Everything in him froze. She was wearing a frothy blue thing over a lacy white thing with her hair tumbling over her shoulders and back in a glorious dark cloud. His mouth went dry and the edges of his mind turned fuzzy. She was speaking but he didn’t hear the words. Finally, with a massive effort, he managed to croak, ‘Love … you shouldn’t be here.’
‘I know. But we need to talk.’
Talking was the last thing his body was thinking about – if, that was, it could be called thinking which clearly it couldn’t. He said, ‘Yes. But not here. Not now.’ And not with you wearing things that I could remove in an instant. He managed to replace the last bit with, ‘What did you want to say?’
‘Don’t resign. It won’t work and you may be sorry later. Also …’
She stopped so after a moment he prompted her. ‘Also what?’
‘You’re too good at this. It would be a waste.’
Since merely looking at her was destroying his self-control, the easiest course was to simply agree. ‘Very well. Is that all?’
‘No.’
It had been all when she’d left her room. But now she was here it seemed foolish to leave without suggesting the other thing … if only she could find the right words. To give herself a moment to think, she pulled the chamber robe closer around her and folded her arms across it beneath her breasts. She was concentrating too hard to notice that Adam had shut his eyes and was wearing an expression of something akin to pain.
Finally, drawing a deep breath and keeping her gaze fixed on his cravat, she said baldly, ‘I could stay.’
His eyes flew open. ‘What?’
‘I could stay. Here. With you. Tonight.’ She waited a moment and, when he didn’t speak, raised her eyes to his. ‘What do you think?’
Adam swallowed hard and waited for his brain to unscramble itself before the enthusiastic response generated elsewhere had him saying Yes, please. Finally he said, ‘Did we not already discuss this?’
‘We did. But … since I’m here … I wondered if you’d changed your mind.’
‘I haven’t. There can only be one first time – and I’d like our wedding night to be ours.’ He suspected that she had no idea how hard that had been to say. Then he wondered if this was the moment to confess the other reason he wouldn’t sleep with her yet. And without warning came the sudden notion of a compromise. It wasn’t what either of them wanted … and it wouldn’t be easy. But since it wouldn’t actually kill him even if it felt as if it might, he said slowly, ‘However, if you wanted to stay and literally just sleep with me --’
‘Yes.’ Her glow returned, along with her smile. ‘Yes. I’d like that.’
So would he – probably a bit too much. But that was his problem, not hers. He said, ‘You do understand what I’m suggesting, don’t you?’
‘Yes. And cuddling will do very well for now … though I suppose it means I’m going to have to wait a while to see you naked, doesn’t it?’
He managed a tiny laugh. ‘I’m afraid so. But we’re agreed?’
‘Yes.’ She reached up to kiss his jaw. ‘We are. Am I allowed to remove my robe?’
He nodded and stepped back from her, praying for restraint as she slipped the frothy thing from her shoulders and let it fall. Beneath it was a white lawn nightgown inset with strips of lace that skimmed the curves of bosom and hip. Adam forgot to breathe.
Camilla didn’t. She said, ‘Now you.’
Since thinking was beyond him, he did as he was told, quickly shedding both coat and vest. But when he’d pulled the shirt over his head and was about to draw her close … he found that she was holding him at bay with both hands, her eyes riveted on the bandage around his arm.
She said, ‘I forgot. I’m sorry. How could I forget?’
‘It’s of no consequence.’ And then, his mouth muffled against her hair as he reached past her to lock the door, ‘I told you I was saving it for something worthwhile. This is it.’
She made an odd little sound as their bodies met – for the first time without the impediments of corset and petticoats. Adam supposed she was enjoying the difference nearly as much as he was. With a chaste kiss on her brow, he murmured, ‘Into bed and under the covers with you, you hussy – before I forget myself.’
She laughed, did as he asked and watched him shed his shoes and stockings before joining her. Then, turning her on to her side and sliding an arm beneath her, he settled against her back and drew her close with his free arm.
‘Comfortable?’ he asked.
‘Yes.’ Her fingers closed over his. ‘Are you really going to sleep in your breeches?’
‘With the greatest possible reluctance, yes.’ He gave a small, wry laugh. ‘It’s a …necessary precaution.’
‘It seems a shame … but I suppose you know best.’
‘Those are words I never expected to hear. Can I have them in writing?’
‘Absolutely not.’ She snuggled back against him. ‘You’re so warm.’
‘That’s one way of describing it,’ muttered Adam.
She yawned and said drowsily, ‘This is nice. You feel lovely. I had no idea.’
‘You feel lovely, too.’ Unable to help himself, he placed a lingering kiss on her shoulder and said, ‘Go to sleep. I’ll wake you before the house starts to stir.’
‘Mm. I love you.’
