Free A Wicked Persuasion by Catherine George Page A

flower centrepiece, Harriet felt she might actually enjoy the meal. With the piano music a muted background she chatted easily for a while to Marcus Graveney about his settling-in process in Broad Street, and then turned to James when he asked if she approved of the marquee.
    ‘I certainly do. Thank heavens my sister isn’t here. It’s far grander than the one Father hired for Sophie’s wedding.’ She gave him a straight look. ‘So, James. Are you happy now? Does all this give you the necessary satisfaction?’
    ‘Not yet,’ he muttered. ‘Your father still has no idea who I am.’
    ‘But
I
know. That’s some satisfaction, surely?’ Harriet gave him a bright smile, then turned to Marcus again.
    When the meal was over there was a general rush outside before the rest of the evening began. Harriet took Moira and the girls up to the bathrooms in the house, and in response to Lily’s eager request took them over the rest of it afterwards while the men enjoyed a cigar in the garden. When they returned to the marquee a small band was in position, ready to play for the rest of the evening.
    ‘Do you like dancing, Harriet?’ Marcus asked, eyes twinkling.
    ‘When the occasion arises, yes,’ she assured him, surprised when the band struck up a waltz. She swallowed a chuckle at the horror on Claudia’s face.
    ‘I’m catering for all age groups tonight,’ said James blandly, and pushed back his chair. ‘May I have the pleasure, Miss Wilde?’
    Secretly as horrified as Claudia, Harriet smiled at the others in desperate appeal. ‘Please join us.’
    The dance floor was big for a marquee, but small to Harriet as James took her in his arms to revolve with skill she hadn’t expected. Her heart resumed its tattoo again as he held her close. ‘Where did you learn to waltz?’ she muttered, shaken to the core just to be in his arms again.
    ‘A kind lady in Newcastle taught me. She taught me other things, too, the kind not permitted on a dance floor,’ he added in an undertone, his hand so warm on her back Harriet was afraid the satin would burn. ‘After we broke up, I needed consolation. She provided it. How about you?’
    ‘I learned in school.’
    ‘I meant consolation. Or maybe you didn’t need any.’
    She looked up at him squarely. ‘Of course I did, but I had no one to console me.’
    He pulled her closer. ‘Why are you trembling, Harriet?’
    ‘Nerves at being the centre of attention,’ she lied, grateful when more people took to the floor.
    ‘You look ravishing tonight,’ he said, which made the trembling worse.
    ‘More like the girl you left behind?’ she said lightly.
    ‘No. She was a girl, Harriet, with no ravishing allowed, remember?’ His eyes bored down into hers. ‘Things are different now you’re all woman.’
    Harriet stared, mesmerised, into his narrowed, glittering eyes as they moved together, oblivious of everything other than the sensuous contact as they moved together. She came back to earth with a start as the rhythm changed, and James cursed under his breath.
    ‘Hell. Whatever this is, my lessons never covered it.’
    ‘It’s a foxtrot.’
    ‘We could jig about to it like the younger set, or would you like to sit down?’
    ‘Sit, please,’ she said, so fervently James gave her a wry, knowing look as he led her back to the now empty table.
    ‘Was dancing with me such an ordeal, Harriet?’
    ‘Of course not,’ she lied serenely. The ordeal had been hiding her response to the heat of his body against hers.
    ‘Your father’s still in the dark about me, obviously. Will you tell him?’
    ‘Not unless you want me to. He’s bound to hear from someone sooner or later. He can kill some other messenger.’
    He frowned darkly. ‘Is he likely to turn violent if you tell him?’
    She shook her head. ‘I was speaking metaphorically. He’s never raised a hand to me in his life. But it was so hard to persuade him to agree to this tonight I didn’t risk enlightening him