Finding Bliss (26 page)

He was about to ask her for the first dance when the
gentlemen began breaking off for cigars and liquor while the ballroom was
prepared for the dancing. Eric was dragged reluctantly away before another word
could be said.

Bliss fumed at the timing. She felt certain he’d been about
to declare his affections! Of course it was likely just wishful thinking that
the sequence of events could be somehow thwarted in favor of a more direct
approach!

While the gentlemen were off doing manly
things, the ladies refreshed themselves and discussed their dance cards in
hushed giggles. Cori soon arrived and asked Bliss if she might dance with
Maxwell for the first set instead. Bliss told her it would be fine. She said
she hoped to snag a different partner for the first set anyway.

Finally the bell signaling the beginning of the ball began
to ring in the distance. Bliss told Cori to stay to the middle of the ballroom
while dancing with Maxwell. Cori agreed and hurried off to tell him the news.

Unfortunately for Bliss, another young lady managed to get
Eric’s first set. A middle aged commander asked her to dance instead. Bliss
made it through all three of the first sets without once getting to dance with
Eric. Her frustration was palpable.

At the beginning of the fourth set, she found Maxwell
waiting for her near the edge of the ballroom near the western wall. He was
quite put out with her.

“You threw me to the wolves, Bliss,” he said in a low hiss
when they began the dance. His first set with her sister had been a strain on
everyone’s patience. Lady Cordelia Penwood was the only person in the realm who
was clumsier than Lord Maxwell Osterburg!

“Cori has to get practice somewhere. She’ll be debuting next
season, you know. And your mother will try to pair you not just with me but
also with Merryann and both of my younger sisters before this ball ends. She’s barely
excluding the twins. You may as well get comfortable dancing in public, friend,”
Bliss sighed.

She knew Maxwell wasn’t paying attention to his floor space.
Their turn at the quarter of the set was dangerously close to the wall. And the
wall was lined with tall candelabra.

“But you could have switched this set with her! She could
have started with Victor! He’s a much better dancer! I stepped on her slippers
a dozen times and handed her off to Lady Dunstone by mistake! She stepped on
the woman’s skirt and tore it nearly to the waistline! Your sister is likely
traumatized for life!” Maxwell complained.

Bliss shook her head and nodded toward the fourth couple
down the line of dancers. There Cori was dancing with a young, handsome cadet
in a fine navy uniform—quite against the rules of dancing only with family
members, while several others lingered near the edge watching her. Whenever she
stumbled they were all eager to catch her if she fell. No, Cori would certainly
never have trouble gaining attention.

Maxwell gave a grunt of frustration. Bliss tensed.

“Well, you know it wasn’t fair to do that to me! I haven’t
danced since last season when I nearly broke Lady Grissom’s foot! She could
have been seriously injured and ...” Maxwell had begun extolling the list of
grievances his dancing caused when he forgot to reverse their step on the
second count of four.

Bliss knew the exact moment when the back of her stiff
petticoat jostled the candelabra. Three lit candles fell down her back,
dripping hot wax and scorching the fabric until landing on the floor and igniting
her ruffle. The back side of her dress was instantly flaming.

Bliss couldn’t help but react, even though she expected the
pain. Her cries alerted Maxwell who immediately gasped and yelled for a footman
to fetch water. Penelope, who was seated near the same wall a few yards away in
the wallflower seating, jumped up to pull Eric away from the refreshment table
to see to Bliss.

Holding very still so as not to fan the flames, Bliss waited
until three footmen appeared with pitchers of quickly scooped punch and doused
the back of her dress. The ruined fabric continued to smolder and smoke while
Luxie and Ollie hurried to her side.

Eric shouted for a basin of chipped ice and water, several
towels and for a maid to have the cook begin drawing enough water for a
lukewarm bath. He scooped Bliss up into his arms without asking or caring about
the scene he was making and hurried to the stairs. Following them, Ollie asked
if he and Luxie should come, but instead Bliss answered cheerfully.

“No, Papa. You can come in fifteen minutes. I’ll introduce
you to my fiancé,” Bliss told him with a grin over Eric’s shoulder. Ollie stood
stock still on the first step as they continued up the stairs before him.

