I wish... I wish so much--' Henry put his hand on her arm.

"Lady Polly. Do not. Sometimes it is not good to be so honest.

Sometimes it can only be painful..."

Polly swung round to face him. Her eyes were bright with emotion and the chestnut hair curled about her flushed face. Henry found himself wanting to kiss her very much, not with the calculated seduction of that night at Lady Phillips's ball, but with such genuine pa.s.sion that it shocked him.

"I know now," he said, a rough edge to his voice, 'that I miscalculated when I thought you incapable of deep feeling. I was wrong. " Polly's mouth was just below his own. It was easy to put a hand to her cheek, then tilt up her chin so that their lips met, tentatively at first, then with a sudden flood of desire that threatened to carry then away. All the suppressed emotion and tension of their encounter was suddenly in the kiss, as Polly's lips parted in surprise and swift acquiescence and her arms slid around his neck to draw him closer. Henry knew a second's hesitation before he allowed himself to let caution go. Polly knew no such moment of doubt. She had been aware of the feeling building between them, the thoughts and emotions unspoken, the dizzy sense of awareness and antic.i.p.ation. When he touched her, the love and expectancy had fused into one overwhelming need.

She pressed closer, pliant against him, and Henry moved to draw her closer.

When he would have drawn back, Polly pulled him closer still, tangling her hands in his hair so that she could bring his mouth down to hers again.

Henry held her away from him, pressing a kiss against her hair, breathing hard.

"Seldom have I made such a mistake," he said, the rueful amus.e.m.e.nt audible in his slightly shaken tone. "Polly..."

Pressed close in his arms, feeling the thud of his heart against hers, knowing instinctively just how difficult it was for him to let her go, Polly had no incentive to help him. She wanted to show him just how far he had misjudged her. All the years of restraint could be unlearned very easily.

She slid her hands under his jacket, relishing the hard strength of his body under her fingers, and when she heard Henry catch his breath on a groan, she raised her lips to his again.

Henry spun her round so that she was trapped against the wall. Polly could feel the cold through the thin silk of her gown but was barely aware of it.

All her senses were concentrated on the heat of the sensuality between them.

She wanted it to sweep her away. The explicit demand of the kiss eased into gentleness, then Henry's lips left hers to trace the delicate lines of her throat, to tease and caress the sensitive skin and rain kisses on her upturned face.

"Polly..." he spoke between kisses 'this has to stop. We cannot. This is neither the time nor the place. Until this business is over I am not free. " Polly opened her eyes with reluctance. She felt intoxicated with kissing, aching with a need that could not be appeased. She understood that it had taken a tremendous effort of will on Henry's part to let her go, that he felt as shaken as she did. Nor could she misunderstand his last words. He intended to woo her properly when he could, to make a declaration. Her eyes lit up like dark stars and Henry smiled gently.

"I love you," he said softly, 'and you may believe me when I say that I have never said that to anyone but you. ".

Chapter Fourteen.

QzrsQ.

-Despite his good resolutions, it was a considerable time before Henry let Polly go, whispering to her that she should go back into the ballroom as un.o.btrusively as possible and that he would follow as soon as he was able. Polly, dazed with kisses and happiness, almost floated into the room, convinced that everyone would immediately notice that something was different. No one seemed to do so, however. The supper dance was in progress. Lucille was still surrounded by a circle of family and friends at one end of the ballroom and looked up only briefly as her sister-inlaw wafted past. Hetty and Peter were sitting together in an alcove, their heads bent very close together, their words and smiles for each other alone. Lady Belling ham and Sir G.o.dfrey Or bison were still dancing together. Polly had paused when her arm was unexpectedly seized from behind.

"Lady Polly," Tristan Dit ton hissed in her ear, "I must have speech with you. Immediately!"

Some of Polly's euphoria faded as she looked into Mr Dit ton's thin, secretive face. It was all she could do to avoid shuddering. Once again, his look ap praised her in the most unpleasant manner. Polly, fresh from the enchantment of Henry's kisses, found Dit ton's behaviour deeply repellent.

