Snowflakes and Scandals

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“There you are!” Frederick said, relieved to finally spot Minerva Chase again, sitting in a wood hut out on the cold grounds and very much alone—though he could swear he’d heard her talking to someone.

He’d spotted her rushing away from the manor and had given discreet chase to the wily woman. The snow was really starting to come down thicker now than when he’d started out. He would escort her back to the warmth and comfort of her family home soon. But first he had to talk to her. “Are you avoiding everyone, or just me?”

She smiled brightly. “Why would I avoid anyone?”

But then she winced, as if she was in pain.

Alarmed, he rushed to the woodshed and bent down to look at her face. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”

“Of course, I’m not hurt,” she said, bristling with outrage at his question.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he said, moving even closer and crouching down to avoid the worst of the weather. The wind was viciously cold today, which made him curious about why Minerva had left the manor to come here, of all places. “I didn’t see you at breakfast.”

“I have duties to fulfill,” she sniffed.

“Did those duties prevent you from joining us for every single meal, every entertainment, for two days in a row? I had to suffer through another poetry recital from Hudson last night without you.”

She shrugged. “I’m sure you were amply entertained by others more suited to your flirtations.”

“Yes, it has been an amusing few days. Mrs. Franks has played music a great deal.” Hounding Frederick, too, with beseeching eyes, even while Chase tried to charm his way into her bed. So far, Mrs. Franks seemed to enjoy having all the men vying for her attention. “Hudson has bored me nearly to tears, and you should have been there to suffer along with me.”

Minerva shrugged. “Did you turn the pages for Mrs. Franks?”

“No, your brother claimed the honor each night.”

She snorted. “Ah, so has he won the wager already?”

“No, but I’m glad you brought up the subject, because that is exactly what I’ve wanted to talk about with you for days. You overheard my conversation with your brother, didn’t you? I thought you must have done,” he murmured, watching her closely. “I feared that was why you’re avoiding the party, and me now?”

“Of course not. And I hardly care what you find amusing.”

He did not quite believe that. He’d seen her face. Her disgust at him. Her hurt expression haunted him, and made him ashamed, too. But it was all a lie. His heart was not really in the bet, and for reasons she absolutely had to know about, and today.

“It’s not what you think,” he promised, and glanced around at the wood hut as the wind blew snow in his eyes. There was a tiny bit of space beside Minerva, and he squeezed into it. Perched precariously on uneven split wood, he strove to appear harmless. “Oh, that’s so much better.”

“I’ve no desire for company,” she said, her posture growing stiff as a board. “Least of all yours.”

He studied her face. “You’re angry with me.”

“I am not angry with anyone,” she said haughtily, and then smiled. “I was simply enjoying the solitude of the snowy day until you came to interrupt.”

“Amid a pile of chopped wood,” he noted. Then leaned toward her to whisper, “I had no idea your interests were so rustic. Don’t you usually go to that charming secret room of yours when you want to avoid people? I went there first, looking for you each day.”

“Clearly it is not a secret anymore,” she said sourly—and then suddenly yelped.

“Now really! You can’t hide anything from me. I know something is wrong with you,” he cried, determined to find out what, right now. “Tell me, what is it? Tell me what I can do to help?”

She held her skirts close to her knees, using both hands in an effort to subdue them. “Nothing is wrong.”

“There is. I can tell you’re lying,” he insisted.

She exhaled and slapped at her legs. “Fine. There is something under my gown.”

He gulped and closed his eyes. Legs. Legs were under gowns, and then higher was…

Dear God. The thought of Minerva’s legs, wrapped around his waist as they made love, made him hot all over. He shook his head to dispel that image quickly. He focused on her face and saw her wince again. “You’re in pain.”

“From the claws.”

His eyes widened. “Claws?”

“I discovered a stray kitten in the woodpile, and we were getting along just fine until you arrived,” she complained. “It darted under my gown when it saw you and is currently trying to climb my stockings.”

He burst to his feet again, narrowly avoiding hitting his head on the rough wooden beams above them. “Well, get it out of there!”

“I could if you weren’t here and watching,” she said through gritted teeth.

He turned around immediately and scanned their surroundings. “No one seems to be about.”

“Except for you,” she muttered. “Go away.”

“But I still have more to say,” he protested. “If I am the cause of your discomfort, I must stay until things are made right again.”

“We can talk later,” she said, sounding distracted.

“At dinner or after?”

There was a long pause. “Yes.”

“Dinner is too far away. I prefer to explain now. Out here, where it’s properly private and you can tell me if it is a mad idea or not.” He turned his head slightly. “Have you captured that kitten yet?”

“No.”

“What seems to be the problem?”

“It’s fighting me,” she said. “Ow! Now, that wasn’t nice.”

He turned around immediately to render assistance, caught a glimpse of garments lifted above Minnie’s knees, and of her shapely legs spread slightly apart, encased in thick woolen stockings tied with red silk ribbons. A kitten hung from one stocking, twisting about, caught by its claws.

Frederick couldn’t look away from Minnie’s legs. Imagination was all well and good, but dear God…the reality was far better than any dream.

“My God,” he said out loud, suddenly overcome by lust for his friend’s sister.

Minnie flung her gown over her legs, and the struggling kitten was hidden from view again. “Oh, just go away!”

Although he was playing with fire, Frederick shook his head stubbornly. Minnie needed him to be more a friend than a potential seducer right now. “I cannot leave a lady in distress. It will take the two of us, I think, to free you from the wily beast’s clutches.”

Before she could say no, he moved to kneel before her, caught the hem of her gown and lifted it only high enough to feel around for the animal. His hands brushed along her calves several times as he blindly groped for a hold on the wriggling little beast.

