Midnight Bride (36 page)

"Louisa? George, Elizabeth can twist Louisa around her finger without even trying," Charles said, giving his words less of a sting by giving his cousin a hug and a kiss. "Louisa is simply too sweet."

"My dear?"
Lord
Ramsburg
looked at his wife.

Before she could answer, Dunstan stood up, his pale face determined. "Let me."

"In her bedroom.
Never!"
Louisa said firmly. "We would never keep it from the servants. Then think what a scandal there would be."

Dunstan exchanged glances with Lord and Lady
Ramsburg
. "It may be the only way," he explained. "We have to do something soon. Lord Edgerton arrived in town this morning. According to the officers of the Tenth, he is delighted by the situation. And some of his remarks go well beyond anything that has been said before." The others, except Charles, who had already heard what was being said and had had to be forcibly restrained, gasped. "Before long, the only course open may be a duel. And none of us want that." The others nodded.

"But it seems so underhanded," Charles complained. "Once she has been alone with you this evening, she can't refuse you."

"She has before. If I can persuade her, is there a clergyman nearby who will perform the service? I still have that license we bought in London, Charles." After a quick consultation Lady
Ramsburg
nodded. "What are our plans if she refuses again?"

"I have a plantation in the West Indies. We could send her there. I will send someone to Bristol to ask about ships." Lord
Ramsburg
turned back to Louisa, regret in his eyes. "I know that this is not what you like, but will you go with her if it comes to this?"

"Of course," she said sturdily, trying to hide her despair. "If Elizabeth needs me, I will accompany her to the North Pole if necessary."

"I am afraid the climate is not quite that cool in the West Indies," Lord
Ramsburg
said gently. "Thank you."

"I can try to persuade her," Charles said, still uncertain of their plan.

"Like you did me?" Dunstan asked, rubbing his jaw. Now that there was something he could do, his spirits were rebounding.

"No. But she might listen to me." No matter how hard he tried to persuade them, everyone else agreed with Dunstan.

"Good luck, dear boy," Louisa said as he stood up. Lady
Ramsburg
clasped Dunstan's hand for a moment while Lord
Ramsburg
pounded him on the back. Unspoken between the four oldest people in the room was the knowledge that Dunstan was to use any means he could to persuade Elizabeth. Dunstan took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders, and faced the door. Before his resolve was gone or his nerve disappeared, he walked quickly up the stairs.

When Miller opened the door a short time later, her eyes widened.
Dunstan held the door open wider and motioned her to leave. For a moment he thought she might refuse. With a quick look over her shoulder, the maid started through the door. Her eyes seemed to promise retribution if he harmed her mistress.

"Louisa, would you mind if we left for the manor tomorrow?" Elizabeth
asked,
her back to the door as she sorted letters and invitations at her desk. "Louisa?" She put down the bunch she had in her hand and turned. "Dunstan!" She took a step or two backward and pulled her wrapper closer around her. Feeling the desk behind her, she turned her back, trembling slightly.

He crossed the room slowly, feeling like an intruder. One trunk, its lid open, blocked his passage. Quickly he moved it out of his way, watching as Elizabeth reacted to the sound. Still she kept her back to him. When at last he was behind her, he stood only inches away, letting her feel his presence. Nowhere did he touch her. "Elizabeth, you cannot run from this forever. We must talk."

"Talk?
I let you talk me into seeing you again, and look at what happened." She started to turn around, but felt him behind her. She huddled closer to the desk.

"Let us not lie to each other, Elizabeth," he said as calmly as he could. "The reason we are in this situation now is that someone saw me leaving your room that morning."

"As you told me they would. What did you do, pay them to watch?" This time even his presence did not keep her near him. She pulled away, crossing to stand beside the chaise. She closed her eyes and sank down. "Dunstan, I did not mean that." She sighed and wiped a tear from her eye.

"I know, my dearest."

"Your dearest?
Most likely only your latest."
In the days she had been in her room, Elizabeth had had much time to think and to let her imagination run rampant.

"Elizabeth!" Dunstan reached out and picked her up. "I expected more of you than that." As he emphasized his words, he gave her a little shake. "You know that is a lie."

For a moment she glared at him, daring him to release her. When he did, she sank back to the chaise, her head in her hands. "I know. Damn and blast! Dunstan, why is this happening to us? What have we done?"

Wanting to take her in his arms, Dunstan resisted the urge, fearing it might be too soon. He sat beside her on the chaise and picked up her hand, lacing his fingers with hers as he had often done in the garden. Letting the silence flow around them, he sat quietly, only his hand and his body
beside
her reminding her of his presence.

