Savage Deception (Liberty's Ladies) Read Free Page A

Finally he held out his arm to her and smiled. Visibly relaxing, Diana allowed him to lead her into the candlelit ballroom and convinced herself that everything was going to be fine now. She’d passed the first hurdle in becoming the mistress at Briarhaven.
    The evening passed quickly. With Kingsley and Harlan Sheridan beside her she met the people who would be her neighbors. At one point Harlan bent his silver head low and whispered kindly into her ear, “I believe you’ve quite captivated everyone, Diana. Kingsley is an extremely lucky young man. With you as mistress of Briarhaven and the future mother of my grandchildren, I predict there are wonderful times in store for us.”
    Diana hoped so. She smiled at Harlan, who made an impressive figure in his blue satin attire. She danced with Kingsley and David before finding herself to be the sought after companion of the other gentlemen present. She had triumphed in her scarlet gown, but she wasn’t happy.
    Diana begged off from the next dance and sat next to Anne, away from the center of the dance floor. “You look like you’ve eaten too many blackberries,” Anne commented, seeing Diana’s solemn expression. “You should smile, dear. At least you can dance the night away while I must sit here like a fat toad on a lily pad, forced to listen to matronly conversation that would bore a preacher. Tell me, is something wrong? You don’t look like a girl who is soon to become the bride of a rich and handsome young planter. What more could you want, Diana?”
    “I want…”
    “What?”
    “I don’t know.”
    Anne laughed gently and rearranged the curl that hung over Diana’s shoulder. “You’re nervous, that’s all. Once you’re married you’ll be fine.”
    Diana knew Anne was being kind and concerned about her. She and David truly believed that Kingsley Sheridan would make a wonderful husband. But Diana didn’t think that Kingsley would be as tender and gentle with her as David was with Anne. She didn’t know why she thought that — Kingsley had never given any indication that he might be unkind — but the thought persisted and filled her with dread.
    Also, she didn’t feel comfortable admitting to Anne that Kingsley had kissed her and that she’d felt nothing. She imagined that Anne’s response would be to reassure her that in time she’d feel a great deal. But what was it she should feel? And if she felt anything, would it be what Anne felt for David?
    Her mind whirled, and suddenly she wanted to go outside into the garden and breathe in the sweet smell of the yellow jessamine that grew in profusion around the rose-tinged pillars of the house. While Anne started conversing with a young woman who had recently become a mother, Diana sneaked away into the balmy night.
    She supposed she should have sought out Kingsley for this late-night stroll, but he was nowhere to be found in the ballroom and she hated to admit that she didn’t want his company. Meandering away from the house, she took a well-trod path beneath ancient oaks whose leaves glistened with moonshine, before stopping on the bluff. Below her, the misty river rolled gently past, bathed in silver silence. The clear, star-filled night was scented with the spicy fragrance of the sea breezes that blew up the Santee from the Atlantic. It seemed a paradise, something out of a long forgotten past, but it was real. And Diana didn’t want it.
    She wanted … what?
    “I don’t know,” she whispered into the night, feeling an ache within her breast she couldn’t name. “I want … I want…”
    “Tell me what you want and I’ll get it for you.”
    Diana swung around at the deep voice behind her. Her dismay deepened when the tall broad- shouldered figure came forward from the path, where he apparently had been watching her for some moments. It was Tanner, but a Tanner she barely recognized from the one who stood on the bank and oversaw the slaves.
    This Tanner had smoothed his hair back from his face