Woo'd in Haste by Sabrina Darby

Eastbourne.”
    There was an undercurrent to Kate’s words, and while in the past Bianca would have painstakingly analyzed them in order to protect herself, now she refused to waste her time.
    “It’s a lovely dress, Kate. So kind of you to think of me.”
    “Yes, well. I do hope it fits. You look much the same as when I last saw you. Perhaps a bit bigger around the bust. Try it on, will you?”
    A bit bigger around the bust. And the hips and the arms. Everything was big to Kate, who was so petite and slender, it was easy to feel like a cow in comparison.
    No. She wouldn’t try the dress on now. She would wait till she could see it in private, make any alterations necessary.
    “Perhaps after dinner. Or tomorrow in the morning light. But it is such a pretty fabric!”
    Kate smiled as if pleased by the compliment Bianca had forced past her lips. Somehow, miraculously, she managed to get her sister out of her room. She closed the door behind her, breathed in deeply until it felt like her room again. Until she was certain the hallway was clear.
    Then, she slipped out the door and moved quietly to the back stairs.
    She fled to the schoolroom, where Luc and Thomas had returned and were hard at work. Or at least Thomas was. Luc was standing by the window staring out.
    He hadn’t followed her, but it was just as well considering Kate had.
    He turned at her arrival and his face brightened. Or maybe it was simply that she felt bright inside, buoyant from joy at seeing him again.
    He was hers alone. A secret Kate could not ruin.
    “It’s still light outside, will be for hours,” she said breathlessly. “I propose a walk to the folly.”
    Thomas jumped up with alacrity, as she knew he would, and Luc agreed easily. After all, it was merely an excuse for them to be together, away from the house, from anyone who might see them. And now that she knew Thomas knew, she didn’t have to worry about hiding from him anymore.
    When they were over the hill and out of sight of the house, she took Luc’s hand in her own and pulled him toward her. She didn’t have to urge him more before she was in his embrace. She kissed him like she was starving, and she was. Eager to kiss him now that she knew her own emotions, now that his lips tasted like love.
    B ianca was different. She looked at him differently. At first that ineffable change had frightened him, worried him that in those days apart he had lost ground, perhaps even lost his chance at winning her love completely. He worried, as he had during her absence, that she would meet someone else, that she would realize she could do far better than him, title aside. After all, she didn’t even know about his title and his wealth. He was forced to win her hand purely on his essential self, whatever that was.
    But then, she had sought him out in the schoolroom. Everything between them was more intense and weighted. Their kisses more electric, her features more exquisite, his heart fuller and desperate for release.
    But it was all tinged with an odd sadness. Perhaps it was that she, too, felt the pressure of the impending house party, of the presence of her sister and stepmother, which made their stolen moments rarer and more difficult.
    At the same time, Peter had come through for him. Reggie’s brother seemed to show up day after day and occupy Kate’s time with this or that. This day, for example, Bianca had managed to escape discussing seating arrangements because good old Pete had insisted Kate and Henrietta accompany him back to his estate and choose flowers for their arrangements from his hothouse. A very generous offer and one clearly they would not turn down.
    Which meant Bianca could accompany Luc and Thomas on their nature walk as they examined all the different types of leaves present on the estate.
    He had become adept at structuring lessons that would send the boy haring off on scavenger hunts, giving him and Bianca precious moments alone.
    Moments when they could hide behind the