Prudence (25 page)

The hawk-look appeared, and he eyed her bodingly. ‘Do you wish to know what I’m going to do to you, if you persist in calling me “Mr Rookham”?’

‘Oh, dear, did I do so?’ asked Prue guiltily. ‘I dare say it may take me a little time to accustom myself to the change.’

‘Accustom yourself fast, or it will be the worse for you!’

As he chose to kiss her again upon the words, Prue was unable to reply suitably to this unfair command. Besides, the kiss was most enjoyable, and she was obliged to keep Folly secure with one hand. And then her attention was distracted, for as Julius spoke of an
immediate wedding, Prue bethought her of the housekeeper.

‘Oh, dear, Mrs Polmont! She will be more than ever disposed to scold me!’

A grim look settled in Julius’s face. ‘You need not trouble your head about Polmont, my sweet.’

Prue turned in the seat and caught at his arm. ‘Julius, you don’t understand. She will be as mad as fire and say that I have entrapped you.’

‘I think not.’

There was an inflexible look in his face, the steel in his eyes pronounced. Consternation engulfed Prue, and she laid tense hands upon the ball of fur in her lap.

‘What do you mean to do? Julius, I cannot be the cause of her losing her employment.’

‘You are not the cause. She has dug her own grave.’

‘But—’

‘Hush, Prue,’ he urged, catching one of her hands up into his. ‘You will have nothing with which to reproach yourself. Do you suppose me to be so unjust? I cannot allow her to stay, but she has given long service in my family. Therefore I will not dismiss her, but instead pension her off.’

Prue’s face lit. ‘Oh, yes, that will be an admirable solution.’ Then a dreadful thought occurred to her. ‘But who will do the housekeeping for you?’

Julius grinned, tightening his hold about her. ‘Once I have a wife, I will have no need for a housekeeper.’

Aghast, Prue gazed at him. ‘But I know nothing of housekeeping!’

‘Then you will learn.’

‘Julius, pray don’t rely upon me,’ begged Prue desperately. ‘You know I shall only make a goose of myself.’

A teasing look crept into his eyes, and his lips quirked. ‘On second thoughts, perhaps it is not such an excellent notion. I should hate to find myself reduced to eating a diet of vegetables, only because you cannot bring yourself to order the execution of a pig or a chicken.’

Prue bubbled over. ‘I am not quite such a goose, sir.’

He laughed, and brought her fingers to his lips. ‘Don’t trouble your head over it. Wincle is fully capable of continuing her duties without supervision. As for the rest, with Polmont gone, I am sure you will find the entirety of the staff more than willing to assist you to learn your way about.’

She relaxed again, her fingers absently seeking for the kitten. ‘And may I keep Folly?’

‘You may do just as you please, my far-from-prudent love. With one notable exception.’

Prue looked at him anxiously, for his expression had turned serious. ‘What is that, sir?’

He caressed her cheek. ‘You must promise me faithfully never to risk your life in any more daring rescues.’

‘I shall do my best, Julius, but I cannot possibly promise.’

Julius groaned. ‘Then I foresee a future dogged by frantic attempts to keep you firmly under my eye.’ A gleam entered the steel eyes. ‘Which brings to mind the matter of the horribly long and tedious days before we can be married. Since you obviously can’t be trusted even at night, I fail to see how I am to quiet my conscience unless—’

‘You propose to sleep in my room again?’

His mouth hovered over hers. ‘Preferably not in that excessively uncomfortable chair.’

The implication sent a sliver of heat racing through Prue’s veins. She swallowed with difficulty, and her voice was a trifle hoarse.

‘Well, if you do not mind sharing with Folly…’

A soft laugh floated between them. ‘Since he was instrumental in bringing us together, I suppose I must bear with it.’

But the kitten, apparently recognising that there were moments when his presence could well be dispensed with, obligingly jumped off Prue’s lap. And since she was wholly occupied in answering the intense fire in the lips of her betrothed, Prue quite failed to notice his temporary absence.