‘And I, you. Goodnight.’
‘Goodnight.’
Camilla had drifted into slumber fairly quickly. With her body warm and enticing against his and the scent of her hair teasing his nose, Adam didn’t expect to sleep at all. So he told himself to enjoy what he had and not think about what he didn’t have because it would be his soon enough. And gradually, without realising it, he fell sound asleep.
He awoke in broad daylight to the sound of shouting, running feet and someone hammering on the door. Suddenly fully alert and aware of Camilla opening sleepy eyes beside him, he catapulted out of bed, dragged his robe on and called, ‘Yes? What is it?’
‘Oh, sir! You have to come. Something terrible’s happened!’
Camilla sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest. ‘What on earth --?’
Adam signalled her to stay quiet, opened the door some four inches and peered around it. Outside was a small crowd. Two of the housemaids, Thomas and, at the head of the party, Camilla’s maid. Adam began to get a seriously bad feeling. But before he could open his mouth, Martha wailed, ‘Oh thank goodness, sir! It’s Miss Millie – she’s vanished. Her bed’s not been slept in and we can’t find her anywhere!’
Behind him, Camilla made a small, choking sound.
‘Ah,’ said Adam, literally unable to think of anything else to say. He suspected that there wasn’t any way out of this but his brain still scurried around trying to find one. ‘Give me a moment to dress. Have … have you looked everywhere?’
Thomas and the housemaids assured him that they had.
Sounds from the bed attracted his attention. Instead of hiding under the covers overcome with embarrassment, Camilla was laughing herself silly and trying to muffle the sounds in a corner of the sheet. And the baleful scowl he sent her only succeeded in making her laugh harder. He was just concluding that he’d better contain the situation before somebody sent for the Militia when he became aware that Martha was staring past him, pointing at something on the floor.
Already knowing what it was, Adam realised the game was up even before the wretched maid exclaimed, ‘Miss Millie’s robe!’ And promptly clapped her hand over her mouth, looking mortified.
‘Quite,’ said Adam dryly … and opened the door wide so they could all see Miss Millie, drat her, flushed, bright-eyed and shoulders – one of them naked where her nightgown had slipped away – shaking with laughter. ‘There she is. Safe and sound. So perhaps you might all now go about your business?’
Thomas turned scarlet and swiftly averted his eyes; the housemaids dropped giggling curtsies; and Martha muttered, ‘Sorry. H-Hot water.’ And fled.
Adam shut the door and locked it again. Then, regarding the love of his life over folded arms, he stalked towards her saying ominously, ‘There will be no keeping this quiet. In half an hour or less, your uncle, your brother and Rainham will all know where you spent last night. And you think it’s funny?’
‘Yes. D-Don’t you?’
Actually, what he could only consider an insane part of him did … but one of them had to take this seriously and clearly it wasn’t going to be her. She just sat there, half-naked in his bed, pink-cheeked, happy and utterly irresistible. ‘I might – were it not that the three of them will be drawing lots for who hits me first.’
That stopped her laughing. ‘They’d better not.’
Adam raised a sardonically enquiring brow and said nothing.
Climbing unselfconsciously out of bed, Camilla discovered that one shoulder of her nightgown had become untied. Searching for the ribbons through clouds of tangled hair, she mumbled, ‘An extra pair of hands would be helpful.’
‘Mine wouldn’t. They’d be taking advantage. So I’ll stick to enjoying the view.’
Managing to tie the bow, she said, ‘I don’t care that they’ll know. But if necessary, we could always tell them that you didn’t … we haven’t … that I’m still --’
‘No,’ said Adam, aghast at the idea of just how much sniggering Rainham could do over that little nugget. ‘They’d never believe it. We’ll just have to let them draw their own conclusions … and be prepared to brazen it out.’
‘Excellent,’ said Camilla, advancing to pull his head down for a long, seductive kiss. ‘My plan exactly. Give me half an hour and you can escort me to breakfast.’
One look at the three faces already at the table told Adam everything he needed to know. Guy appeared mildly uncomfortable; Rainham might or might not be holding a grin in check; and Alveston laid down his knife looking frosty.
‘Good,’ said Camilla cheerfully, heading for the food. ‘I see you’ve all heard?’
‘We have heard something,’ agreed the earl frigidly. ‘Is it true?’
‘You mean, did Martha find my room empty and start screeching before engaging her brain for a moment? Yes. If you also mean, did she and three other servants discover me in Adam’s bed … again yes.’
‘I see.’ Alveston’s gaze travelled to Adam and stayed there. ‘And you? Have you nothing you would like to add?’
‘Not really. I think Camilla has covered everything quite neatly.’
Rainham choked on a piece of sausage. Guy thumped him helpfully on the back and continued watching the show.
