Free Sandra Madden by The Forbidden Bride Page B

thoulderth are ath broad ath an armored tholdier." The limner sighed. "His legth beyond compare."
    Kate could not but agree. Edmund's black stockings displayed shapely, muscular legs to full advantage. She felt certain that the Earl of Stamford's well-honed physique had been enhanced by his devotion to sports. His body shimmered with masculinity, virility.
    Kate's breath caught in her throat.
    She smoldered and burned, stunned to realize she could no longer ruminate upon Edmund's attributes, it seemed, without suffering consequences. Of all times to be without a fan! Resisting the impulse to snatch Digby's, she inhaled deeply.
    "Do you not apprecthiate Lord Thtamford's legth?"
    "Oh, aye. Aye."
    Kate appreciated everything about Edmund, including the cut and color of his garments. He oft wore black, and the darkness of his figure alluded to a potent force. But he was never without a touch of color. This eve, Edmund's gold brocade doublet relieved the black.
    "Methinkth I thould like to paint another portrait of Lord Thtamford. A full-length pothe."
    A portrait Kate should like to own.
    Fearing further conversation with the limner might give her feelings for Edmund away if she hadn’t already, she shook off her dreamy reverie.
    "Would you like me to play the lute?" she asked.
    "Aye, Mithtreth Kate. 'Twould make a pleathing interlude. I thall join Lord Thtamford and hith family to lithten."
    Soon, all conversation ended, and the music chamber filled with music.
    * * * *
    Long after the guests departed and Aunt Cordelia had settled in her chamber, Kate still could not sleep. A restless mixture of weariness and excitement kept her awake.
    Donning her cloak over her shift, she made her way to the small, gone-to-weed back garden. Although the candle she carried shed little light, 'twas enough to detect a mass of tangled, twisted dead bushes and dried grass. The garden suffered more than Lady Cordelia. Kate thought to take it upon herself to transform the neglected patch, thereby occupying herself with thoughts that did not flit between finding her mother and seducing Edmund. She blushed in the dark.
    A trying evening had Lady Jane attempting to cut Kate down at every turn, Edmund paying her no mind at all, and Richard Digby apparently unable to talk about anything or anyone except the riveting earl.
    Kate clutched her worn cloak tightly around her as she sat on the cold stone stoop to contemplate the stars. The city noise had quieted to muted sounds of horse hooves on cobblestones, babies crying, and drunken exclamations drifting on a cool breeze. The moon was merely a narrow crescent of hazy silver in the sky. A blurred spray of stars winked in the blackness.
    And there her fate was written, written in the stars.
    "Kate!"
    "Edmund?" She looked up to find him looming above her. He held a torch, which cast flickering shadows and golden ribbons of light across his face and chest. "You gave me a start."
    "I did not mean to."
    Kate looked back into the garden.
    He sat beside her, his long legs dangled two stone steps beyond. "I went to Aunt Cordelia's chambers to be certain she, and you, had all that you needed. But I discovered you gone."
    "I could not sleep."
    "Is the bed not comfortable?"
    He smelled faintly of sandalwood and deep, lusty maleness. His fine lawn shirt exposed a tantalizing patch of crisp raven chest hair.
    She should not look. He should not have removed his doublet.
    "Aye, the bed is fine," she said. " Tis excitement that keeps me from sleep."
    Edmund cocked his head, eyeing her closely. A stubble of beard darkened his strong, square jaw. "Has your excitement anything to do with Digby? Did you favor the limner?"
    "He is likeable."
    "Pray, what did you talk about?"
    "You."
    Edmund's brows shot up in surprise. "Me?"
    "Your limner is quite fond of you, Edmund."
    "Oh." His brow gathered in a bunched, ill-humored frown before he spoke. "Think no more of Digby."
    In fact Kate had not given the limner a thought since her