As Emily met his possessive gaze, a strange warmth spread in the pit of her stomach.
Cecille threw down her napkin. "The other girls were right, Mama. The man is a beast. I won't marry him! I simply won't!"
"That's a relief, since I never bloody asked you," Justin shouted.
Cecille and her mama rose.
"Now, Comtesse," the duchess said hastily, "I really must apologize for the behavior of my son. I'm
sure he meant no-"
Before she could finish, Gracie trotted in from the kitchen, twisting her apron in her hands. Her normally ruddy cheeks had gone as pale as a wraith's. She whispered something to her mistress. The duchess's eyes widened. She cast a furtive glance at the floor. Emily casually tucked her feet up in her chair.
Cecille screamed.
Her shrill howls shook bits of plaster from the ceiling. They all gaped as she leaped onto the brocaded
seat of her chair, then onto the table. As she lifted her skirts and shook them wildly, the cause of her distress became evident. Hanging off the thigh of her pantaloons was a live lobster, his jagged claws entangled in her charming white ruffles.
Emily bit into a succulent shrimp and watched with mild interest as Cecille danced a merry reel among
the rattling plates. The husbands groped beneath her skirts, trying to dislodge the stubborn creature. Lily and Mini-cent jumped into a chair, clutching each other while Edith and the duchess tried to soothe the hysterical countess. A bevy of servants rushed into the dining room, crawling around on hands and
knees to capture the rest of the lobsters skittering around on the Brussels carpet.
It was Justin who finally disentangled the hapless fellow from Cecille's underwear. He tossed the lobster to Gracie, who thrust it into her apron and raced for the kitchen. As the last of the lobsters were rounded up, Cecille collapsed sniveling into her mother's arms.
The countess drew herself up to her full four feet eight inches. Her voice quavered in righteous indignation. "I must say, I've never seen such a scandalous display."
Emily popped another shrimp into her mouth. "I concur heartily. Those little pink bows on Cecille's drawers shocked the bloody hell out of me."
Every eye turned to her. She stopped chewing. Perhaps now would be a good time to retire, she thought. She rose, slipping a bowl of shrimp under her arm, suddenly ravenous.
"Emily." The single word was spoken in a tone of velvet command.
She paused, then kept walking. Only three more steps to the door. She counted them in her head. One. Two.
"Emily Claire Scarborough!" Justin thundered.
The silver rattled. The crystal drops of the chandelier tinkled like tiny bells. No one even dared to
breathe.
Emily pivoted slowly on her heel. "Yes, sir?"
He pointed a finger at her, his face livid. "You little . . ." He looked at Cecille, then back at her. His
hand started to shake. A furious snort escaped him, then another.
Suddenly he threw back his head and roared with laughter. They all gaped at him. One by one the maids came peeping around the dining room door frame, their white caps bobbing. Gracie stood aside so they could see what they'd never seen before-the brooding master of Grymwilde Mansion howling with laughter. Justin sank into his chair, clutching his stomach, then rolled from the chair to the floor, still guffawing.
As her only son disappeared beneath the tablecloth, the duchess rose. "Perhaps we should retire to the drawing room for dessert," she announced as if it were the end of any flawless dinner party and the heir to the Winthrop title and fortune wasn't a raving lunatic.
"I've lost my appetite," the countess snapped, dragging Cecille toward the door in the wake of her icy wrath. "Come, darling. We're going home. And we shan't come back until we are offered a formal apology."
The rest of the family filed out, Harold and Herbert grumbling over being deprived of their after-dinner brandy and cigars. The door to the kitchen swung shut. Emily set the bowl on the sideboard and crept toward the end of the table as if approaching a mad boar. Justin was snuffling rather like one.
She stood on tiptoe and peeped over the edge of the table. Justin was doubled up against his chair, shuddering with laughter. He wiped tears from his sparkling eyes and sucked in a wheezing breath.
"Every time I think . . . dancing a jig on the table . . . those ridiculous pantaloons … I just can't . . ." Wheezing for breath, he made pinching motions against her ankles with his long fingers. Emily giggled.
Soon her giggles deepened to chortles. Her knees folded and she dropped to the carpet beside him, hugging her own stomach as the dam of hilarity she'd stemmed all week burst with a vengeance.
Justin pounded his fist against the floor, struggling for control.
Emily gasped for breath. "I haven't seen Cecille move that fast since I waxed the soles of her ballet shoes."
He collapsed against her shoulder. "I shudder to think of it. God, you must have been awful."
"Incorrigible," she admitted modestly.
They relaxed against each other, knowing one would fall without the other. The stilted conversations
and awkward silences of the past week melted in the warmth of their nearness. It seemed only natural that Emily would reach up and brush a strand of hair from his eyes. Only natural that he would capture her hand in his own and caress her palm with his eloquent thumb.
His smile softened. "Whatever am I to do with you?"
Suddenly their faces were very close. Close enough for her to see the spark that lit his eyes. Danger scented the air, as sharp and acrid as the smell of lightning on a summer day.
"Come here, you wicked girl," he whispered. "Sit on my lap and I'll tell you a bedtime story."
Emily moaned softly as he drew her into his lap and touched his mouth to hers. It was like touching
flame to hot wax. Her lips melted beneath his, deepening his tender kiss to the ravenous flick and thrust
of his tongue against her own. A sweet, interminable ache licked through her. She tangled her hands in
the hair at his nape, marveling at the silky fineness of the new growth against his starched collar. The heady scent of his bay rum intoxicated her. She wiggled against him in an artless attempt to press herself closer, to somehow absorb all his textures and scents, both new and remembered.
Justin groaned. "You're going to be the death of me, woman," he muttered against her lips. Then his tongue filled her mouth again, plunging deep in a blatant act of possession.
Justin wasn't sure how she managed it, but Emily was just as enticing in her silly garments as she had been naked on a moonlit beach. Each scrap of lace, pearl button, and hook and eyelet was a provocative challenge to his desire. She was dressed like a ruffled cake and he wanted nothing more than to lick off
all her icing. Her untamed response to his touch shattered his inhibitions. He rained a delicate shower of kisses down her throat.
Not even the starched layers of her petticoats were enough to shield Emily from the rigid evidence of Justin's desire. He nudged against her, his hard, hungry heat making her shudder.