Judith McNaught Quote

I suppose we ought to go back, she said when several minutes had passed, and his silence became unsettling.In answer Ian tipped his head back and closed his eyes, looking like a man in the throes of some deep, internal battle. Why? he said, still in that odd posture.Because there’s nowhere else to walk, she answered, stating the obvious.We did not come out tonight to walk, he said flatly.Elizabeth’s sense of security began to disintegrate. We didn’t?You know we didn’t.Then-then why we here? she asked.Because we wanted to be alone together.Horrified at the possibility that he’d somehow known what thoughts had been running through her mind at supper, she said uneasily, Why should you think I want to be alone with you?He turned his head toward her, and his relentless gaze locked with hers. Come here and I’ll show you why.Her entire body began to vibrate with a mixture of shock, desire, and fear, but somehow her mind remained in control. It was one thing to want to be kissed by him at the cottage where the vicar was nearby, but here, with absolute privacy and nothing to prevent him from taking all sorts of liberties, it was another matter entirely. Far more dangerous. More frightening. And based on her behavior in England, she couldn’t even blame him for thinking she’d be willing now. Struggling desperately to ignore the sensual pull he was exerting on her, Elizabeth drew a long, shaky breath. Mr. Thornton, she began quietly.My name is Ian, he interrupted. Considering our long acquaintance-not to mention what has transpired between us-don’t you think it’s a little ridiculous to call me Mr. Thornton?Ignoring his tone, Elizabeth tried to keep hers nonjudgmental and continue her explanation. I used to blame you entirely for what happened that weekend we were together, she began softly. But I’ve come to see things more clearly. She paused in that valiant speech to swallow and then plunged in again. The truth is that my actions that first night, when we met in the garden and I asked you to dance with me, were foolish-no, shameless. Elizabeth stopped, knowing that she could partly exonerate herself by explaining to him that she’d only done all that so her friends wouldn’t lose their wagers, but he would undoubtedly find that degrading and insulting, and she wanted very much to soothe matters between them, not make them much, much worse. And so she said haltingly, Every other time we were alone together after that I behaved like a shameless wanton. I can’t completely blame you for thinking that’s exactly what I was.His voice was heavy with irony. Is that what I thought, Elizabeth?His deep voice saying her name in the darkness made her senses jolt almost as much as the odd way he was looking at her across the distance that separated them. Wh-what else you have thought?Shoving his hands into his pockets, he turned fully toward her. I thought, he gritted, you were not only beautiful but intoxicatingly innocent. If I’d believed when we were standing in the garden that you realized what the hell you were asking for when you flirted with a man of my years and reputation, I’d have taken you up on your offer, and we’d both have missed the dancing.Elizabeth gaped at him. I don’t believe you.What don’t you believe-that I wanted to drag you behind the hedges then and there and make you melt in my arms? Or that I had scruples enough to ignore that ignoble impulse?