Just One Kiss Read Free

eyes.
     
    Daphne had discovered Edward’s room.  More to the point, she had discovered Edward, though he was not entirely dressed and more than a little astonished by her sudden appearance.  He was sitting on the edge of his bed, tugging on his boots.  The neck of his shirt was still gaping, and exposing an intoxicating expanse of skin.
     
    “Miss Hargreaves !”  He said, when the power of speech was restored to him.  “I- to what do I- what are you- Daphne ?” 
     
    The words were spoken in a rush of confusion.  If he hadn’t spoken her Christian name then she might have lost her nerve and darted back into the hall.  He did speak it, however.  The soft drawl of his voice caressing the familiar consonants buoyed her courage just far enough to follow through.
     
    “I love you!” She blurted, sweeping into the room and shutting the door.  She crossed the floor to his bedside in three swift strides. “I’ve always loved you.”
     
    “I…” The shock on his features was muting into alarm. “Miss Hargreaves !”
     
    “Daphne,” she corrected, tears began to brim in her eyes. 
     
    She began to sense that he was not reacting as he ought to be.  Surprise was well and good, but shouldn’t he have swept her into his arms by now?  It was panic that drove Daphne to her final act of desperation. There was no other way to account for her behaviour.  It was certainly not attributable to habit or design.  However, quite suddenly kissing him was an absolute imperative.
     
    She had always thought that a first kiss was meant to be perfect: a singular, magical moment that would impress love from one person to another like a seal in wax, and that was how she felt as her lips melted into his. She barely noticed how his body had gone rigid, or how his hands were twisting anxiously at his side. The only thing that mattered was his mouth on hers, soft and inviting, filling up her entire consciousness. She never wanted it to end, but it did -- and in the worst possible way!

 
     
    Chapter 2
     
     
    What Daphne didn’t know, as she sat in her parlor remembering that fateful moment six years previously, was that a man in a carriage, not a mile from her house, was following his thoughts along a very similar line.
     
    Edward Everton was the second son of an Earl.  He was lucky that his family was so wealthy.  It ensured that he had connections, and wouldn’t be destitute, at least, but it did carry certain restrictions.  From the time of his birth, expectations had been made.  Plans were put into motion to decide how he would spend the rest of his life: where he would go to school, what he would study, where he would live.  The only choice it seemed he was allowed to make himself was who to marry -- within reason, of course. The lady had to be rich if he ever hoped to hold a proper estate rather than merely practicing law and she had to be from a respectable family. Apart from those few qualifications, the decision was his own -- until Daphne Hargreaves had taken even that one choice away.
     
    Sometimes Edward wondered  if Daphne really had been just a foolish girl.  She had only been sixteen, after all.  High spirited and indulged, Daphne had not learned, as Edward had, the necessities of self-restraint.  She was cosseted and spoilt with very few checks on her behavior . Perhaps she failed to understand the risks? Perhaps he too was at fault. Edward dismissed the latter possibility. He refused to accept a share of blame for what had transpired.
     
    Yes, he had flirted with Daphne. He was a man, after all, and she had been dazzling. He could never forget his first glimpse of his erstwhile playmate when he returned from Oxford the very last time.
     
    He had come to ask his brother’s blessing on his choice of bride, Miss Jane Winston.  Miss Winston had been introduced at an informal gathering at the home of one of his professors of law.  She was not particularly beautiful or aristocratic, but she