Savage Deception (Liberty's Ladies) (2 page)

“I don’t like him,” she blurted out to Kingsley. “He seems very crass to me.”

Kingsley smiled pleasantly and took her hand. “An astute deduction, my dear. Let’s not dwell on trash such as Tanner but on us.” He leaned closer and whispered into her ear. “My kiss earlier quite swayed you, didn’t it?”

Yes, the kiss. She had nearly forgotten Kingsley’s kiss, her first real kiss. It had swayed her, but not with ardor, just total disgust. Could her feelings about the kiss be colored by the way Tanner had looked at her, how he had made her feel guilty for kissing her own fiancé? Of course that was it. Kingsley was the man she wanted to marry, the man she loved. Kingsley’s kiss hadn’t disgusted her because Anne had told her that she’d like it. It wasn’t Kingsley’s fault she felt ill. That half-naked giant had unnerved her.

“It was … nice,” was all she could think to tell him.

“Nice? Is that all you can say, Diana?” Kingsley puffed out his chest and appeared totally outraged. “I’ll have you know that many young ladies have found my kisses to be more than nice.”

She’d upset him and she hadn’t meant to do that, believing that she was complimenting him. A pang of fear shot through her for this man who could change from a considerate individual into a contemptuous egoist within a matter of seconds. He hadn’t acted like this when he courted her in Charlestown, and she very nearly told him that. But she didn’t want his vanity hurt further. Perhaps Kingsley was insecure about her feelings for him because she hadn’t accepted his marriage proposal immediately but had kept him waiting two months for her answer. He would soon be her husband and as a good wife she must do his bidding, whatever that meant. Anne had told her that a wife always put her husband’s needs and feelings before her own—even at times when she didn’t feel like performing her wifely duty.

Diana wasn’t certain why a wife had to do that and assumed that the duty Anne mentioned so hesitantly and blushingly had something to do with seeing to her husband’s physical comfort. Diana recalled David sitting on the sofa one evening, and how Anne had immediately brought him a footstool. He’d told her she was a dutiful wife. Diana had thought that David was quite capable of fetching his own footstool, but Anne apparently liked waiting on him and seeing his silly grin whenever she praised him as being the most handsome and intelligent man in the entire world.

Is this what Kingsley wanted of her?

She supposed it wouldn’t hurt to lie a bit to him. Maybe he’d stop scowling at her and she wouldn’t feel frightened any longer. “The kiss was wonderful,” Diana assured him with a bright smile. “I’ve never been kissed before, you know, but I want to do my duty and be a good wife.”

Kingsley laughed, his ugly mood vanishing like a morning mist as he pulled her closer against him. “I know, my darling. You’re a complete innocent, undefiled in any way. I have a great many things to teach you, and believe me, there is more wonder to come, and pleasant duties await.” He winked at her.

Diana didn’t have the vaguest idea what Kingsley was talking about or why he snickered in her ear. If there was so much wonder in her future, why didn’t she look forward to it?

~ ~ ~

“I don’t know, Miss Diana.” Old Hattie, a longtime house slave at Briarhaven who had always looked after the mistress of the house, shook her turban-clad head and surveyed her charge with a frown. “That dress is red.”

“I know what color it is.” Diana swished around the elegantly furnished bedroom, taking delight in the airy feel of the silk material against her flesh. She delighted in the off-the-shoulder bodice with a froth of creamy lace at the scooped neckline and elbow-length sleeves. She thought the vivid color quite set off her alabaster-smooth complexion, especially her bosom, which was pushed upward by the tight stays beneath. Her waist looked extremely small above the scarlet overskirt that gently billowed over the creamy flounced underskirt. Hattie had piled Diana’s dark hair high upon her head, leaving a long ringlet to hang bewitchingly over her right shoulder. But it was her eyes, a deep sapphire blue with golden sparkles in the center, that made her breathtakingly lovely.

“Ain’t proper for a young lady to wear red to her engagement ball. When I done dressed Master Kingsley’s mother for hers, she done wore white. Why you got to be different, Miss Diana? Master Kingsley ain’t gonna like you wearin’ red like you is a fancy trollop. He’s gonna blame me for this, child.”