Alveston rose. Adam squared his shoulders but kept his expression neutral.
Setting her plate down, Camilla said, ‘Let me be quite clear, Uncle. Adam is not at fault in any way. And I won’t have anyone,’ she sent a brief, hard glance around the table, ‘saying otherwise. We are betrothed and we will marry – soon, if we are given leave to go to London and start making arrangements.’
‘And you think that excuses this – this farce? If it gets out --’
‘It won’t,’ said Adam calmly. ‘If there is one thing I’ve learned during my time here, it is that the Dragon Hall servants are unswervingly loyal and utterly discreet – as is my own man, Finch. So the only way for last night to ‘get out’, as you put it, is through one of you – which I think we can all agree is extremely unlikely. Guy?’
Guy started. ‘Oh. Yes. Extremely unlikely.’
‘Thank you. Rainham?’
The viscount regarded him pityingly. ‘Now who’s being an ass?’
Adam shrugged. ‘Just checking. Does no one want to take a swing at me?’
‘Apparently not,’ said Alveston. ‘I shall see you in the library presently and we will speak of this privately.’ And he walked out.
Camilla sat down and shook out her napkin.
‘Well, that went better than expected. Have some breakfast, Adam. You shouldn’t face Uncle on an empty stomach.’
‘And you’ll need to keep your strength up,’ murmured Rainham. And grinned.
* * *
Although his interview with Lord Alveston was extremely chilly and by no means pleasant, Adam knew it could have been much worse.
As it was, his lordship mostly confined himself to expressions such as ‘very disappointed’ and ‘expected better of you’ … finally concluding with, ‘You’re a bloody fool. And so is Millie. Didn’t either of you have the sense to realise that if she was back where she should be by morning, no one need have been any the wiser?’
This, thought Adam, put an interesting complexion on Lord Alveston’s attitude. However, since ‘We fell asleep’ wasn’t going to cut much ice as an excuse, he merely said, ‘I know. And I’m very sorry about that.’
‘I daresay you are. But there’s to be no more of it – do you hear me?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘And?’ snapped Alveston.
‘And you have my word that it won’t happen again.’
‘It better not. And regardless of what you think, you’d better speak with --’ He stopped as the door opened on Coombes. ‘Well? What is it?’
‘An express courier has arrived with letters from London, my lord. Shall I --?’
‘Send him in. I’ll see him immediately.’ And to Adam, ‘As I was saying … work your charm on the servants. It shouldn’t be difficult. They already think you’re a hero.’
‘They don’t know the half of it,’ murmured Adam, not quite under his breath.
‘What was that?’
‘Nothing. Am I dismissed, sir?’
‘Yes. Go away and keep out of mischief.’
Coombes having gathered the servants together in the kitchen, Adam said simply, ‘Lord Alveston has told me to persuade you all to say nothing about what some of you witnessed this morning. I think it unnecessary because I don’t believe any one of you would ever say a single word to Miss Camilla’s discredit. So may I do all of us the favour of saving my breath?’
There was a chorus of agreement and a general feeling of pride. Then Thomas said, ‘Not just Miss Millie, sir. I reckon I speak for us all when I say there’s nobody here who’d speak harm of you either, Mr Brandon. Not after all you’ve done.’
This won a general murmur of agreement.
Feeling his neck grow hot, Adam said, ‘Thank you. You’re very kind and – and probably over-generous. But thank you.’ And he beat a hasty retreat.
He eventually tracked Camilla to the garden. The day was a rare one of cloudless blue sky and only the merest suggestion of a breeze. Accepting his arm and leaning her head against his shoulder, she said, ‘Uncle let you go quicker than I expected.’
‘Thankfully, something came from London and reprieved me.’
‘And before that? Did he make you feel you were back at school?’
‘Worse. It felt like my father telling me I’d let him down.’
She winced. ‘Oh. I’m sorry.’
‘But then he inadvertently made it plain that he was less angry about what we’d been doing than about letting ourselves get caught doing it.’
She laughed and shook her head. ‘Appearances are everything.’
‘So I gather. He also ordered me to talk to the staff – just in case.’
‘Totally unnecessary. But did you?’
‘No. I told them to take it as read.’ He hesitated and added, ‘They think I’m a hero.’
‘And so you are – in more ways than one.’ She hesitated for a moment and then said quietly, ‘I didn’t thank you.’
‘For what?’
‘For last night.’
‘Stop there, sweetheart. You have nothing to thank me for.’
‘I think I do.’
‘Not really. And the choice was mine.’ He glanced around to make sure they were alone and said rapidly, ‘I haven’t been totally honest about my reasons for – for waiting until we’re married. Everything I said was true … but there’s something I didn’t say.’
