~ One ~
THE VERY MORNING AFTER SARA set her sights on Godwin, she visited with her second cousin, Oscar Welby. He was three years her senior and just home from Cambridge for the summer. She knew he was infatuated with her.
“Sara!” He bent low over her hand. “I could scarcely believe my eyes when I read your note asking me to come ‘round.”
She laughed and flirted with her eyes. “La, but how could I not? I have missed you, Oscar, and was surprised when you did not immediately call on me. You naughty boy. You have been home two days!”
Her mother, with Lisa’s arm linked with hers, made an appearance just at that moment, and Sara was pleased to look up and find Lisa looking quite pretty in her little riding habit of dark blue. Indeed, she had timed this all so very well.
Introductions were made and though a flicker of jealousy shadowed Sara’s mindset as she watched Oscar’s face show great and immediate interest in Lisa, she was well pleased. Here was the beginning of her plans taking fruition.
Oscar was obviously taken with Lisa.
This fact, though most annoying, was welcome. She watched and saw Oscar, who had been infatuated with her for most of their youth, suddenly drawn to another. Though that was exactly what she had hoped for, it rankled.
She frowned darkly but managed to keep her irritation in check. She told herself she was being absurd and perverse. She could not help but wonder, however, what it could be about her plump friend that so turned men’s heads? Godwin, and now Oscar. It was most agitating. She wanted to pinch Lisa ‘til she cried.
She controlled herself, and Oscar and Lisa’s first meeting went just as she had hoped it would. After the two’s initial meeting, it was an easy thing to arrange more encounters as a threesome. She, escorted by a very willing Oscar, called on Lisa, went riding with Lisa and he became, Sara noted, quickly very amiable towards Lisa.
It also piqued her to see that Lisa could make Oscar laugh so easily and that the two got on so well. She had never made Oscar laugh, and in fact remembered that as children he often scolded her not to do this or that.
Oddly enough, when the time came for her to inaugurate the next step in her plan, she again felt a moment’s regret. Lisa had always been a good friend. In fact, Lisa had taken her part in school once when another girl had said some hurtful things.
Her plan would end all that, and Lisa would never smile at her again when this was over. A sure and sudden sadness hit her flush in her heart before she brushed it off. She simply had no choice.
At every opportunity, Sara made herself disagreeable to Oscar. She allowed him to draw mental contrasts between herself and the sweet Lisa. She was, after all, simply being herself, so it was an easy task. She rarely allowed anyone to hear her true opinions. No one really knew just who she was inside. Even her mother, who had guided her towards finding a wealthy and titled husband, did not know to what lengths her daughter would go to achieve that goal.
Sara had always felt impatient with Oscar and really didn’t give a fig about him. For years she did the polite, only in the event that she did not find a wealthy lord to marry—there would be Oscar, who did not have a title but was certainly well off. She had kept him infatuated with her, kept him in the wings, just in case. If her plan now did not work, she would lose not only Lisa, but Oscar as well. Therefore, her plan must work!
As it chanced, whenever Godwin was shown into Lisa’s sitting room, she seemed to be in a lively conversation with Oscar, and Sara was privy to the irritation that flickered over Godwin’s face.
Sara knew that Lisa and Oscar were in the early stages. They had not progressed beyond an easy friendship…yet. She wasn’t sure what love was, but she rather fancied they might find it in one another. As to that, she didn’t care, if only she could get Godwin to believe that Lisa and Oscar were falling in love.
On one occasion, Godwin stood uncertain as he watched Lisa and Oscar laughing over some anecdote he had told her. He frowned and looked ready to leave.
Sara hurried to take his arm and said, “Ah, Godwin, they do get on so well, don’t they? I had long thought Oscar devoted to me, but alas, my best friend seems to be stealing his affections.”
Godwin’s countenance took on a troubled expression, which was just what Sara wanted. Indeed, she needed to make him believe that Lisa was deliberately trying to take Oscar from her.