When she was as calm as she could be, Elizabeth turned her head to stare at him. Her fingers tightened on his. "Why do things like this have to happen?" she asked plaintively. Again only the silence answered her. His fingers answered hers. "Does Mama know you are here?" she asked
curi
ously
, for the first time realizing how strange the situation was.

"Yes." He resisted the urge to kiss her lips as they made an
O.
"She is worried about you. We all are."

"Everyone but the
ton,
I imagine. Once again I am the center of their conversation." Pulling her hand free, she crossed to the window to look out into the darkness where she knew the garden lay.

"But this time you are not alone." Dunstan followed her, once again standing only inches away from her. "Society has decided that we are both to blame." He laughed ruefully.

"But they will accept you. You are a man. Such things are accepted from men." He watched as her shoulders slumped.

"No. You are wrong there. Today I received a letter from my superior." He felt her start. "Yes, even in London they are talking about us. I have been informed that I am now on a leave of absence and only to return when the situation has been resolved and society has forgotten. By spring, he hopes."

She turned around and put her hands on his shoulders, her face sad. "I am sorry," she whispered as she saw the pain in his eyes. He leaned forward until their foreheads touched, taking comfort from her nearness. For a few minutes they stayed that way. Then she pulled away again, pausing by the trunk to run her hand over its curved, brass-bound lid. "They will forget," she said in as calm a voice as she could manage.

"Not completely. Now I am known as a rake.
Me a rake.
Blast it, Elizabeth. I lived a comfortable, well-ordered life until you appeared in it.
If you had only come home a day later."
He ran his hand through his hair.

"So now I am the one who caused the problem?" Elizabeth's eyes flashed with fury. "May I remind you that I was in my own bed,
sir!
" She stamped her
foot,
much like her stepmother was fond of doing. "Why do men always blame women?" she asked, throwing her hands up into the air.

"I am not blaming you, you termagant. I simply said that you have complicated my life." Dunstan tried unsuccessfully to get closer to her, but she pulled away and stormed across the room. "But I like complications," he added soothingly.

"Then you should enjoy this," Elizabeth said, tossing her head and sending all her curls bobbing. The wrapper, only loosely tied around her, was creeping open, giving Dunstan teasing glimpses of her breasts and legs.

"Elizabeth, stop trying to twist my words."

"That is another thing. Who gave you permission to call me Elizabeth? No wonder people are talking when you are so familiar."

"Familiar. My dear, have you forgotten what we have shared. I could be much more familiar if I wanted. I wonder if the officers you flirted with so assiduously would enjoy knowing what you look like in the morning.
Your breasts rosy and peeking through the thin lawn of your
nightrobe
.
Your waist so small above your rounded hips.
Your scent, the smoothness of your skin."

"Be quiet. Be quiet," she shouted, angry that he should destroy such a beautiful memory. "You are no gentleman."

"Oh, but I am, my dear."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked suspiciously, tears of anger still pooling in her eyes.

"If I were not a gentleman, I would have dragged you to a clergyman the morning I awakened in your bed. Then this would never have happened. Instead I listened to you." He reached out with a long arm and dragged her over to him. "Come here." When she was close enough, he pulled her into his arms and sank down on the chaise. "Now be quiet." He ensured her compliance by kissing her, softly at first. Then his tongue began to tease her lips, urging them to open.

Her eyes fluttered shut. She sighed, giving him just the opening he had been hoping for. His kiss deepened as it had that evening in the garden. His tongue tangled with hers, sending flashes of fire along her spine. Startled, she tried to pull away. One hand on his chest slid inside the shirt placket to the warm skin beneath. "Robert," she whispered, pulling him closer, her arm around his neck.

He pushed her back into the chaise, letting his body hold her in place. While his tongue invaded her lips, one hand sought and found her breasts. Gently he ran his thumb over a nipple, feeling it harden in his hand. Elizabeth twisted restlessly beneath him. "Ah, sweet," he breathed as he kissed her again. This time it was her tongue caressing his lips. "Yes, love, yes." He reached up to push her wrapper from her shoulders, to free her so that he could enjoy her more completely.

By this time, Elizabeth was no longer thinking, only feeling. His lips, his hands ignited flames within her, flames she ached to have put out. She twisted restlessly beneath him. Her hands found his waist and pulled his shirt free, wanting to be closer to him. Dunstan pushed one knee between her legs, letting her feel his weight. He reached up to take his shirt off, but it caught. He sat up, impatient to be free. He stood up and almost fell into the open trunk where he had pushed it to the foot of the chaise. The incident had a sobering effect.