tell me that’s not what you want, Lawson.’
‘That’s not what I want, Daisy, be assured … Let me order you another drink. I could certainly do with one.’ He hailed a waiter. ‘Two glasses of your best brandy, my man.’
‘Brandy?’ she said. ‘You’ll have me drunk. Still, I don’t care as long as you still want me.’
‘Of course I want you.’
The soft crescent of her mouth transformed into a relieved smile. ‘I’m glad. You had me worried.’
‘Look, I haven’t married you because of some lark or some madcap bet with my friends. I’ve thought this thing through … What I wanted to say is this … As well as my love for you, I want you to understand that my being married will give me more social respectability—’
‘So you’re only interested in social esteem. You don’t really love me.’
‘Of course I love you. How many times must I tell you? But love isn’t everything. There are other considerations, less romantic, and I want you to understand them. Greater acceptance in society, by virtue of being married, is one of them.’
‘Then you should have married an heiress, not an unemployed domestic servant.’
‘Don’t demean yourself, Daisy. Yes, I know you’re neither an heiress nor the daughter of some nabob, but you have the look and the bearing. And I need you. I need you to keep me on the straight and narrow.’
‘You need me,’ she repeated with some disenchantment. She wanted him to love her, not just need her. Love must be the overriding feature of their marriage.
‘Yes. I need you. I have many faults and I’m aware of them. If you don’t know them yet, I daresay they’ll manifest themselves soon enough.’
‘Such as?’
‘I’m erratic and moody – I know this. I can be as high-spirited as a pig with a potato one day, and down in the dumps the next—’
‘Drink can do that to you. Too much drink … You do drink too much, Lawson, I hate to tell you.’
‘You’re nagging me already.’
‘I’m your wife,’ she sighed. ‘I want to help you. I want to look after you. I’m trying to keep you on the straight and narrow …’
‘But you don’t have to nag me. As I said, I know my faults.’
‘Sorry.’
‘As I was saying … I have a vile temper as well, I’m excitable, impulsive, I couldn’t care less what my friends or anybody else—’
‘Lawson, you are the most intelligent, the most generous, the nicest, the most interesting person I’ve ever met in my whole life.’
‘Yes, I’m all of those things …’ He smiled with a sham smugness that amused her, but was almost immediately sombre again. ‘I’m sometimes over-emotional. Intellect and emotions seem to rule me, Daisy. I also get very jealous, you know …’
‘You’ve no reason to be jealous where I’m concerned.’
‘No, I don’t think I have. But I want you to know what I’m like under the skin. I need you to understand me and, when you understand me, to direct me.’
The waiter brought their brandies and deposited them on the table with a flourish and Lawson thanked him.
‘You’re untidy,’ Daisy proclaimed when the waiter had gone. ‘I’ve noticed that already.’
‘And you don’t mince your words …’ He smiled again and tasted the brandy. ‘We shall have a successful marriage, Daisy, you and I,’ he said expansively. ‘You are the exact opposite of everything I am. I envy you your virtues, you know. Your innocence, your warm-heartedness, your affability … You’d give away your last penny if you thought it would help the person you were giving it to, whereas I wouldn’t – I’m far too selfish. You’re patient. I’m not. You’re organised, I’m generally in utter chaos. I’m volatile, I’ve never once seen you flustered. You’re even-tempered—’
‘I’m also free of my monthly scourge,’ she said quietly and dipped her nose into her brandy glass without looking at him.
He guffawed and his eyes brightened. ‘Then why are we sitting here? Come on, let’s go upstairs … Lord, I’ve got a stirring in my loins already. Take the brandy with you …’ He rose from his chair eagerly, then went round to Daisy and drew back her chair as she rose, a radiant smile on her face. ‘Why didn’t you say so sooner, save me rambling on the way I did.’
‘At least I know you better because of it,’ she said as she took his arm. ‘At least I know what to expect in future.’
‘Oh, ignore me, Daisy. It was the drink talking …’
They undressed by candlelight. As she lay naked in bed awaiting him, the dipping flicker of yellow light added warm colour to her pale skin and threw dancing shadows on the wall behind him as he got into the right hand side of the bed and lay beside her. At once they were in each other’s arms. He was instantly aroused as he savoured the sleekness of her body, the feel of her soft, silky skin pressed lightly against his. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience this, the very first time with a virgin wife, and he was not about to rush it.
‘Aren’t you warm enough?’ he whispered. ‘You’re trembling.’
‘I’m not cold, Lawson. Just a bit nervous, that’s all.’
‘There’s nothing to be nervous about, sweetheart. I love you. I’ll look after you.’
Her baptism of sexual experience was upon her as he traced faint lines all over her body in gentle strokes with the tips of his fingers. She shuddered with delight at the sensations and this new experience of intimacy incited a warmth of desire that welled up inside her. With his eyes shut, he found her mouth and kissed her tenderly, but eagerly and there was no mistaking his hunger, his need for her. While they kissed, his right hand explored more of her, sending fresh, delectable shivers up and down her spine. He pressed himself against her and cupped one round, yielding breast in his hand and felt her nipple harden between his fingers. Then he left a trail of kisses down her neck and across her breast till he found that nipple and nuzzled it like a suckling child.
His tongue flicked delectably across it and the sensations astonished her. She had tried to imagine all this before of course, alone in her bed in Baxter House and in the boxroom at Campbell Street. But she had not expected that his warm, firm flesh against hers would be so stimulating. She could feel that familiar wetness between her legs and, when he touched her there, she was surprised at how utterly pleasant it was. His fingers caressed her so skilfully that she could not help but utter little sighs and groans at the pleasure of it. After a while, he rolled onto her and slid down her body, leaving a moist trail of tender little bites that went rapidly cold across her belly. He slithered lower, until his face was snuggled in her dark, moist curls. His tongue lapped inside her and around her, and the sensations were mesmerising. She arched her back and held his head to draw him further into her and, when he gave her tender little bites she lay and wriggled, and gasped in a crisis of ecstasy and stupefaction. Her heart was pounding hard as he slid his
