Then Comes Seduction

And if he thought he knew nothing about love, Katherine thought, watching him with his half sister, then the foolish man ought to see his face now.

And as good fortune would have it, Lady Forester was coming out onto the terrace with Clarence, and Mr. Wrayburn was coming out with Uncle Stanley and Lady Hornsby. They would all see the hug and the look on both faces.

Suddenly people on foot and people in gigs and two or three on horseback were approaching along on the driveway.

The outside guests were coming, and the fete was about to begin.

She was mistress of Cedarhurst, Katherine thought, and hostess of the revival of the annual fete and ball. Her husband was close to her, Charlotte between them.

Life felt very good.

The boats were out on the water-three of them-and there was a queue of people waiting to take them out. It had been decided not to have any boat races but merely to use them for recreation. There were children swimming and paddling at the beach end of the lake under the supervision of some parents and grandparents. There were people strolling about the lake, exploring the cottage folly and standing above the waterfall. The mud was ready for the wrestling and tug-of-war later on-much anticipated by the men and by a good number of the women too, Jasper suspected.

He left the lake behind him and strode up the lawn toward the house. The archery competition had begun. There was a cluster of people on the lower terrace, looking at the baking and needlework and the wood carvings. There were people sitting in the parterre gardens or strolling about the gravel walks. There were people at the food tables on the low balcony outside the ballroom.

He was going to have to taste and judge the fruit tarts later on. But for now he strode across the upper terrace to the east lawn, where the races were to be run. In future years they would have to be located elsewhere, as the rose arbor and the apple orchard would fill this space.

A large crowd of very young children were playing a circle game, their hands joined. Katherine and Jane Hutchins were leading them. There was a burst of shrieking merriment as they all fell to the grass.

Jasper stood still, watching Katherine get back to her feet and brush the grass off her skirt. Her face was flushed and filled with laughter. She looked quite breathtakingly beautiful.

And then her eyes met his across the distance and her hands stilled against her skirt and her smile was arrested.

And he realized something like a hammer blow.

She had become as essential to him as the air he breathed.

Whatever the devil that meant.

He did not pause to consider the puzzle. He strode toward her, his hands at his back. He was equally unaware of the children who darted across his path and the adults who stepped out of it-and then paused to watch his progress.

He stood in front of his wife and noted how the sun brightened her face and glinted gold in her hair. Her wonderful, fathomless eyes gazed back into his. Except that they were no longer fathomless. He could see into their depths.

“I love you,” he said.

And for the first time the words were involuntary. And for the first time he could see from the welling of tears in her eyes that she believed him.

He leaned forward and kissed her lips.

And was instantly aware of three things simultaneously-that he loved her more than life, that she knew it and returned his love full measure, and that the cheers and laughter and applause that erupted around them had nothing whatsoever to do with any game that was in progress.

Good Lord! Devil take it! Could he have chosen a more public setting for such an epiphany if he had tried?

He lifted his head and grinned at Katherine before turning and acknowledging the applause with a regal wave of his hand and a theatrical bow.

There was another burst of laughter.

But Mrs. Ellis was waving her arms purposefully at him. She was ready to start the races, and it was his job to fire the gun to begin each one.

“To be continued,” he murmured to Katherine before he strode away.

It was truly amazing how many children lived in the neighborhood. Not that it was all children gathered for the races. There were many young people here too, including most of the houseguests, and all were in noisy high spirits. Perhaps it was as well that Lady Forester was sitting in the parterre garden with Mr. and Mrs. Dubois.

Indeed, it was a very good thing in light of what had just happened. A man informing his wife that he loved her and actually kissing her in public, for the love of God. Lady Forester would have swooned quite away if she had witnessed it.

There were all the usual races-simple footraces, sack races, egg-and-spoon races, hop, skip, and jump races, leapfrog races to name a few-but everyone enjoyed them as much as they ever did if the shouting and shrieking and laughter were anything to judge by. There were distinct advantages, Jasper decided, to being the host and stuck with the starting gun. Merton fell so many times during the sack race that finally he rolled to the finish line, only to be disqualified when he arrived there for not being on his feet. Thane got egg down both boots during his race and made matters worse by trying to clean the mess off with his handkerchief. Araminta Clement caught a foot in her skirt as she leapfrogged over Smith-Vane and they were both covered with grass when they finally left off their laughing and struggled to their feet. She had lost the race long ago to an exuberant Charlotte.

But there was the three-legged race still to be run. And there was a certain bright-eyed sun goddess, who had finished playing with the infants and was standing watching the races and applauding the winners.

He caught her eye, crooked one finger to beckon her, and handed the gun to one of the strapping young laborers from the home farm.

“My race, I believe, ma’am,” he said when Katherine came close.

“The three-legged race?” she said. “Oh, dear.” And she laughed.

The children under twelve ran it first. Then it was time for the adults.

Katherine laughed again as he tied his left leg to her right. To one side of them were Charlotte and Merton. On the other side were Margaret and Fletcher. Then there were villagers and country people-the serious contenders.

“Right,” Jasper said, wrapping one arm about Katherine’s shoulders while she set one about his waist. “We will do this on a one-two count, one being our bound legs and two our outside legs. We will take it slowly to start and then speed up. Got it?”

“Got it,” she said, and laughed.

“We will start on a one,” he said.

“That sounds sensible.” She laughed again and he grinned at her.

A larger crowd was gathering, he noticed. Perhaps word had spread that Lord Montford was in love and was about to run the three-legged race with the object of that love, his wife, whom he had so brazenly kissed an hour ago.

“Oh, dear,” she said, noticing the same thing, “look at the crowd.”

And she laughed again.

He remembered then that during the month preceding their marriage, after he had pressed his suit on her, he had believed he had killed all laughter in her, all possibility of joy.

Was he after all to earn forgiveness? Not from her-she had already forgiven him. But from himself?

“It is time, my baroness,” he said sternly, “to put on a good show.”

Lady Forester was there, he saw, and-good Lord!-Seth Wrayburn, looking his usual sour self. It was doubtful he would look kindly upon a man who kissed his wife in full view of a large crowd of his guests and neighbors-and then ran a three-legged race with her.