Diana, used to doing what she wanted within limits, didn’t see the problem, but she did notice that Hattie was very worried. “Master Kingsley has no say over my clothes, Hattie, and if he’s upset with me, he better not take it out on you. You answer to me, not him.”

“Yes, Miss Diana,” mumbled Hattie as a knock sounded on the door of Diana’s bedroom and Hattie admitted Anne.

“Red! Oh, heavens, Diana,” were the first words out of her sister’s mouth. “I had no idea.”

“There’s nothing wrong with the color. Red suits me better than white.”

Anne Richmond’s gaze flickered over her. “But it’s just that … couldn’t you have worn pink? You’ll be the talk of the countryside.”

Diana thought she looked rather nice in the gown. She’d chosen it because she was tired of being treated like a young girl. Since she was going to be mistress of Briarhaven, she wanted her future neighbors to see her as an adult, not the little girl over whom Anne still felt she must fuss. A moment’s qualm did distress her, but she dismissed it immediately. She was grown up now, as of this night.

“I trust Kingsley will give me his approval.”

Anne shook her light brown head, but even in her disapproval Anne was pretty in a gown of lavender satin, designed to hide the early stages of her pregnancy. “Well, I suppose you’ve made up your mind,” Anne conceded at length, and smiled back at Diana.

Locking their arms together, Diana and Anne left the bedroom and descended the wide staircase to the festivities below.

When Diana reached the bottom step she became aware that everyone was staring at her, their earlier conversation seemingly forgotten at the sight of Kingsley Sheridan’s fiancée in the scarlet gown. She nearly turned to run upstairs, but Anne steadied her with a grip on her wrist, a subtle reminder that she made her own choice and must live with it.

Diana held her breath when Kingsley came forward. In a frock coat of beige and tan satin he was quite handsome, but she was more interested in his reaction. He raised a sandy eyebrow but she couldn’t read his thoughts. Finally he held out his arm to her and smiled. Visibly relaxing, Diana allowed him to lead her into the candlelit ballroom and convinced herself that everything was going to be fine now. She’d passed the first hurdle in becoming the mistress at Briarhaven.

The evening passed quickly. With Kingsley and Harlan Sheridan beside her she met the people who would be her neighbors. At one point Harlan bent his silver head low and whispered kindly into her ear, “I believe you’ve quite captivated everyone, Diana. Kingsley is an extremely lucky young man. With you as mistress of Briarhaven and the future mother of my grandchildren, I predict there are wonderful times in store for us.”

Diana hoped so. She smiled at Harlan, who made an impressive figure in his blue satin attire. She danced with Kingsley and David before finding herself to be the sought after companion of the other gentlemen present. She had triumphed in her scarlet gown, but she wasn’t happy.

Diana begged off from the next dance and sat next to Anne, away from the center of the dance floor. “You look like you’ve eaten too many blackberries,” Anne commented, seeing Diana’s solemn expression. “You should smile, dear. At least you can dance the night away while I must sit here like a fat toad on a lily pad, forced to listen to matronly conversation that would bore a preacher. Tell me, is something wrong? You don’t look like a girl who is soon to become the bride of a rich and handsome young planter. What more could you want, Diana?”

“I want…”

“What?”

“I don’t know.”

Anne laughed gently and rearranged the curl that hung over Diana’s shoulder. “You’re nervous, that’s all. Once you’re married you’ll be fine.”

Diana knew Anne was being kind and concerned about her. She and David truly believed that Kingsley Sheridan would make a wonderful husband. But Diana didn’t think that Kingsley would be as tender and gentle with her as David was with Anne. She didn’t know why she thought that — Kingsley had never given any indication that he might be unkind — but the thought persisted and filled her with dread.

Also, she didn’t feel comfortable admitting to Anne that Kingsley had kissed her and that she’d felt nothing. She imagined that Anne’s response would be to reassure her that in time she’d feel a great deal. But what was it she should feel? And if she felt anything, would it be what Anne felt for David?

