Wildfire Kiss (Sir Edward 1)

“I am happy here at Grantham with you and Seth. I don’t want to troll about for a man in London.”

Her brother barked a laugh, and Nigel shook his head. “Troll about, indeed. Taffy, don’t you want to be courted?”

“Have enough of that right here in Nottingham,” she said with a giggle. “Your friends have been doing a bang-up job of courting me these last few months.”

“Really?” Her brother was moved to exclaim. “Never say so, Taff … who?”

“Trevor Harley for one. He has been making up to me for the last three months. And Sir Edward tried to kiss me in the rose garden yesterday, and Jeffry did kiss me the day before …”

“Edward tried to kiss you? Jeffry did kiss you? I’ll run them through,” declared the young duke quite properly and then immediately burst into laughter. “’Pon my soul, Edward and Jeffries …” He went off into a rollicking course of mirth, and he slapped Nigel’s knee, who was also chuckling with amusement.

She waited patiently while it took them some moments to catch their breath again before returning to the issue at hand. “So, I am perfectly content to stay at Grantham and not bother with a London season.” She shook her head. “Don’t want to add my name to the lists of debutantes and stand in line waiting to be noticed …”

“You may be my sister, but I ain’t blind, girl … You wouldn’t be waiting in line, you would stand out … Have you looked at yourself lately?” answered her brother with another chuckle.

“Taffy, you are naught but a green girl,” pronounced her uncle Nigel.

“Take care, Nigel,” warned Taffy. She lowered her voice in annoyance and was satisfied to see they knew her well enough to know she was in a temper about to boil over.

“Oh, now, Taff, take a damper,” said her brother. “What Nigel means is that you will want a house of your own one day. You know Papa always said two women could not comfortably rule one household, and if one of those women were you … whoa.” He smiled at her and took her chin. “In order to make a suitable marriage, you are going to have to out-strut the best of them at Almack’s and choose the man of your dreams, not go wildly about with Nigel and me.”

“But, I am a part of it all … ” said Taffeta on an obstinate note. “And I shan’t allow you to shut me out at this stage. I want to see it through.”

“We allowed you to join us to shake you out of your depression over Papa’s death. We had to do something about your blues, and you seemed to take a keen interest in the Luddite movement. But then that first harebrained fetch came up, and we all did so splendidly, we never gave a monkey for the consequences.” He shook his fair head of curls ruefully. “No, we didn’t think then of the future. But, Taff, Nigel is right. We are taking you to London, and you will take your place amongst the haute ton.”

“Tonight has nothing to do with tomorrow. London is something we will do if it will please you and Nigel, but tonight we will go through with our rig, just as planned,” Taffy said with some determination as she folded her arms across her middle.

Their carriage had approached a long, winding drive cutting through neatly clipped, lush green lawns. Flowerbeds of daffodils were in riotous bloom. Tulips of rich shades gently flowed in the breeze, and with a sigh of resignation, Lord Nigel pointed out the fact they were fast approaching Lady Watson’s front drive.

“So then, it is settled?” Taffeta pursued quickly. “We go as planned?” She watched as her uncle and brother exchanged defeated glances. She knew they were honor-bound to proceed as they had promised. They had given their word, and she was sure they would never renege. She was also sure they relied on her very unique and secret abilities, which had been of service to them in the past. Taffy’s ‘gift of sight’ had saved them already more than once.

They nodded at her, and her brother said, “Aye then … this last time, vixen.”

She smiled, pleased enough, and hoped these strange dream visions of the handsome stranger would stop and allow her to concentrate on the job at hand.

*

Hotspur! Lady Watson considered the amazingly tall and well built Corinthian conversing amicably with her as he stood by the long window in her parlor. He was eight and twenty and still full of fire—the very devil of a man. Even the dandy cut of his light blue coat and buff-colored breeches couldn’t disguise the athletic swell of his lean and sturdy form.

His black, windswept curls were neatly at variance with his rugged and thoroughly masculine countenance, and his smile, so rarely seen by most, wa

s almost incongruous in contrast to his dark, stern eyes. Everything about him gave credence to the name the haute ton had given him.

Hotspur indeed—an appropriate name if ever there was one. An odd thing, considering his youth. Oh, he had ever been the passionate lad, full with high, romantic ideals. But she had watched those ideals wither unmercifully, and he had put an end to such beliefs, putting them away, if not banishing them completely.

She could remember him at twenty—warrior-hearted, generous, shy, and so very much in love. That was then, and now … now he was Hotspur!

She patted the empty spot beside her on the richly upholstered, Regencystyled sofa of yellow damask. “Already itching to be off, Tarrant? Never say you are bored after only one morning in my company.”

He smiled warmly at her. “Aunt Lizzie, favorite of my aunts, dear to my heart, I must admit, I am feeling edgy …”

“Ah, too much vapid conversation, but I shall look to entertain you better … shortly,” she replied, teasing him back.

He eyed her. “Oh? What are you up to?” And then, before she could answer, he sighed heavily and said, “I was thinking of taking Demon out for a run.” He put up his hands as she started to object, laughed, and admonished her, “It is only a ride, after all.” He paused, and she pulled a face before he said, “Wait a moment. You are up to something, aren’t you? What have you done? Something, I’d swear.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” She avoided his eye.

He chuckled. “Well, I wasn’t sure before, but now I am. Come on then, Aunt Liz, what is towards?”