met. In the greenhouse,” she added, as if he had forgotten.
For a moment he simply stared at her, entirely bewildered.
”You must excuse me, Miss Symth.” If only he didn't become so d.a.m.ned tongue-tied around her. If only he could converse easily and charmingly, as Sir Edmund did.
When he glanced back at her, he was surprised to see the color had risen in her cheeks, and her eyes, once so merry, were now flas.h.i.+ng angrily. ”That's it? I must excuse you? Really, Mr. Leyden, you might try harder.”
”I don't always find idle talk...comfortable, Miss Smyth. I did not mean to offend-”
She advanced on him. ”Yet I offend you, don't I? What is it about me that you find so distasteful?”
What the devil was she talking about? ”You misunderstand, Miss Smyth.”
”Is your good opinion so very hard to come by? Heaven knows why I should care what you think of me. Perhaps it's the challenge; I'm not quite certain.” She shook her head, then raised her flas.h.i.+ng gaze to meet his. ”All I know is, all these years I've had to suffer beneath your disapproving stare, and I've no idea what I've done to earn it. Pray, enlighten me.”
Did she not realize the double standard? All these years, she'd looked down her pretty nose at him, perhaps pitied him, yet she expected him to behave like a lapdog, panting after her like Sir Edmund did? Like all the young gentlemen of her acquaintance did?
And why would he? While she coquetted with every other man about, he might as well have been invisible to her.
”I realize that I'm no gentleman, Miss Smyth,” he said angrily, his blood thrumming hotly through his veins. ”That I lack the education and good breeding of the men you're used to a.s.sociating with.”
She tipped her chin into the air. ”I've always treated you as an equal.”
”Have you?” he asked harshly, unable to keep the accusatory tone out of his voice.
”I always supposed I did.”
”How very charitable of you,” he bit out.
Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, clinging to the dark fringe of her lashes. ”I suppose that explains why you despise my company, then.”
At the sight of her stricken expression, his temper vanished at once. b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l, he hadn't meant to hurt her. ”I admit I am often uncomfortable in your company,” he said softly, ”but not because I find you lacking in any respect. Besides, you have an army of gentlemen like Sir Edmund to do your bidding-”
”Sir Edmund is a silly fool. You think I wish to have men like him pawing-” She stopped short, one hand rising to cover her mouth. ”Forgive me,” she said at last. ”Perhaps we should head back to Hadley Hall.”
He swore under his breath, pus.h.i.+ng off the side of the motorcar and moving toward her before he could reconsider what he was about to do.
In seconds he reached her side and placed his hands on either side of her face, his thumbs gently stroking her silky skin. ”I'm uncomfortable in your presence not because I have an ill opinion of you, Christobel, but because I'm constantly fighting the urge to do this,” he said roughly, his mouth slanting toward her trembling lips.
At first she stood motionless, her arms stiff by her sides. As his mouth opened against hers, her hands rose, sliding sensuously up the back of his coat, to his neck. With a small moan, she pulled him closer, her own hot, wet mouth soft and inviting.
He kissed her hungrily, his mouth hard and insistent as she pressed her body against his, her fingers digging into the corded muscles in his neck, her stomach firm against his rock-hard c.o.c.k.
At last he retreated, his mouth moving down the column of her neck, to her throat. ”And this,” he added, pressing his lips against her collar, where her pulse fluttered wildly. He inhaled her sweet, familiar scent, unable to bear meeting her gaze, to risk seeing displeasure there in her face.
”I had no idea,” she said at last, breathlessly. ”I thought...I thought you despised me.”
Emboldened, he met her gaze. ”I only despised myself for wanting something I could not have-something I can never have.”
”Except twice now...good heavens, if anyone were to see us!”
”No one can see us. We're well off the main road, Christobel.”
”You called me 'Christobel,'” she said softly, a smile tipping the corners of her mouth.
”Such a lovely name.”
”Goodness, Mr. Leyden, I think you've made my knees go weak. I need to sit down.”
He led her back to the motorcar and handed her up to the seat. For a moment, neither spoke. John looked off toward the bluff, toward the town in the valley below. Cranford-his home. He could see Leyden Mills in the distance, their smokestacks rising toward the sky, reigning over the bustling town.
”What do you think of the view from here?” he asked, unable to disguise the pride in his voice.
”It's dreadful, isn't it?” came her reply. ”So...so crowded and dirty and...” Her voice trailed off as she met his gaze. ”And you love it, don't you? You must forgive me. I did not mean to offend-”
”Don't apologize for speaking your mind, Miss Smyth.” He reached for his gloves and goggles and climbed in beside her. He must have been mad to ever think that he and Christobel...no. No. He would not allow his thoughts to travel that route.
”You're right, we should head back to Hadley Hall,” he said. Without waiting for her reply, he reached for the plunger pump on the dash and quickly pumped air pressure into the fuel tank. When that was done, he set the throttle and climbed out to turn the crank on the front of the car. In seconds, the engine roared to life, and John climbed back in and unlatched the hand brake.
Their return to Hadley Hall was accomplished in utter silence.
CHAPTER 6.
”Wherever have you been?” Edith asked with a scowl. Sir Edmund trailed behind her.
Christobel did her best to school her features into a pleasant expression. ”I was sitting with Marie. I fear I let the time slip away from me.”
It was true, after all. As soon as she and Mr. Leyden had returned, she'd hurried in and had Simpson return her clothing and hair to their proper order. She'd immediately gone belowstairs to check on the recuperating housemaid, as she'd done each and every day since the girl's a.s.sault. Unused to such idleness, poor Marie was going mad with boredom.
Edith just shook her head. ”I should have known.”
”Marie?” Sir Edmund asked, his ginger-colored brows drawn over bright blue eyes.