Her mind whirled, and suddenly she wanted to go outside into the garden and breathe in the sweet smell of the yellow jessamine that grew in profusion around the rose-tinged pillars of the house. While Anne started conversing with a young woman who had recently become a mother, Diana sneaked away into the balmy night.

She supposed she should have sought out Kingsley for this late-night stroll, but he was nowhere to be found in the ballroom and she hated to admit that she didn’t
want
his company. Meandering away from the house, she took a well-trod path beneath ancient oaks whose leaves glistened with moonshine, before stopping on the bluff. Below her, the misty river rolled gently past, bathed in silver silence. The clear, star-filled night was scented with the spicy fragrance of the sea breezes that blew up the Santee from the Atlantic. It seemed a paradise, something out of a long forgotten past, but it was real. And Diana didn’t want it.

She wanted … what?

“I don’t know,” she whispered into the night, feeling an ache within her breast she couldn’t name. “I want … I want…”

“Tell me what you want and I’ll get it for you.”

Diana swung around at the deep voice behind her. Her dismay deepened when the tall broad- shouldered figure came forward from the path, where he apparently had been watching her for some moments. It was Tanner, but a Tanner she barely recognized from the one who stood on the bank and oversaw the slaves.

This Tanner had smoothed his hair back from his face and wore it styled in a queue, emphasizing high cheekbones over tautly tanned flesh. A flurry of white lace on the front of his shirt dipped down into a V, clearly showing his muscled chest. Though the shirt appeared worn in spots, it was immaculately clean and neatly tucked into black breeches. With ebony knee boots shining from a fresh polish, he presented a far different image from the sweaty, half-naked man she’d seen five days ago. He didn’t resemble the person whom she’d declared crass at all.

Yet once again, as she stared into those eyes of his, eyes so dark that she barely discerned the pupils, she started to shiver.

“Are you chilled?” he asked.

“A bit,” she answered. “The night has grown suddenly cool.” It was far from chilly, but Diana couldn’t admit that having him stand so near to her caused goose flesh to rise on her skin.

“Perhaps a dance would warm you. May I have the honor?” Tanner bowed from the waist and extended his arms to her.

“Oh, I don’t know. It doesn’t seem proper somehow. And the music from the house doesn’t carry this far.”

“Then you aren’t hearing the music I hear.” A grin slashed his sensual lips and in an instant she found herself locked in his arms, moving with him across the bluff. “Listen, Diana. Don’t you hear the mellow tune of the sea breezes as they ruffle the river’s surface, or the steady chirp of the crickets in the grass? Certainly you must hear the soft song of the nightingale in that tree above you, and hear the rapid beat of my heart as I hold you like this, hear the swelling cadence of your own. If that isn’t music, my darling, then you aren’t listening.”

“I hear it,” she said in a breathless voice that couldn’t be her own. But it was. Suddenly she clearly heard nature’s orchestra, not realizing she followed Tanner’s lead in a scarlet swirl of silk and cream lace. His bronzed, handsome face mesmerized her, and in that second she’d have given him her soul if he’d asked for it.

Suddenly he stopped. “Let me kiss you, Diana. I want to kiss you just once.”

“Oh, Tanner, I don’t know. I’m frightened…”

“Of me?”

She nodded, wanting him to kiss her, but something about the panther-like way he moved, the easy grace with which he held her, and the haunting and hungry way he looked at her scared her. No man had ever stared at her with such a feral gleam in his eyes, as if he wanted to devour her in one large bite. Diana feared a man such as this wouldn’t be satisfied with only a kiss.

“You have nothing to fear from me, Diana,” he whispered into her ear, “I want to love you.” His mouth began a sensual exploration of her earlobe before moving wantonly across her ivory cheek to claim the ruby treasure of her lips.

“No … ,” Diana moaned, feeling herself melt.

But it was too late to protest. Tanner had already claimed her lips in a kiss that stilled her speech and thoughts, a kiss that broke her will to resist. And she didn’t want to resist. Nothing in the entire world would have possessed her to fight Tanner’s arms as they circled her waist or stopped the thrill that soared through her when her breasts pressed against his chest. She lifted her hand, splaying her fingers on his shirt, and felt the rapid thump of his heart beneath the hard wall of sinew and muscle.