Ben folded the letter he’d received from Charlotte’s brother that afternoon and dropped it on the side table as he began to prepare for bed. Mr. Davis, his man of business, had composed a letter on Ben’s behalf last week, while he had been focused on courting Eve, requesting Ben be allowed to pay the Tanneys’ rent before they were evicted. Ben had already written twice since his return to England with similar offers, and her brother politely declined each time.
When Ben learned Charlotte’s brother was on the verge of losing the bakery in Eton and that Robert Tanney and Charlotte’s mother might be evicted, he’d wanted to help. If he and Charlotte had successfully eloped as they’d planned, the Tanneys would be his kin, and he wouldn’t allow any of his family to go without their basic needs being met. In fact, he preferred the Tanneys do more than just survive. He wanted to see them enjoy a certain level of comfort he could easily provide.
Since he hadn’t been able to purchase the building from Wellham like he’d wanted, he thought perhaps an appeal from a stranger would make it easier for Robert to save his pride and accept help. Unfortunately, Ben’s man of business hadn’t been any more successful than he had.
Robert had returned the banknote with a strongly worded refusal. With all due respect, Mr. Hillary’s assistance is neither wanted nor required. Ben could hear the disdain in the man’s letter. It had the same scornful tone Charlotte’s father had used when Ben tried to pay his respects at their home after her death.
A soft knock sounded at the doors between his and Eve’s chambers. He turned with an expectant smile as his wife entered in her night rail. It was a sweet cotton ensemble with a high collar and lacy ruffles made for sleeping rather than seduction. “Come to say good night, love?” he asked. He expected he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep any time soon since he would be wrestling with what to do about Charlotte’s family now. He was pleased Eve had agreed to sleep in separate chambers.
She approached and lifted to her toes to kiss him. Her hands rested lightly on his shoulders as her lips pressed to his. Her mouth was moist, warm, and inviting. He encircled her waist and held her close when she would have pulled away. Deepening the kiss, he teased her lips with the tip of his tongue. She eagerly opened to him, entwining her arms around his neck and pressing her body against his. He delighted in her sweet sighs and the shivers running down his back where she played with the hair brushing the collar of his dressing gown. When he pulled away, they both were slightly breathless.
“Stay with me?” he whispered.
A dazzling smile swept across her full lips. “That is why I am here, dear husband.” She dropped her arms from around his neck and eased from his embrace. Tossing another flirtatious smile over her shoulder, she moved toward the bed. She kicked off her slippers, climbed under the covers, and leaned against the pillows. Her chin lifted in challenge. “I am staying the night with you. The whole night, as in sleeping in your bed.”
His body tensed. That wasn’t his meaning, and she knew it. “We already had this discussion. For now, it is best for you to sleep in your chambers, and I will sleep in mine. There is no sense in you losing sleep too.”
“No, you had this conversation while I listened. It is my turn to talk. While you might think you are showing me a kindness, in reality you are creating distance between us. I realize you don’t see it yet, but I do. Amelia advised me to be patient and persistent, so I—”
“God’s blood, Eve! Don’t tell me you spoke with Amelia and Lisette about this.” His brothers would give him hell once they heard he’d suggested separate bedchambers. He drove his shaky fingers through his hair and stormed to the other side of the room to put distance between them. “I cannot believe you would humiliate me that way.”
“If it is any comfort, I humiliated myself too.” When he turned to argue, he expected to find her glowering or at least with her hands on her hips, but she wasn’t. Her head was tilted at a contemplative angle, as if trying to sort him out. “I didn’t intend to embarrass either of us,” she said in a small voice. “I only wanted to talk with someone, and I didn’t know where else to go.”
Splendid. He’d brought this on himself. And now he wouldn’t be able to look Daniel or Jake in the eye. “If you wanted to talk, you could have come to me.”
“Could I? I get the sense you would prefer I not.”
He sighed in exasperation toward the ceiling. He didn’t have the wherewithal to reason with her. “Tomorrow,” he said, looking at her. “We will discuss it tomorrow. Is that acceptable?”
“Yes, tomorrow sounds reasonable.” Lifting the covers, she wiggled down in the bed until her head was on the pillow and the counterpane reached her neck.
“What are you doing?”
“Going to sleep.” She closed her eyes with a self-satisfied smile.
His tension doubled. He approached, tossing his hands in the air for emphasis. “You are in my bed.”
She opened one eye. “We will discuss it tomorrow, remember?”
“Eve.”
She yawned, loudly. “Excuse me, but I’m done in to a cow’s thumb. Forgive me if I am asleep before you crawl in.”
She closed her eyes while Ben stood beside the bed, befuddled. When had his sweet, amenable wife become so tenacious?
As he stood there waiting for her to respond to his hovering, her chest began to rise and fall with steady regularity. Her face took on a soft innocence that chipped at his frustration. She was asleep already. And she looked so warm and inviting. Longing tugged at his heart. If he couldn’t sleep, he supposed he could retreat to his study below stairs or her chambers where he wouldn’t disturb her. Would he ever be able to maintain his resolve when it came to her?
Making a decision, he ripped off his dressing gown and climbed under the covers, turning on his side facing away from her. It wasn’t well done of him, but he was annoyed with himself for giving in so easily. She rolled toward him to fit her smaller frame to his and snaked her hand under his arm to rest it on his chest.
