SoundsofLove by Marilyn Kelly Page B

to wake up next to a man
as handsome as he is, even if only for a few months.”
    “He is a striking man and most congenial.” Violet paused in
her stitching. “You’ve been attending meetings for nearly a year, how is it
that you never mentioned him before?”
    Cathryn swallowed hard as she faced a painful truth. “I
thought him above me.” She felt like a green girl admitting it, but her sights
had never rested on him because he was too good-looking and landed regularly in
the gossip columns. She’d believed her destiny rested with a man of lesser
stature, and steadier temperament.
    “Nonsense,” Violet rushed to assure her. “You’re a person of
superior character in every regard. He’s the honored party in this affair.
Don’t forget that, Cat.”
    Cathryn nodded as she took her seat and prayed Violet was
right. Her father was a baron with little property, a recluse in his dusty
library since her mother passed a decade ago. Her eldest brother’s only
interest appeared to be modern agricultural techniques, her other three brothers
had scattered to the edges of the earth, and none yet achieved fame or fortune.
Her family had little to recommend them to such a grand man as the earl.
    Nonetheless, Julian Ahlquist had just been here in her
parlor, as entranced by her as she was by him. He was beyond her dreams, and
yet, the tantalizing temptation was exquisitely real.
    “How do you think Percival will take this?”
    Cathryn resented the intrusion on the thoughts of her
lover-to-be, and her eyes drifted slowly to Violet threading a pink strand for
her embroidery. “You know him better than I, you tell me.”
    “Well, he lacks charm—Ahlquist has enough for them both. But
Percival is proud as the day is long, and he can be vindictive if he feels
crossed.” She poked at the fabric. “He’s a baron now, and I imagine that has
gone to his head. I could envision him bringing a breach of promise suit if he
feels injured by you. That would be a scandal, and the earl wouldn’t want to be
party to that.”
    Cathryn pondered Violet’s words as she stared at the fire
and was startled when Violet added, “Perhaps you misunderstood Ahlquist, and he
means to court you.”
    “No, I think not.” Cathryn shook her head. “He needs a
younger wife, or a woman with a history of bearing sons.”
    “Geoffrey had no children from his first marriage. It’s
likely he’s the infertile one.”
    Cathryn dearly hoped so, she wanted children very badly. “In
any case, Ahlquist’s interest in me is purely physical.” Perhaps he had ways to
keep his mistresses from conceiving—she would have to ask. She didn’t want a
child out of wedlock.
    Violet snorted lightly. “He quoted you, Cat. I think that’s
a sign you two are destined for one another.”
    Cathryn warmed at the thought. Could Julian Ahlquist be her
destiny? It was an outlandish thought, audacious beyond imagination. She had
simply caught his eye and he was attracted to her.
    He planned nothing more than an affair—or had she
misunderstood him?

Chapter Four
     
    “En garde!”
    Julian parried the thrust and lunged forward to return one
of his own, which was easily deflected.
    “Too low,” the fencing master warned, then scored a hit on
Julian’s right shoulder. “And too slow.”
    Julian resumed his stance, and his instructor continued to
decimate him. Normally they were more equally matched, but he was distracted
this afternoon. Lilith had made a terrible scene just hours before, breaking
glassware and maligning his character and person most thoroughly. He ached to
see Cathryn but had no excuse to do so. He would have to wait until tomorrow.
    Another hit scored very near his heart, and even through his
protective leather jacket he suffered the force of the blunt tip and took a
step back.
    “Enough!” yelled his fencing master. “Your tempo and
distance are off today. I cannot fence with you or I will become polluted by
your incompetence.”
    Julian