“I have it,” he said finally, and closed his eyes firmly. “Now you can lift your skirts up, I promise not to peek, and you can remove its claws from your garments.”

After a moment of hesitation, he felt her doing something around his fingers. He shivered, wishing his hands were bare to feel the touch of hers.

“Pull the cat toward you,” she whispered.

He did, holding the wriggling beast firmly against his chest until she wrenched it away again. “Done.”

He opened his eyes and looked straight into Minerva’s blushing face. Her eyes were huge upon his. Wary and yet so enticing. His hand dropped, landing on her knee, and unthinkingly, he stroked along her outer thigh. Her breath caught, and so did his, and he withdrew his touch reluctantly from her body.

He was rather flustered by Minnie, and he forced himself to glance down at the white kitten in her lap. “Ah, the source of all our problems today.”

“If only.”

He looked into her eyes again and saw her wariness increase. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Never mind. You wanted to say something else to me.”

“Yes,” he said, and moved back to sit beside her again, hiding the fact that he’d become aroused by Minerva’s lovely body as best he could. She hadn’t seemed to notice his condition, for which he was eternally grateful. He would have a difficulty apologizing about such a matter with a virgin. “I wanted to discuss the bet I made with your brother and the reason it continues.”

She looked away, but not before she revealed her disgust again.

“It was your brother who proposed the bet initially,” he said quickly, and then took a deep breath before he continued. “As you know, he can be a tad slow when it comes to making his mind up about certain things.”

“That has not been my experience today,” she murmured.

“Well, it has been mine all through the years we’ve been acquainted. Sometimes I’ve agreed to his wagers just to make him carry through with them.”

“Seducing women is a common wager between you then?”

“Among other things. But he does seem to drag his feet when it comes to the ladies,” he confessed. “It’s become a bit of a joke among our set.”

“And when he doesn’t like a woman, he can make snap decisions about what to do with them,” she argued.

“Oh, all men are like that,” he promised, only earning a scowl for his confession. If he could rid himself of the bet, he would do it in a heartbeat. The house party wasn’t as much fun as he’d hoped it would be. That was some of Minerva’s fault. Her absence and overhearing the specifics of the bet had cast a pall over his mood.

“Humphrey wants Mrs. Franks a great deal more than I ever could,” he confessed.

Her gaze could have withered him where he stood. “I don’t believe you.”

“It’s the truth. After I accepted his challenge, I found out your brother and Mrs. Franks had known each other during her first season. But she quickly married, and only recently became a widow. I maintain the fiction of competing for her favor simply to spur him to take some action toward winning her,” he confessed. “I won’t stand between any friend and what he wants most.”

She nodded finally. “You have explained. Now you can go.”

“But—”

“I appreciate your concern and help with the kitten, but I really don’t care to discuss my brother’s romantic pursuits. There’s no reason for you to remain to discuss your guilt over it further, but a very good one for you to get as far away as possible,” she said, eyes concerned as she looked at him. “I should not like to be compromised by you.”

Shame crashed over him. In his need to win Minnie’s understanding and regain her good opinion, he had compromised her. Twice! Just sitting here with her, alone, and helping free her from the kitten’s claws had done so, and he’d most certainly compromised her when they’d kissed.

“Ah,” he said slowly, and glanced around guiltily.

Thankfully, they remained alone still.

She turned her attention to the feline, stoking its back and making it purr. “If your intent is to play matchmaker to my brother and that woman, shouldn’t you run along inside to make him even more jealous by paying her some attention?”

“Yes, yes, I probably should go back.” But he would rather stay with Minerva, even outside in this dreadful weather, with the kitten that was now purring loudly in her lap as she stroked its head. “What are you going to do with the little beast?”

“Make a pet of it if I can,” she said. “Cat’s make good companions for spinsters in the countryside.”

“For anyone, anywhere. I had a cat when I was a boy. It used to perch on my shoulder as I walked around, and I even took it riding a few times.”

Her lips twitched, and he removed one glove before he stretched out his hand for the animal to sniff. He allowed it time to understand he was no threat before attempting to pet it. “My mother kept a dozen of these at all times. We never had problems with mice or rats growing up on my family’s estate.”

“I’ll have to get a few more,” she whispered. “For later.”

He continued to watch the cat until it jumped down and started nosing around the bottom of Minerva’s skirts. He quickly scooped it up, peeked at its undercarriage, and sat it on his knee instead. “None of that now, young man. A lady’s skirts are off limits unless you’re invited.” He glanced at Minnie. “Shall we go back to the manor together? Get the poor thing some milk. Get you out of this dreadful cold.”

“I don’t feel cold yet.” The cat leaped out of his hands, turned his back on them and started hunting around the woodpile after something else in earnest. “You go back where it’s warm. I still have some thinking to do,” she said, without meeting his gaze. “And I would rather do it alone, if you don’t mind.”

He did mind, but he was hardly in a position to make demands.

“All right,” he said, pulling on his glove, but worried that he really had lost her good opinion by continuing that wager. “Will you sit by me at dinner tonight?”

“I will try,” she promised, again without meeting his gaze. But she smiled brightly, as if she was content with the world as the kitten reappeared and jumped into her lap once more.

However happy Minerva might seem, something was definitely different and wrong with her. And he was starting to think it was more than the wager, since he’d explained the reason for continuing with it. Something had driven her out of the house today, into the foulest of weather, as if a monster had chased her.

He took his leave, reluctantly. Deciding that when he got back to the manor, he would watch for her return and attempt to speak with her again. But for now, he had no choice but to let the matter drop. Tonight, at dinner and later, he would try to find out what had occurred to make a usually happy woman so out of sorts.