He almost smiled. What did this little virgin know about sex, disgusting or profound? She said the words but she had led a sheltered life, his little, chaste Sophie.
“You hide so easily behind your words and your books.” He drew a line under her chin, tipping it up.
“Those words, those books, change the world,” she threw back at him, her eyes meeting his.
He admired the shape of her face, her eyes and those lips he wanted to taste again and again.
“Yes, they can. And sex can create life, give comfort, solace, pleasure, peace. You know nothing of those things, little innocent,” he said as he moved away from her, dressing and pulling on his hose and shoes.
He looked at her desk as he dressed and saw several sheets of paper all filled in with her fine handwriting. It didn’t look like a letter as it was not addressed or signed. It looked like someone writing down their thoughts or ideas. The inkwell was low and the quill pen was well used. Interesting, he thought.
Sophie watched him quietly and then suddenly she went to him, startling him. “Sebastian, you won’t say anything to anyone about what happened here.”
“No, Sophie. I won’t say anything about what happened,” he told her. “Because, in fact, nothing happened, did it?”
She looked puzzled. So much had happened. How could he make it seem as if it was nothing? Of course, she realized. Because it was nothing to him. She was a conquest. A notch.
When he finally departed she almost sank to her knees. Sweet Jesus! What had just happened? She felt in a daze as she pressed her hand against her mouth and closed her eyes. It was all spinning out of control.
*
**
Sophie dressed quickly and joined her hostess, Germaine, the gentlemen and Sebastian in the dining room for breakfast. She had dressed in the simple gaulle gown with a lemon-colored sash, which made her seem young and fresh.
She heard Madame Necker fussing over Sebastian and cringed. “Did you sleep well? When did you arrive?” she asked him.
“Tolerably well, madame,” he replied.
Sophie had to stop her hand from shaking as she poured her tea into its cup and took it and the saucer to the table. She helped herself to bread and smeared butter onto it and sat down next to Germaine.
Sebastian had watched Sophie enter the room and thought she looked lovely in the gown, though he preferred her in nothing.
“Which room did you choose, Sebastian?” Madame Necker asked. “I am keeping a log so that everyone knows their place. We wouldn’t want any mishaps.” She smiled.
Too bloody late for that, Sebastian thought.
He looked around at the table and knew that everyone had a room, though he had no idea which one. If he chose the wrong room that person would know he had not slept there and so would everyone else.
“Indeed, I slept in the salon on the small couch. I didn’t know which room would be available so I thought it best.” He locked eyes with Sophie, who looked away.
Madame Necker nodded.
The messieurs were deep in conversation as always, and Germaine asked Sophie to accompany her for a stroll through the grounds after breakfast.
“Have you seen the maze shrubbery? It’s bordered by lavender bushes and smells divine at certain times of the year,” Madame Necker remarked to Sophie.
She then turned to Sebastian. “I’ll place you in the brown room.”
“Thank you, madame,” he said, sipping his tea.
He knew where the brown room was located and it was in the same wing as Sophie’s but two down from hers. Too close, he thought absently. No. Too far.
Chapter 11
Germaine was dressed in a gaulle gown as well with a light pink sash which was suitable for the country. Both women had their parasols as they strolled through the large green lawns.
Germaine said little and Sophie was completely engrossed in replaying what had occurred that morning with Sebastian. She couldn’t seem to focus on anything and her mind kept flashing to his body moving over hers, his mouth on hers.