"Perhaps some other time, sir," she began, as courteously as she was able.

"I was about to rejoin my mother--' " The Dowager Countess may spare you for a moment, I am sure," Dit ton said insinuatingly.

"There is a matter of supreme importance which we must discuss. I have been thinking of it ever since that distressing episode at the House of Tides and I feel it my honour and duty to offer you the protection of my name!"

Polly almost gaped at him. Henry's words of love were still in her mind and it was nearly impossible to accept that Tristan Dit ton had just made her an offer of marriage. And yet he seemed quite serious.

He drew her aside from the other couples who were jostling them as they made for the supper room, and in a moment they were in the deserted and dimly lit hall.

Polly struggled with her feeling of unreality.

"You do me great honour, sir," she said politely, 'but there is no need.

Everyone knows of the incident and realises it was entirely innocent. "

In the darkness she thought she saw Dit ton smile.

"I had been led to believe that you were so proper a lady, so careful for your reputation, that you would not refuse me. Lady Polly! Was I then mistaken?"

Polly felt her temper rise at the insinuation that she had been in any way to blame.

"I am sure that my reputation is as good as that of any lady,"

she said coldly, 'but I feel no need to protect it from so imaginary a threat! It was a generous offer, sir, but I must refuse. " Through the open ballroom doors she saw the Dowager Countess pa.s.s on her way to supper and took a step forward.

Tristan Dit ton put a restraining hand on her arm. A servant, scurrying across the darkened hall, gave them a curious look.

Polly's patience snapped.

"What is all this about, sir? I have already said--' Tristan Dit ton put his thin face very close to hers.

"It is about a young lady who is not as careful of her reputation as you are of yours. Lady Polly! How do you think your brother would feel were he to discover that the lady he desires to marry has already been free with her favours? That Lord Edmund Grant- ley was before him?"

Polly recoiled a step in disgust, staring at him in disbelief.

"You are loathsome, sir! How dare you insinuate?"

"It is no insinuation." Dit ton spoke with satisfied certainty.

"I have heard the whole tale--that they were alone at the inn, that Grantley was boasting of deflowering Miss Mark ham, and that the innkeeper confirmed the next day that Grantley had succeeded! She had been with him all night!

And if you do not agree to our betrothal. Lady Polly, I will make sure that every guest at this ball knows Miss Mark ham's disgrace!"

His eyes were burning with an excitement that sickened Polly. She was about to reject his words utterly when the memory of Hetty's arrival at Dilling ham Court stopped her. With hideous clarity she remembered Peter's insistence upon an early wedding and Hetty's distress at the Dowager Countess's objections. Hetty, whose natural liveliness had been tempered by a mysterious unhappiness. Could it be true? Perhaps Peter knew and was trying to protect his betrothed the only way he could? Even worse, then, if he was prepared to make that sacrifice, for Mr Dit ton to expose the truth before such a mult.i.tude.

Polly froze as an even more hideous thought occurred to her. What if Hetty were expecting a child? Her faint the previous day was now very suggestive of more than simple wedding nerves and exhaustion. How horrible would be her disgrace if it were true! The thought took a lot of the strength from Polly's response.

"You disgust me, sir! You wish me to consent to a betrothal on the grounds that you will denounce Miss Mark ham if I do not? You must be mad!"

"Not so!" Tristan Dit ton caught Polly's arm in a cruel grip.

"You will do as I ask, Lady Polly. Think of Miss Mark ham's dishonour, think of your brother's anger and disgust! And think of all these prurient gossips who will turn it into the biggest scandal in years!

You cannot refuse me!"

"I cannot even believe it! You must be mistaken, or lying..." But Polly knew that her response lacked conviction and she saw Dit ton smile.

"I have witnesses who can prove Miss Mark ham was at the Rose and Crown that night! She would crumble under the first accusation! Aye, and all the world would be there to see it!"

Polly's breath caught in her throat with the shame and horror of it.

She could not think clearly. She knew she must be mad to even think of agreeing, but Dit- ton's hand was like a claw on her arm, his eyes b.u.ming into hers.