He bent his head and kissed her on the end of the nose. "After that, Jenny, I no longer much cared what the world expected of me. I decided that in the future, I would please myself first. It would please me greatly to marry you—but only if that would please you as well."
Jenny was silent, knowing that if she tried to speak, she would begin crying again. Tentatively she flattened her hand on his chest. She had known many male bodies, with indifference at best, sometimes with fear and loathing. But she had never wanted to be close to a man like this. Benjamin had a nice body, fit and wiry, not large and frightening.
Joining with him had made her feel happy, cherished like fine porcelain. She had been told that women could feel passion the same as men, but had never quite believed it. Now she did, dimly sensing that someday she would respond with more than sweetness. "It would please me," she said. "It's too soon, but maybe later, if you don't get bored with me..."
"I'll never get bored with you, Jenny. But I won't press you for an answer. Marriage is a serious business, and you should take time to think about it. In the meantime..."
He kissed her, this time seriously. And when she kissed him back, he knew that he had never felt so much a man in his life.
Chapter 23
Kane lay flat on his stomach in the high grass, his spyglass trained on the two horsemen galloping heedlessly along the crest of the hill. He couldn't believe his luck. He had come out today only to scout the land around Sulgrave, yet here were the very men Weldon wanted killed, racing along without a care in their foolish heads.
While his employer might prefer to stay the execution for a few days, Kane refused to waste such a perfect opportunity. He might never have as good a chance to get both men at the same time. Weldon would be angry, but the idea did not bother Kane. The pleasure of the kill would far outweigh his employer's irritation. And Weldon needed Kane far more than vice versa.
Stealthily he crawled down from the top of his hill, staying low so that he would not be silhouetted against the sky. He smiled with contempt. Given how careless his quarry was, such precautions were probably unnecessary.
In his left hand he carried a light, ultra-accurate Prussian sporting rifle. He would work his way along the hill until he found a good ambush site. The two riders would almost certainly return by the same route that they had taken. And when they did, Kane would be ready for them.
* * *
Siva needed no encouragement to go flying along the North Downs. As they tore along the ancient hilltop trail, Peregrine leaned over the stallion's neck, the feel of the wild wind blowing away some of his restless frustration.
The two days since the Sanfords' ball had been uneasy. Peregrine studied Sara, wondering if there would be a subtle change in her behavior now that she knew about his background, but she acted exactly the same. She scarcely raised an eyebrow when he introduced Benjamin Slade as an indefinite houseguest, and she went out of her way to make the lawyer feel welcome.
Yet underneath the surface, there was an odd combination of closeness and sizzling tension between Peregrine and his wife. He knew that she was waiting for him to tell her about the missing years and his vendetta against Charles Weldon. Half a dozen times he was on the verge of speaking, yet always he shied away at the last minute.
There were two reasons why he held his tongue. One was a profound distaste for revealing what he had never told another living soul. In fact, he was not sure he could speak of it in any but the most general terms. And while he knew that he could trust Sara's compassion and generous heart, she was the last person on earth he wanted to know about his humiliation.
The other reason was that he was not sure what he wanted to do next. He must decide soon, for it was dangerous to let his enemy have the initiative. But it would be even more dangerous to act without knowing exactly what he wanted to accomplish.
For that reason, he had been glad when Ross rode over from Chapelgate and suggested Peregrine join him for a ride on the Downs. Ross knew more about the situation than anyone else. He was also the one man Peregrine knew who could understand both the world of law-abiding citizens and the twilight zone of violence, where Peregrine and Weldon were locked in mortal combat.
Siva was beginning to become winded, so Peregrine pulled the stallion back to a moderate canter. A few minutes later Ross caught up with him.
Peregrine called out, "Is that lazy hack of yours related to Sara's Pansy?"
"Those are fighting words." Ross laughed as he reined in his mount with the grace of the born horseman. "If you want to race, we can try again someday when my horse hasn't already been ridden hard. If we make it a steeplechase, I guarantee that Iskander will show his heels to that park saunterer of yours."