“Oh goodness,” she breathed. “Let us get you to the bed.”
She stood, looking down at him with great concern.
He was tempted to wave off her worries, to try and get them back to where they’d been only moments ago. The pain, however, spoke directly to him:You’ll not be getting rid of me tonight.
He could not woo and bed his wife (should she even allow him to get that far) with any sort of finesse in this condition. And he could not afford to fumble the opportunity placed before him.
Thankfully, his wife led the way.
“Here,” she said. “Come to bed.”
Oh, how he’d hoped to hear those words from her. As he stood, however, he was reminded that the statement was one of pity, for right then another pain shot down his side.
No matter, he decided as they moved toward the bed, led by Augusta. He was going to sleep in his wife’s arms once again. That was a victory that no one, not even his own mind, could take away from him.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Damn Sebastian for smelling like sunlight just before it gave way to dusk. For feeling like the weight of love in the bed next to her. For looking at her likethatwhen she opened her eyes the next morning and saw him, his gaze intent upon her.
“Good morning,” he said, his voice husky.
“Good morning,” she said back, feeling terribly small and bashful.
Thus far, in her anger, she had taken every moment with Sebastian as something to get through - to painfully endure until she could take her leave. Now, it occurred to her that they still had forever together. An entire lifetime, which could be made up of “good mornings” if she so chose.
She shook the thought off and sat up. “I shall ask the maid to draw baths for us. I refuse to see your mother and Ginny in this condition.”
“I promise,” Sebastian said confidently, “Mother will be ecstatic to see the both of us, no matter what.”
*****
“I cannot believe you.”
The door to the manor had hardly opened a crack before thevoice of Sebastian’s mother was ringing through the foyer. In the dimly-lit entrance she stomped toward them.
What a sight the lady of the house presented - currently in her nightgown, hair eschew, her eyes full of fury as she approached.
As if on instinct, Sebastian stepped in front of Augusta, who halted at his back. The door slammed shut behind them.
“Mother, this is not Augusta’s fault…” he started.
His words stopped his mother in her tracks, her short form halting suddenly as she looked at her son, blinking.
“Of course it’s not,” she said slowly, as if Sebastian were stupid. “This isyourfault, Sebastian.”
“Myfault?” he said, incredulous. “What did I do?”
“Landed my daughter in law in prison, that’s what you did,” his mother said. “And would you believe that I had to hear about it from the servants, too?”
“Lady Brightwater,” Augusta started, “I assure you, this was all my doing…”
Suddenly, the sharp eyes that had been trained on Sebastian now turned on her, instantly softening. “Of course, love, I heard your speech was brilliant. Not quite what I expected from you, but all of us have our little secrets, don’t we? And it was up to my son to ensure that you made it home safe after you said your piece.”
Augusta did not know if she agreed with that. After all, she’d nearly done the whole thing without telling Sebastian in the first place. She hadn’t exactly given him great leave to concoct a solid safety plan for her.
“I promise, Sebastian was nothing but lovely the entire time,” she said, only realizing as she spoke that she was defending Sebastian, even lying for him - sans this past week, he had been anything but lovely. Even so, she found herself chafing againstthe new position she was in.
“While I am sure that my son has behaved himself, there is no excuse for a gentleman to allow scandal upon his family.” Then, blinking, she looked down at herself, at the state of undress she found herself in. “Though he appears to come by it honestly. I shall go and compose myself, but…” she turned to Sebastian with a look of pure death. “We are not finished discussing this.”