Godwin was kind and bent towards her. “Now, you surely cannot believe any man could be wrested from you, Miss Sara? Your beauty is quite riveting.”
She didn’t feel the blush she wanted to appear on her cheeks, but she managed to demure and looked at her feet.
He laughed. “Come, stand with me near the fire.”
She did just that and saw Lisa gaze their way with a look of puzzlement. She wondered then if Lisa was in fact truly infatuated or in love with Godwin. Well, that would be too bad, but Sara told herself she had no choice.
The next time the four of them were together, Sara pressed on. Time and time again, Lisa and Oscar behaved in a manner she was able to point out to Godwin in sad terms, and then her strategy unfolded just as she had hoped it would on the night of Lisa’s ball.
Sara wore a gown of soft gold, a bit too bold for her maidenly status, as it showed the swells of her breasts. Sara had been leery about the gown, but her mother actually convinced her that it was all the rage and she must wear this gown this night, as all the eligible beaus would be present at Lisa’s ball.
The dress was adorned with dark gold silk roses and the entire confection hugged her slim and provocative figure. Sara was aware of all the intrigued looks she was getting from the men, but she wanted only one to stare and appreciate.
All of them were naught next to Godwin, and she could see he was aware of their admiring gazes as they looked in her direction. She bantered with Godwin, laughed with him, teased and invited him using her eyes as no seventeen-year-old maid should do. All the while, she was confident everything was falling into place and her plan would work.
Sara left nothing to chance. Even then, at seventeen, she always knew what she needed to do to get what she wanted. She looked Godwin over for a moment. She could no longer wait ‘til she was eighteen and for her parents to give her a London Season, as they had always planned.
She couldn’t wait, although she was not in love with Godwin and dreaded the moment she would have to give her body to him. But, again, she told herself, she had no choice.
It was her father’s fault. Her father, who every year allowed a gypsy clan to use one of their open fields to rest their horses and recoup their supplies.
Over the years, Sara had found her way to their camp. She enjoyed their robust lifestyle, and this year, when they came with the spring, Sara visited the camp. This time, it wasn’t curiosity, it was with a purpose.
She needed a little extra to insure her plans would work.
Thus, it was that night in which Sara carried an herbal concoction that Magda, the gypsy matriarch, had assured her would do little more than make the victim slightly queasy.
Sara thought about Lisa and felt a slight twinge of guilt as she prepared to make her ill.
What she was about to do would ruin Lisa’s only ‘coming-out’ ball. It was cruel. Was she cruel? No. She was only doing what she had to do.
All guilt was quelled in that moment when she saw Lisa descend the stairs in her white-on-white gown! Her friend did look stunning. Her dusky curls fell in an array around her pretty face, and though she was plump, she looked sensual and alluring.
Sara glanced at Godwin who had, at that moment, no eyes for anyone other than Lisa. Thus, she made up her mind to go through with her plan and administer the potion to her friend…her only real friend. Cruelty be damned.
When Lisa came over to Sara, bubbling with her excitement, laughing over being breathless over the rounds of dances she had enjoyed for the first time in her eighteen years, Sara smiled sweetly, especially as Oscar had accompanied Lisa.
“Sara, you will turn eighteen in a few months, and Mama tells me your parents are planning your ball in London. It is all so exciting.”
Sara had been holding a glass of Negus and handed it to Lisa. “Here, love…you are flushed, this cold drink will do you good.”
“Oh, but don’t you want it?”
“Oscar, be a dear-heart and fetch me another glass,” Sara said. As both girls watched him hurry off to do as he was bid, Sara added, “He is so good, it is no wonder you have a fancy for him.”
“I—fancy? No…no, you mistake,” Lisa covered her mouth with her silk gloved hand and shook her head, “we…Oscar and I, are friends, nothing more. It is you he wants,” Lisa said, and took a long sip before she added, “you know, he is hurt that you won’t dance with him.”
