He followed her, capturing her hand when it already lay on the cupboard door.She turned to face him, and he bowed over her hand to kiss it gently, to inhale the scent of her skin.When he straightened, their eyes met, and just for an instant, she looked frightened.
And then she opened the door and was gone, stepping through her own cupboard.He closed the partition by pushing the same knob inward and carefully shut the cupboard on his side.
His heart was thundering with new excitement, and his head flooded with a hundred plans, impossible, terrifying,necessaryplans.
***
TABITHA DID NOT SLEEPwell.She should have been angry, disgusted and insulted by Jack’s deceit, but the truth was, these emotions had barely touched her.Along with a twinge of hurt, they had melted away in instinctive understanding.
In many ways, the man baffled her, but along with pity for the sickly child, so hemmed in by protectors that he had never climbed a tree or a fence, nor even been allowed to mingle with his fellow students at university, she was conscious of irritation with his guardians.How dare they impose this half-life on such a spirited person, too sweet-natured to hurt them with disobedience?
For it was not weakness.She understood that too as she lay in bed in the dark.It had taken courage to strike out alone, to find out for himself how the world worked, and what his own limits were.But there was an inner steel to him.
“If she was against it, of course I would never allow the marriage.”There had been a quiet determination there, as there had been when he had refused the temptation she’d offered at the George.He did the right thing, even down to pursuing the suspicious Mr.Smith and his entourage, which was hardly the work of a duke.
She turned over again, thrusting one arm out from the covers and trying to find a cool place on the pillow.
What was it about the wretched man she found so appealing?He was certainly handsome, in a very refined kind of way, but it was the smile in his eyes that had first drawn her attention—mischievous, almost boyish, and yet with a very adult understanding.And he was attracted to her.She had always known that.
Dear God, how would she feel if Lily did marry him?
Oh, no, I am not so far gone that I cannot recover.I will be the perfect stepmother.Though I may not visit often...
She felt again the lingering caress of his lips on her hand.So distant a kiss should not set her pulses racing, though there might have been an excuse outside when he had kissed her mouth with such unexpected if all too brief firmness.He would be such a wonderful lover, tender, attentive, with his long, slender body that would look so beautiful naked, and feel so good in her arms.No rough, drunken fumbling for quick gratification or domination...
She yanked the pillow over her face and pushed it away again.He was right.She had been searching for love.That was the meaning she had sought after Sark’s death had finally freed her from the horrors of marriage.No one since had been so cruel to her.They had all been flatteringly avid and grateful, but each of her three illicit lovers had disappointed her.There had been no love in the loving.A transient half-pleasure did not outweigh her sense of regret, and she had almost decided to stop looking.
It would be the same withhim.I am seeking something that does not exist.
He would be kind to Lily.There was nothing of the “death’s head” or even the invalid about him.The girl could do worse, much worse, than be the Duchess of Isbourne.
And like him, Tabitha would do her duty, watch him grow to love Lily as he might have loved her...
She threw herself onto her back, listening to the creaking joints of the old house.At some point, just as the early summer dawn was breaking, she heard several equine snorts outside, and the slow, gentle thud of many hooves, as though several ponies were wearing stockings as they were led away from the inn.
Was the contraband all hidden now?Would Smith vanish silently during the night with the ponies, or move openly on his way, wherever that was, in full daylight?
She worried for Jack’s safety—the duke’s safety—but curiously she found she did not fear forhim.He would find a way to deal with any situations that arose.
She just wished she were going with him.And the intensity of that longing did shock her.
***
SHE AND LILY ROSE ASsoon as the inn began to stir, and it seemed all the guests at the Headless Horse had the same idea.Everyone who had been present last night was again in the common room, although this time, fraternization was kept to a minimum.
The Smiths sat where they had on the previous evening, wading through what seemed to be a fried version of last night’s mutton stew.At quite the other end of the room, Lieutenant Meade and Jack sat at separate tables, each set for one.
All the men rose and bowed at Tabitha’s amused “Good morning.”She managed not to look at Jack and was glad to be distracted by an entirely different maid coming to greet them and inviting them to the last available table between Jack and Meade.
By the time Tabitha had asked for tea and toast, the Frenchmen—if they were French —were making their exit, with polite farewells.The guests left behind exchanged glances.Almost immediately, the sounds of trotting hooves in the yard told Tabitha the Smiths’ mounts had already been saddled and waiting.
No one spoke.Jack gazed into his cup until the sound of the hooves had faded.
“Such an early start puts the rest of us to shame,” he said, finishing whatever was in his cup and rising to his feet.“I too must be off.Ladies, your servant.Meade, farewell and good luck.”
He picked his saddle bags off the floor beside his table and sauntered off.Would he even be able to tell which direction the Smiths had taken?At the door he paused and glanced back directly at Tabitha.A quick, fugitive smile flickered, and her heart turned over.She could not help smiling back.
And then he was gone.No saddled horse awaited him, judging by the quiet that followed.