‘And you want to tell me now?’
‘Not want – should.’ He pushed aside a feeling of awkwardness and reminded himself that Camilla was the one lady in a million who wouldn’t be shocked by plain speaking. ‘I’m told that a woman’s first experience of sex isn’t entirely pleasurable; that, no matter how hard her partner tries to avoid it, there is inevitably some pain involved.’
‘Yes,’ agreed Camilla prosaically. ‘It hurts. I know that. But only the first time.’ Unexpected laughter lit her eyes. ‘If it was like that every time, there would be fewer children in the world, wouldn’t there?’
‘Very possibly. But my point is that we can’t embark on an ongoing affair here – so there wouldn’t have been a second time until after the wedding. And I didn’t want that for either of us. It wouldn’t have been … helpful.’
‘No. I suppose not – though I hadn’t thought of it that way.’ She sighed. ‘Ought I to thank you for that as well?’
‘Not for that or anything else.’ He leaned over to steal a quick kiss. ‘On the other hand, if you wanted to reward my nobility in due course, I wouldn’t say no.’
She blushed faintly but said, ‘I’ll look forward to doing so.’
‘Not nearly as much as I will.’ He lowered his voice and added, ‘You won’t mind me starting at your toes and taking an hour or so to kiss my way up, will you?’
‘N-Not at all,’ she managed. ‘I always say that one can never be too thorough.’
‘My thoughts exactly. Or rather, one of them.’ Adam was tempted to find out if he could shock her but was forced to postpone doing so when he saw Lord Alveston striding towards them. ‘Has something happened, sir?’
‘Yes,’ snapped the earl. ‘I am bidden to take Mrs Blane to the Intelligence Office as soon as possible. Quite aside from other considerations, this means I must break the news to her family and discover if her personal maid is prepared to accompany her. Then, if she is not, I have to find a suitable replacement since, regardless of her guilt, it is out of the question for Mrs Blane to travel without a female companion. As for the question of where to house her in London, I would hope Sir Oswald is even now making suitable provision but doubt that it has yet crossed his mind.’
Aware that these complaints had more to do with Alveston’s plans being upset than with travel arrangements and trying not to hope for too much on Adam’s and her own account, Camilla said carefully, ‘What a nuisance. Is there anything we can do to help?’
‘Very little. And don’t pretend you’re not delighted, Millie. This gives the two of you what you’ve been asking for.’
Her fingers tightened on Adam’s sleeve. ‘It does?’
‘Yes. If I’m to be in London, then so must you be,’ said his lordship irritably. ‘But here is how it is going to be. The courier will take my reply to Sir Oswald. He will also deliver letters telling your grandmother to expect you, and another, instructing my butler at Alveston House to prepare rooms for Adam.’
‘Thank you, sir.’
‘Don’t thank me, you young fool. I’m not finished. You may take my carriage and leave as soon as you’re ready. You,’ he stabbed a finger in Camilla’s direction, ‘will travel with your maid, have her share your room on the journey and go directly to Mount Street. You,’ another stab, this time at Adam, ‘will ride back on Hector and go directly to Berkeley Square. Between leaving here and arriving there, there will be no nocturnal wanderings in either direction. Do I make myself clear?’
‘Yes, Uncle Hugh,’ said Camilla.
‘Abundantly clear,’ said Adam.
‘Good. Once in London, the pair of you may break the glad tidings to Lady Martindale and instruct her to start planning some sort of betrothal celebration. My secretary, Mr Worth, will put a notice of your betrothal in the Morning Post and have the first of the banns read at St. George’s. You should also write to your family, Adam, inviting them to join you at Alveston House as soon as it may be convenient. I,’ he concluded, ‘shall be but a few days behind you. Any questions?’
‘No, sir,’ said Adam. ‘As always, you’ve thought of everything.’
Alveston sent him a caustic look and said nothing. Camilla stood on tiptoe to kiss the earl’s cheek whispering, ‘Thank you, Uncle Hugh. We’ll follow orders, I promise.’
‘See that you do,’ he growled whilst simultaneously giving her a quick hug. And then, setting her aside, ‘One other thing, Adam. You’ve had Hector this last month and from what I’ve seen, you and he have formed a bond … so you’d better keep him.’
Adam blinked. ‘I … sir, that is extraordinarily generous of you.’
‘I know. We’ll call him a betrothal gift. You can thank me by behaving yourself between now and the wedding and making Millie a good husband after it.’
‘You have my word on both, sir. I’ll do everything I can to make her happy – always.’
‘Well, if you’d take a bullet for her there can’t be much you won’t do.’ Alveston held out his hand and when Adam took it, added, ‘Since I haven’t yet done so, I suppose I’d better give you my blessing. Welcome to the family, young man.’