The rebuke in Lisa’s voice irritated Sara and she said, “Drink up…there, good girl. You need to cool down and as to wanting me—indeed, before he laid eyes on you, I suppose he did. But I see how he dotes on you. The two of you are far more suited to one another than Oscar and I.”
“Oh no, no,” Lisa objected.
Sara laughed, well pleased with the look of doubt that came into Lisa’s eyes. She had made her think of Oscar in another light. “Now, what was that you were saying? Me—dance with Oscar? Whatever for? I have no interest there and would not lead him on.”
Lisa regarded her friend doubtfully. “Well, there is that…one wouldn’t want to…but one must be kind. What is in a dance after all?”
Sara clucked her tongue as her eyes narrowed. Had the potion already done its job? She seemed to think so as she watched Lisa put down her glass and lay a hand to her head.
“Lisa, what is it?”
“Oh, I must have been more flushed than I thought,” Lisa said, and swayed.
Oscar arrived at that moment, putting the glass of Negus down on a wall table and an arm around Lisa to exclaim, “Lisa…are you faint? It is the heat…all the people squeezed into this room.”
Godwin marched up to the trio at that moment and said, “What is this? What is wrong?”
Sara put a hand on his arm. “Lisa seems unwell…she was very flushed from dancing and…oh!”
Lisa collapsed into Oscar’s arms.
“I will take her out for air!” Oscar announced.
Godwin frowned and stepped forward, but Sara quickly put a hand on his arm. “Godwin, Oscar has her…you can’t very well wrest her away without causing a stir.”
She turned to her cousin and anxiously told him, “Oscar…quickly take her into the garden for some air. She might then be able to recover without all the world’s eyes on her.”
Oscar actually surprised Sara at this juncture by taking control and hurriedly leading Lisa, whose hand was still on her head, out the nearby garden door.
Godwin followed, Sara did the same.
As Oscar got Lisa to a garden bench, she promptly disgorged the drink she had just imbibed onto the grass.
Godwin turned away in disgust, but once again, Oscar surprised Sara by immediately taking out his handkerchief and dipping it into the water fountain and returning to wash Lisa’s face and make sure her gown was not dirtied.
Sara was impressed with her cousin’s ability to handle the situation, but only momentarily. She had to keep her mind focused on her goal and so she turned to Godwin and said, “Let us leave them be, dear Godwin. I am certain Oscar will know just how to take care of her.”
“Indeed, they appear to be quite comfortable with one another,” Godwin said, stiffening.
“Oh, please don’t misunderstand, and I see that you do. They are friends…only friends,” Sara told the truth, but in a tone that meant the two were much more.
“It appears much more than that. I count myself lucky to have you now at my side. Will you not tell me the truth so that I shan’t continue to make a fool of myself?” he said quietly.
She had to be careful, she cautioned herself. She did not wish to be caught in a lie at some later date. “I certainly don’t want that either, my lord. All I can tell you is that Lisa has assured me that they are friends. They enjoy and are at ease with one another. More than that, I simply cannot say.”
“I see. Very well, I shall have to make up my own mind about this,” he said as much to himself as to Sara.
They turned to find a tall, husky man of mature years barreling down on them. Mr. Cotham, Lisa’s father! He stopped as he reached them and his voice was jolly. He appeared well pleased with the evening his wife had put together for their precious daughter. Once again, Sara felt a wave of envy. It was just too bad that Lisa had turned eighteen before her.
“Well, well, are you young people all enjoying yourselves?” Mr. Cotham asked, slapping his gloved hands together.
“Yes, yes, sir, very much,” Sara assured him sweetly.
“Right then, where has that minx of mine gone off to?” he asked, and looked around.
“She wasn’t feeling quite the thing, sir, and went into the garden for some air,” Sara said, and lowered her eyes to the silky toes of her shoes.
“Good God! I thought she looked a bit too flushed,” he exclaimed. “Well then, go on, keep having fun. I shall see to her.”
Sara said, “Oh, but I shall accompany you…in case she needs me.”