Eric, Bristol, April 1811

Eric did his best not to stumble
when he heard her declaration to Lord Penwood. But he couldn’t worry about it
while she might be in pain. He hurried into the sitting room on the second
floor. That was far enough away from the ball guests to give him room and
privacy to treat her wounds but near enough to protect the propriety of the
scene.

Shoving his coat off and rolling his sleeves, he began
looking at the damage to her back. A maid scurried up from the kitchen with the
basin of ice water and another girl followed with a stack of towels. They also
brought word about the bath.

Bliss told the maids that it was mostly her dress and a
little burn from the wax, nothing to worry about. She would prefer not to have
the bath now. Eric nodded to them in agreement as they left the room to let him
do his work.

Eric then began pulling the wax from the skin of her
shoulders and neck. Bliss hissed a few times when the wax seemed to pull out
the tiny fine hairs with it. Eric began unbuttoning the gown and pulling it
from her back.

He then unlaced her corset and checked beneath it to see if
any of the wax had somehow gotten beneath it. Finding none, he moved the gown
away quickly to reveal Bliss’s stockings. They were untouched. He breathed a
sigh of relief.

“I’ll put a cool compress where the wax reddened the skin. I
don’t think you’ll have blistering. It looks no worse than a mild sunburn. I
will summon the maids back and have them fetch you a nightgown.” Eric said in a
voice that didn’t hide his emotions.

He dipped a towel into the cold water and wrung it out
before draping it around her shoulders like a cloak. He paced around to look at
her.

“Are you not glad that I wasn’t burned?” Bliss asked him
quietly.

“Of course I am, Bliss. But,” he broke off and stared
wordlessly toward the floor.

“What’s wrong, Eric?”

“What’s wrong? You didn’t see this coming for one! And
second, I had no idea you were engaged!” Eric blurted out.

“I’m not engaged. At least not yet,” Bliss admitted
pointedly.

“But you told Lord Penwood ...” Eric began, but Bliss cut
him off.

“I just told him that so he wouldn’t worry and to make sure
he came to check on me after you determined that nothing was wrong,” she
explained.

“So you’re not engaged?”

“No, not yet.”

“Do you expect a proposal?” Eric looked at her intently.

“Any minute now,” Bliss replied.

“Who is it? Do I know him? Because Bliss, I have to tell you
something. I don’t think I can just let you go and marry anyone.

“Who will appreciate your beautiful and annoying gift? Who
will protect your secret and make sure you are well cared for and safe? Who
will love you like I do,” Eric demanded, suddenly losing all sense of
propriety.

Taking her carefully into his arms he began kissing her as
if she was the last breath of air in the world, as if he needed her to survive.
His hands were gentle and careful on her cheeks as he pressed his lips into her
surprised mouth and tasted her.

He kissed her the way he had the day she showed up in his
office, only this time there would be no confusion or chagrin when they
stopped. If anything he would beg for more. When he leaned away and looked at
her, he got an unexpected surprise.

“You love me? Oh, good! I wasn’t certain you actually felt
that way yet! I love you too. And you’re already to be congratulated! You’re
going to be knighted, did you know? The Regent just decided it. Took a while
for the message of your bravery and heroism to reach him, you see.” Eric was
flabbergasted.

The idea of his slight elevation didn’t keep the reality
away, though.

“But I’m not wealthy, Bliss. I’m just a surgeon. What would
I have to offer you? It would never work,” Eric said somberly.

He still held her face in his hands and longed to kiss her
again. The towel over her shoulders had drifted away and lay in a heap with her
ruined dress on the floor behind her. Eric couldn’t resist the urge to lean
over and kiss the birthmark on her shoulder.

Bliss began speaking, though her voice was crackling with
nervousness as she did.

“I know what you’re destined to do, Eric. You will be a very
sought after individual. You will revolutionize the treatment of children! Mothers
will insist that you are the doctor who treats their sons or daughters. You
will be a credit to any family.”

“But, I’m just a general surgeon. I’m not a doctor just for
children. That’s unheard of!”

