“May I… speak with you?” she asked.
“Of course. Do come in.”
Adele stepped into the room and saw that one of the earl’s old trunks was open to the side with Hugh’s new clothes neatly folded in it.
“You are packing,” said Adele. “I did not mean to disturb you.”
“You aren’t. I am happy for your company. What did you want to speak to me about?”
Adele took a deep breath. Here went nothing. If he refused what she was about to ask of him, it wouldn’t matter, because she would never see him again past tomorrow. And if he said yes, well, she would cherish the memory of this night for always. “I have something of a proposition for you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Indeed?”
“I have given this some thought, so I do not wish you to think I arrived at this idea on a whim.” And she had thought about this quite a bit, nearly constantly for the last two days, and thought her logic infallible.
Hugh looked mystified. He sat on the foot of the bed. “What is it?”
She was nervous. She could not predict what he would say, but she would hate herself if she did not ask. “I will bungle this,” she said.
He reached for her hand and wrapped his much larger one around her fingers. “I will be patient.”
“I don’t want there to be any expectations between us. I do not know what the future holds. If it should come to pass that we are separated permanently tomorrow, I do not want to have any regrets.”
He nodded, though he still looked confused.
“We are… that is, you find me attractive.”
“Yes. Immensely.”
“I came to you tonight because… well, I never had a chance to… that is, I was once engaged to be married, but that relationship was never consummated. And now that I face a prospective future life in which I may never know the touch of man, well, that future is unbearable to me. And I thought that, since you are here and we both find each other… attractive… that perhaps you would…”
She looked at his face but could not read it. Her mouth went dry and she could no longer speak. She’d put all of that in the room, and he only stared. Mortified, she dropped her head.
“Forget I spoke. I will just…” She started to leave the room.
Hugh still had a hold of her hand and pulled her back. “What is it you want, Adele?”
She loved how he said her name, like she was precious to him. “This is your last night with me, and I would like for us to spend it together.”
He nodded. He tugged on her hand so that she was sitting beside him. Then he kissed her softly, and she thought she’d been spared mortification. Her heart beat faster and stronger in anticipation of what was about to happen.
Hugh ran his hands through her hair and let a few strands slowly trail through his fingers. “You never wear your hair loose like this.”
“No, I… it would be bold of me to… that is—”
“I like it this way.” He turned his head slightly and focused his gaze on her face. His eyelids lowered, and she realized he was looking at her lips. Then he bent his head and captured her mouth with his, kissing her a little more strongly this time. He plunged his fingers into her hair and cupped the base of her head with his hand. She opened her mouth to let him in and put her hands around his neck. Then he pulled back slightly. “Are you sure? Do you know what you’re asking me?”
“Yes. I’m certain. That is, I’ve never… but I want to experience this. I can’t go to my grave without ever…” Adele struggled to even find the words. Hot embarrassment burned her face.
Hugh nodded but was quiet for a long moment.
“You have…” Adele continued to blubber. “That is, you must have some experience… er, bedding women. I know you don’t remember, but…”
He smiled. “I think there is an instinctual element to it. That is, I cannot precisely remember any prior encounters, but I feel that I must have had them. More to the point, Doctor Willis warned me that I might have certain… male problems, let’s say, as a result of the head injury, but I am happy to report that I am not experiencing those problems.”
Adele had only the foggiest notion of what he was talking about. She’d received a cursory talk about what happened between husbands and wives from her mother weeks before her scheduled wedding, but had no clear frame of reference.
She let out a breath. “I want one night with you. That is what I am asking.”