“I am still in a temper,” he lied, not even feeling as irritated with himself anymore now that her comforting softness was pressed against him.
“I know,” she murmured. “I’m sorry.”
Her answer made him smile. She wasn’t sorry to have him wrapped around her finger. No more sorry than he was to be driven to please her. Raising her hand to his lips, he placed a kiss on her warm fingers. “Good night, Kitten.”
Then, to his surprise, oblivion was claiming him as well.
* * *
Eve was jerked out of sleep by a gut-wrenching keen. She bolted upright in bed, her heart battering her ribs. Ben thrashed beside her. The sound was coming from him.
“Ben, wake up.” She grabbed his shoulder and tried to shake him awake, but he remained lost in his dreams. “Wake up, love. You are dreaming.”
His wail quieted to an occasional whimper that tore her heart to pieces.
She smoothed the hair from his damp forehead as tears sprang to her eyes. “It’s all right, my love. It is only a dream.” The mournful sound eventually died away, but he remained restless. Stretching out beside him, she continued to whisper soothing words and doling out caresses until he began to settle. His dream didn’t wake him as it had on their wedding night, and he didn’t call out this time, but she couldn’t help wondering if he dreamed about Charlotte again.
Even after his breathing returned to normal and he rested peacefully, she stroked his head and placed loving kisses at his temple. “I love you,” she whispered. “So very much.”
She couldn’t bear knowing he suffered in any way. She would carry the burden for him if it were possible rather than endure the sense of helplessness she experienced.
He was lying on his back, and she snuggled against his chest, placing his arm around her. Her hand splayed over his heart to feel its steady, robust rhythm. She could feel the strength of his heartbeat and the firmness of his chest beneath her cheek. Her husband was a strong man, built of brawn, but there was a vulnerability to him she hadn’t suspected. And she loved him more than ever in that moment.
Perhaps these nightmares were the true reason he left her bed at night, but why would he feel he had to keep this locked away and hidden?
Whatever his motive, she wouldn’t mention tonight’s incident. She was afraid if he knew, he would use it as an excuse to push her away, and truth be told, she couldn’t stand any more distance between them. His self-imposed exile to India had been brutal for Eve, but nothing was lonelier than having the man she loved within arm’s length and still being unable to reach the place of exile in his mind.
Early morning light had begun to filter through the sheer curtains at the window before she fell asleep again. It seemed only moments had passed when Ben gently jostled her awake, but the room was aglow. She squinted against the brightness. “What time is it?” She sounded like an old toad.
Ben smiled and kissed her cheek. She caught a whiff of tooth powder on his breath. “It’s early still,” he said, “but I did not want to leave without saying good-bye.”
She groaned, rolled on her side, and pulled the covers over her head. Another long day at home dragged out before her.
He chuckled and patted her bottom. “I won’t be going far—only to my study. I am interviewing footmen, and then I have an appointment. This afternoon we will take a trip to the docks so you can see where we will be living for the next few months.”
Eve tossed the covers aside in her excitement. “Ben, why didn’t you say something last night? Alice will be in a dither if she hasn’t enough time to make everything perfect. She says it is a reflection on her.”
She scrambled from bed and swept toward her chambers to ring for her maid.
“You may extend my apologies to Alice,” he called after her. “Tell her to choose something sensible, for it is likely to get dirty at the docks.”
She paused at the adjoining doors and aimed a cheeky grin at him. “A small tip about women, my love. Telling them what to do is an exercise in futility.”
“Yes, I have firsthand knowledge,” he drawled. It was nice to see his good humor had returned this morning. He gave her a little wave, and she disappeared into her chambers.
After having breakfast in her chambers and attending to her correspondence, Eve decided to wait for Ben in the library below stairs.
Dobbins exited Ben’s study as she reached the ground floor. “Mr. Hillary will see you now,” he said.
She startled at his formal manner until she realized a man was standing in the foyer. Curious, she took his measure as he crossed to Ben’s study. The man was certainly tall enough to be a footman—over six feet—but he was willowy like a woman, although his weathered face was far from feminine. How odd that a man his age would answer the advertisement for a fourth footman. Surely if he had been in service long, he would have been promoted. He disappeared into the study.
“Dobbins, is that man here for the footman position?”
“No, ma’am. Mr. Gilroy is from Bow Street.” Her shock must have shown on her face, because the butler rushed to explain. “There is not a problem. Mr. Hillary is hiring him to look into a matter for him. That is all.”
Ben was hiring an investigator from Bow Street? “What matter would that be, Dobbins?”
The servant’s craggy face blazed red. “I am afraid I cannot say, ma’am. Mr. Hillary does not make me privy to his business.”
“Of course, I was not thinking.” She offered an apologetic smile. She hadn’t meant to make Dobbins feel uncomfortable. “Please inform my husband that I am waiting for him in the library once his meetings are finished.”
She could think of only one reason Ben was hiring an investigator. He was looking into matters with Jonathan as she’d requested. Her step was livelier as she retired to the library. Despite her husband’s protests that they mind their own affairs, he thought there was something strange about Jonathan too. Well, she could rest easier knowing everything was in his hands now.