“Well it doesn’t have to be children alone. But you will be
good with them. You understand them, and you make them feel better. And the
children you treat will love me too! I know it. And I’ll be a good mother to
our
children,” Bliss added on the end.

Eric looked up at her face in astonishment. Her demure smile
was enticing. He glanced down at her exposed cleavage, suddenly aware that
she’s not shying away from him. But then he remembered her warning.

“But you said I’d be married soon. You insisted I’d be found
in a compromising position. But as a doctor I’m allowed certain latitudes with
my female patients. Most often a maid is present. And I’ve done everything I
could to avoid being with any unattended female. I’ll avoid it if I can, but I
don’t want to hurt you, Bliss. Why are you shaking your head?” Eric asked
suddenly confused. Bliss sighed.

“You will marry me. You want to don’t you?” Her face tipped
up questioningly.

“Yes, I do! I love you! I probably have for years, but it
took you coming here and hitting me over the head to make me see it! But how
will it work? Your father will never allow ...” Eric stopped. He looked at her
with an intensity that burned brighter than a candle in the dark.

“Have you got there at last?” Bliss asked impatiently.

“We’re going to be discovered?”

“Not unless you get on with it,” she grumbled. Eric’s face
broke into a devilish grin.

His pulse began to race as he kissed her again, this time
putting his hands around her tender shoulders and beginning to unfasten the
loosened corset with dexterity only a doctor’s skilled hands could achieve. Her
hands moved up to his cravat untying it quickly before moving to the buttons on
his shirt front.

Eric pulled back slightly worried they were going too far. Bliss
pulled him back to her, soothing his fears with her soft words.

“Don’t worry, Eric. I know what I’m supposed to do right now.
But you’ll have to do all the work next time. My vision of the very first time
is still a bit fuzzy.” Bliss was blushing, and she never looked more beautiful.
Eric chuckled at her admission and kissed the side of her neck just as his
shirt was parted.

Bliss leaned in and pressed her barely concealed chest to
his and whispered, “I love you, Eric. And don’t forget to duck.”

“Duck? What?” Eric would have questioned further, but his
mouth was soon occupied and all worries and cares went out the window.

Penwood’s and Osterburg’s (plus
one), Bristol, April 1811

Ollie fretted below stairs for well
over twenty minutes. Most of the guests had gone back to their dancing when the
maids came back and said the damage was mostly to her dress and a little bit
like sunburn.

Ollie paced until Ozzie came by and asked Luxie to serve as
hostess in Penelope’s place for a little while. He was escorting her upstairs
to her salon.

“Penelope? Are you feeling unwell, dear?” Luxie asked in
concern.

“I’m only having a bit of indigestion. I’m sure once I let
my stomach settle, I’ll be back downstairs. Please make apologies for me if
anyone asks,” Penelope said, making a face and putting a hand to her abdomen.

“Ollie, would you come with me? We’ll get Penny settled and
go and see how Bliss is doing,” Ozzie told his best friend.

Ollie and Ozzie each took a side of Penelope and helped her
along. Her walk was slow, and she got winded a few times getting up the stairs.
Ozzie’s facial expression was serious by the time they’d reached the landing.

Helping Penelope into her salon, they told her they’d get
Dr. Benchley to come in and check on her. Without protesting, she nodded
absently as they turned to leave the room.

“I’m really worried about her, Ollie. She’s been declining
so much lately. Not been herself in over five months. I’m worried something’s
dreadfully wrong, and we can’t see it,” Ozzie said softly as they walked slowly
toward the sitting room door.

“What does Bliss think? Have you asked her?” Ollie asked
looking not in the least bit doubtful of his daughter’s ability.

Ozzie reached a hand out to open the door to the sitting
room before he could reply. Walking in just ahead of Ollie, Ozzie abruptly
turned back to shield his friend from what he quickly witnessed in the room. But
he was a second too late.

“What the devil? YOU! Unhand my daughter!” Ollie shouted as
he charged into the room like an angry bull and took a swing at Eric. Eric
ducked the blow easily and began trying to shield Bliss from her father’s anger.
Bliss, on the other hand, wasn’t afraid in the least.