The Seduction of a Spinster

Sneezing in a Study

Victoria Hasting sneezed for the fifth time. Why was it that whenever she sneezed they came in bouts of 10? The dust from the heavy leather tome puffed up gracefully into the warm library air and tickled her nostrils. She scrunched her nose and waited for the inevitable.

**achoo**

There went number six. Luckily the din from the ballroom down the long ornate hallway concealed her position well. There was really no need for Lady Summerton to have that many cellists or such a large number of beeswax candles that sufficed to swelter and deafen her guests at the same time; but her parties had to be the talk of the season and despite the heat- they usually were.

It surely could not help the heat that most of the women were wearing yards of material and then decorated it with yards more lace. Victoria considered her simple yellow empire waisted muslin dress to be quite pretty but it was most certainly not 'de rigour' for the ton with all its flounces and fripperies. And even though to her own mind she sounded bitter and disapproving, a part of her still loved watching the assembly halls, the opera and the ballrooms. She adored the courtship and the manners and the way in which a gentleman would ask a lady to dance. From her position by the wall she would gaze at how gentle feminine fingers would rest lightly on the hand of those more masculine. There were delicious soft giggles and a certain male protectiveness in this world of hers and though she found the ton's scorn irreparable she loved them in spite of it.

And yet, there were only so many nights she could stand at the corners of the ballroom munching on cake crumbs and sipping tepid punch. Victoria was but a few years into what she termed her 'exile' when she realised that a 'fallen' woman could slip away to darkened corners much more easily than a maiden. It seemed quite logical that once they believed you had been dragged through the mud, they didn't much care if you stayed there. And so she began to find quiet rooms and pathways at each party to think and read and ponder. She learned to speak three languages and studied both the stars and botanical anatomy over the years. Not privy to a large family library of her own, she often found herself exploring those that were better stocked. Her aunt and uncle whom she adored, had taken her into their small home when her parents had passed away when she was just eight. They may not have been poor but they were not among the noble elite and her continued sufferance at such gatherings as Lady Summerton's ball was largely due to her older sister, Bethany's marriage to the Marquis of Kent shortly before they traipsed off to Paris together leaving her more alone than ever.

Escaping to the gardens had seemed like the thing to do when the heat and the usual company had become too stifling, except it soon became apparent that a number of rather amorous couples had done the same thing - and that was definitely something Victoria wanted no part of. It may have been three years ago but the ton had long memories... and so did she. It was a night such as this when the ballroom was warm and the night outside beckoned....and there was a man; there is always a man in such tales. He was not as he seemed- they never are, and in a few moments her reputation and her future were dashed. It was, in her opinion, a lot of fuss over nothing- over less than nothing. How else could anyone see it as such? How could they not trust her? -she had often asked herself. But trust was not the hallmark of the English and perhaps if she learnt that a tad earlier she would not be stationed under a behemoth desk now.

Andrew had been her childhood friend, a brother even and there was no scenario in which she could have foreseen him leading her down a garden path and trying to take from her something she was most unwilling to give. His hands had held hers a million times before and yet in some small crevice of her mind she knew that day it was different. She knew that the hands that taught her to ride a bike one afternoon in the country were no longer a boys, but a man's ... a man with an agenda. And yes, he kissed her and crushed her then slight body between his and the uncomfortable latticed gazebo wall- but that was where it ended.