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Her Awakening
(A working title - Novel in progress)
© H. Cooper
Chapter Nine
"Do you ever plan to marry again?" Bella asked from
her lazy lounging sprawl across her Aunt's bed.
Christine turned, a bit caught off guard by such a
question. The weekend was drawing to a close with a supper and dance
for the remaining guests and she held her tongue to see that the girl
still had her morning clothes on.
"I am not certain that it will happen again for me,
Bella. My marriage was arranged and though I did have great affection
for Geoffrey" She paused, knowing all Bella knew of love was the passionate
love affair that had been her sisters marriage. "I was not in love
with him and I fear I am past an age where romantic love will come
knocking and besides that fact, there are certain things about myself
that not all men would find..appealing".
Bella examined with a scrutinizing eye the blonde beauty
of her Aunt Christine. She hardly looked a day past her mid twenties
and had a figure enviable of any woman, was well off and intelligent.
"Whatever could a man find unappealing about you Aunt
Christine?" disbelieving words as she sat up on the bed to talk in
earnest.
Christine chuckled warmly. "Oh the packaging is nice
enough, but dear Bella there is much more to a woman as you know well
than a pretty face. There are layers that aren't always pleasantly
surprising".
Bella regarded her with a faintly bemused look, nodding
slowly, feeling the urge to ask about the first night of the weekend
on the tip of her tongue. What if her Aunt grew angry with her for
going exploring in the dead of night. Could her Aunt have known? Been
there? She gaze at the delicate blonde beauty of her Aunt and blinked.
Surely not!
"Bellllaaa?"
Her eyes cleared of the thoughts, brought out of the
reverie by the laughing sound of her Aunt's voice.
"Child if I did not know better, I would think you've
already become smitten with one of our handsome guests".
"Aunt Christine! I was merely daydreaming, I have no
interest in any man here!" she flushed even as she spoke, becoming
intensely focused on a small thread in the hand sewn coverlet she
sat upon.
"Oh?" Christine's head tipped gently, the brush she
held stopped in the midst of a long stroke through golden blonde hair.
"Not even a certain dark haired, green eyed Raven?"
Bella fumed as she felt a blush burn her cheeks at
her Aunt's deliberate teasing. "Least of all him" she huffed, sliding
down off the bed.
"I have to go get dressed, I'll see you later Aunt"
Christine watched the lovely young woman hastily make
her exit, noting the wild flush on her cheeks, and smiled slowly as
she turned back the mirror, eyes calculating, curious. She wondered
if Bella would remember those long ago declarations to a young Christian
Filmont.
Dinner was an elaborate multi course affair that began
with a small bowl of leek and potato soup garnished with pine nuts
and spices. The second consisting of breaded scallops, clams on the
half shell, and lobster in cream sauce, followed with roasted beef
and duck, quail, and platters of french beans, seasoned potatoes,
glazed carrots, hard crusty rolls with sweet butter and soft cheeses.
Dessert was a treat spared for occasions such as this one, small cakes
with almond paste filling, petite cherry tarts, fresh wedges of apple
and pears served on heavy cutting boards with more soft cheeses and
plump black grapes. A meal fit for King or Queen.
Bella so tightly laced up in another corset barely
managed to sample but a few bites of each offering. She finally settled
on sitting with her hands folded neatly into her lap after having
pushed food around her plate for a nice bit of time. She made a decent
effort of listening to the gentleman to her right expound on his many
acres and long titled ancestry.
As had quickly become her norm, she smiled daintily
and nodded appropriately and promptly let her mind wander along with
her gaze on more than one occasion. Catty sat at the opposite end
of the long table, surrounded by a group of younger gentlemen who
were doing their best to capture her sole attention. She noted with
something akin to horror, that she felt a twinge of disappointment
upon seeing Raven did not make it to the dinner and wondered if he
would be coming for the dancing. Had he left, she wondered, though
she did see that the blonde man Catty had pointed out was just a few
chairs down from herself across the table and she took this opportunity
to thoroughly examine him.
He was nearly as beautiful as some women. His blonde
hair golden, a curl to it that he wore long enough for him to run
long tapered fingers through out of age old habit. His eyes were deep
pure blue beneath long thick lashes, his nose straight, aquiline,
his mouth wore an easy smile and he moved with feline grace. Someone
confident in his skin, she thought. He was an animated talker and
she could tell he enjoyed the attention showered over him by the women
near to where he sat. Old and young alike, they listened with rapt
gazes fixed unwavering on the young man. She felt herself smiling
a bit watching him, he was obviously in the throes of some entertaining
story and the way the women leaned in wearing rather rapturous expressions
gave her a great deal of amusement. It was during some point in the
story that his glance fell her way and there was nothing she could
do to pretend she had not been staring rather unabashedly. So she
smiled. A smile designed to make it seem as if she cared not a fig
if he had caught her all wide eye or not.
Blackmoor smiled slowly in return and lifted his flute
of sparkling gold champagne to her in silent toast. His gaze hinted
of glitter and as they narrowed and seemed to study her intently,
she realized well enough why he would be on the same level as Raven
when it came to being "a catch".
Still, he wasn't Raven.
She found her thoughts drifting, overlaying Raven's
image atop Ridgewell's. There was a darkness to Raven that could not
be matched. Something that seethed beneath the veneer of upstanding
nobleman. Something far from soft and pampered. Thomas Ridgewell was
charming and handsome and titled and monied. He hinted at sexual prowess
but he just was not..
"My dear, I say I've called your name several times,
child. Are you alright?"
Bella drew a deep breath and looked to her left. An
older gentleman was giving her the most quizzical look, half expecting
the young lady to swoon at any moment.
"Oh do forgive me Lord Whitall, I fear it is all this
rich food and I have indulged over much." She picked up her fan from
aside her plate and snapped it open, fanning herself delicately, darting
glances to where Thomas Ridgewell was regarding her most intently.
Lord Whitall, a father himself to four young ladies
was no stranger to the peculiarities of the female persuasion. He
patted the pretty girl's hand with fatherly affection and smiled cajolingly.
"Now now dear one, perhaps you might excuse yourself to your bedchambers
and.." He leaned in to whisper "Loosen up a little."
Bella did blush then and bowed her head to hide the
twinkle that lit gleaming eyes.
"You are so right Lord Whitall. I think that is the
perfect idea!."
She excused herself to her dinner partners and quickly
made her escape without another look backwards to Ridgewell.
**********************************
She entered her room and immediately shrugged out of
the top of her dress, soft little grunts as deft fingers plucked and
loosened the knotted ties of her corset. Her relief was loud to her
ears in the quiet of the room, coming in a sweep of breath.
The one candle that had been left lit, was burned low
in a wide pot and only a bit of eerie dark gold shimmer was left to
light the room. Dark shadows abounded and she stood very still, very
quietly for a moment just listening before laughing softly at herself
and moving to stretch out on her belly across the width of her bed.
She let her mind drift. Filled with images of the past few days, of
the people who were now in her life.
She really had no true concept of what time had passed
when the room, she realized, was completely dark. The candle having
long burned down to nothing left the room virtually black. Her lashes
were heavy and almost refused to lift and she realized that months
of restless sleeping were catching up to her. Or perhaps this weekend
which, these weeks here, facing so many new things, so many new people.
"Mmmm................"She sighed lazily and shifted
on the bed, drawing her right leg up into a deep bend. She really
didn't care at the moment if her dress wrinkled or if she had missed
the beginning of the dancing, it was just so nice to relax.
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