“In a good way,” she murmured, her face flushing.
“Yes, he was tall, broad shouldered, quick footed, solidly formed—all the things I was not as a lad. I thought him disappointed in me because of it, and perhaps he was at first, but I know now that I may have judged him too harshly. I think he was so insistent I learn and love the land and the title because he was trying to help me overcome the areas where I was not excelling. He didn’t know how to say it, of course, and I never understood it. I grew resentful, angry, and I declared I wanted to be an artist. He, of course, said he would cut me off if I did so, which he did.”
“When did you become…imposing?” she asked, a teasing note underlying her tone.
“The outstanding specimen you see sitting before you,” he paused and grinned at her, “was carved out of blood and sweat at Cambridge in the rings of a boxing club.”
“Truly?” she asked, taking a large gulp of her wine and grinning.
He chuckled, drinking in her rosy cheeks and eyes that now looked slightly glassy. “Truly,” he said. “I started growing, to my astonishment and that of everyone who knew me, and I did not stop for quite a while.” When she took another large drink of her wine, he took her glass from her hands, despite her protestations, and said, “The wine is going to your head.” She reached for it with a playful pout, but he shook his head and set the glass behind him on a table. “It could make you ill and reckless if you have too much, and I don’t want either outcome for you.”
“How very honorable you are,” she murmured. She gave a sudden, lovely yawn and then stretched like a cat in a bright ray of light—except it was flickering candlelight, not sunshine, since it was now fully night. Her stretch was full and leisurely, one that only a woman who wasn’t overly concerned with her appearance would do, and it made her even more utterly beautiful. It took his breath, and he sat and stared, thinking how he wanted to also paint her in the sun, reclining and curled like a content, confident feline.
“I have to go,” she said when her stretch was done. “My mother will come looking for me in my room if I’m late for supper.”
He frowned. “Your mother thinks you in your room?”
Lady Constantine giggled, then covered her mouth with her hand. “Yes. I’m horrible. I took to telling her I get megrims, just so I can have a bit of respite from her. She can be quite hard to be around sometimes. She is determined I wed before my half-sister. I think my mother feels it would be a black mark against her if Margaret weds first, especially since my mother has had to live with the fact that my father wishes his paramour and my half-sister were his legitimate family. He spends all his time with them.”
Callum hated her father, but he didn’t say that now. Instead, he said, “Only your mother has to live with that knowledge, huh?”
Her cheeks colored, and she bowed her head. “Yes, well, I suppose I do, too. I thought to infuse myself with knowledge to make up for my lack of beauty, but I think it failed.” She gave a self-deprecating laugh.
He hooked his finger under her chin and raised it up until her eyes met his. “I think you are one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met, and it was your intelligence that attracted me first last night.”
She grinned. “Flatterer.”
“Absolutely,” he said, winking. “I don’t suppose you could slip away another day and let me paint you?”
The look of astonishment she gave him broke his heart. She should know her own worth, and he was determined to show her. “You want to paint me?” she asked.
“Yes.” He caught a wisp of hair that hung about her neck and slid it between his fingers. “I want to paint you on the settee and in the sun.” He held her eyes. “I’d like to paint you in nothing but a necklace and capture your beauty, but clearly that is not possible—now.”
She laughed. “Nowyou are trying to seduce me.”
He stood and held out his arm for her to take so he could take her home. He was certain, after the length of time she’d been here, that she did not have a carriage waiting for her. “No. I’m not.” The desire to learn all about her, to spend time with her, was a need and a yearning deep in his chest and in his gut, and he had ignored too many feelings for too long. This one he wanted to embrace, though he needed to go about untangling the knot he’d made by agreeing to the wager with Talbot. “I’ll get Lord Pierce to remove the wager from the books at White’s, but if you’d rather not see me again…”
“No,” she said, her voice husky suddenly. “I want to see you again. But perhaps, until you have things sorted with the wager and we know where this might go, we should…” She trailed off, blushing.
He smiled, understanding. “If you want to keep this—whatever this is—a secret, you could come here. I vow on my honor to be a gentleman.”
“How many times have you vowedthaton your honor?”
“None.” He led her outside and around to the mews to his carriage and coachman. It wouldn’t do to walk her home until he’d made Talbot remove the wager, but she could use his carriage, which was relatively inconspicuous. When her steps stopped, he paused as well and glanced at her to find her looking at him expectantly. “I have not come upon a woman I cared to give any vow to, until you.”
Her lips quirked in the loveliest way that he wanted to kiss her again. But he wouldn’t, not here where someone could chance upon them. “How perfectly flattering,” she said, and then, “if it’s true.”
“I’ll prove to you that it is,” he assured her, and then started toward the mews once more, which he could see in the distance now. “Will you come round tomorrow and let me paint you?”
“Yes, but in my gown,” she said, giving him a stern but teasing look.
“Yes, the necklace painting will have to wait. But the cat painting…”
She gave him a questioning look as he opened the door to the mews and his coachman came forward. He instructed Mr. McCallum to ready his coach, and then to Lady Constantine, he said, “I’ll show you what I mean tomorrow. What time do you think you can slip away?”
She nibbled on her lip for a moment. “Two o’clock.”
He took her hand and peeled her glove slowly down and off, reveling in the feel of her silky skin upon his. He pressed a gentle kiss to her hand, and she made that same low sound of approval from deep in her throat. They stood there for a moment, and then she glanced up and exclaimed, “It’s a full moon tonight!”