“Humph, well, all right then,” Lisa’s father said, and made his way towards the garden with both Sara and Godwin in tow.
The scene that met their eyes shocked all three. Even Sara had not hoped to find them in such a compromising state.
“I am so glad you are better,” Oscar said, and lifted Lisa’s chin.
“Yes, apparently emptying my insides so completely has done the trick,” Lisa said, and giggled.
“Oh, Lisa dearest, you are so good, so easy to be with,” Oscar said, and unaware that he and Lisa had an audience, he dropped a kiss on her lips.
It was only a short, quick, little kiss, but Lisa immediately responded by taking his hand to her cheek.
Lisa’s father found his voice at this juncture. “What is the meaning of this?”
Sara had to forcibly look away. She couldn’t smile, she told herself. She must not smile, but when she saw the hurt and confusion on Godwin’s face, she couldn’t help herself, and hurriedly clapped a hand over her lips.
She couldn’t have hoped for a better result. Lisa’s father took her away. Godwin bowed to her and left the ball. Her cousin stopped her from walking away and said, “This is your handiwork. I am certain of it. What was in that drink you gave her? You have engineered this from the start.”
“Nonsense,” she said, and went to her parents to complain of a headache and ask that they take her home.
Later that same evening, with her mind and heart blissful with the results of her successful plotting, she quietly left her bedroom and went out the backdoor of the house with her parents, as always, none the wiser.
She could see him coming towards her in the darkness. Oh, but a fine figure of a man whose black cloak flapped in the wind behind him. She started to run towards him over the pebbled path, with her arms opened wide.
She had everything she could possibly want. She had ruined Lisa in Godwin’s eyes, just as she had hoped she would. And it wasn’t even her fault, she told herself. She hadn’t made Oscar kiss her. She hadn’t made Lisa rub her face against Oscar’s hand. Ha! It was all working in her favor.
Godwin would turn to her now, and she would have a husband and a position in society that all other women would envy.
But now? Now she had the man of her dreams! “Raoul!” she called breathlessly as his strong arms enveloped her.
“My love,” he murmured as he bent to kiss her lips.
“I have missed you,” she said when he let her up for air. She reached feverishly into his breeches and found what she wanted, what she needed. “Raoul…we have to find a way to see each other more often.”
He said nothing to this. She was aware that he rarely spoke and often wondered at it. His mouth took hers crushingly once more. His body was so hard, so desirable that all she could do was surrender to his touch.
He was her first true love and she was certain, so very certain that it was true love. He was a gypsy and social dictates forbade their union, but they could have stolen moments, she told herself. The future? She would have him always, waiting in the wings. She would never give him up. It was why she did not wish to go to London.
Yes, soon, she was certain, she would be Lady Ravensbury, a child bride of sorts at seventeen, but she would have her handsome wild gypsy to warm her heart and her body!
He took off his cloak and laid it on the ground even as he brought her to her knees and said, “Show me, woman, show me how much you want me.”
She licked his hard cock, took its length into her mouth and sucked harder, pleased with herself because he groaned with pleasure.
All at once, he made a primal sound and pushed her roughly onto her back. Oh, but she liked it. She liked the way he handled her, as though he couldn’t get enough of her.
He rammed into her over and over, harder, faster, and she pushed her palms down against the earth as she arched and screamed out his name.
He climaxed with her and rolled off to lie on his back.
She stroked his shadowed face and he pushed her hand away. “No,” he said. “If you love me, you will marry me.”
“I can’t. My parents would never agree,” she said, and realized though this was true, she was thankful of it as an excuse because she didn’t want to marry him. She wanted this…only this.
She mounted him then and found his cock still hard as she rubbed herself against it. “Did you say no, Raoul?”
He grabbed her hips. “Did I?”
She teased him with her wetness until he growled, “I want inside, woman. Take me inside.”
“Oh, I mean to when I’m ready…when I make you regret telling me no.”