“Have you spent much time there?”
“Yes, I believe so. Most of my childhood. According to the book, I made a number of improvements just last year and bought some new furniture as well. But I can’t picture a single piece of that furniture. It’s all still hidden behind the veil of my broken memory.”
“We’ll see it soon enough, won’t we?”
“Yes. It is my intention to return to Swynford House shortly after the wedding. We’ll be more comfortable there when the weather turns warm. And, given that my assailant is still at large, it may be smart to get out of London. I just wish I could picture my home.”
“Are you still worried about being attacked again?”
“I just wish I knew what happened. Until I know, I can’t shake the feeling that danger still lurks about.”
“You’ve got a guard outside.”
“And he may be successfully deterring whoever means me harm. Getting out of London would, I think, ease my mind.”
Adele held up a candle and walked along the row of books opposite where Hugh sat at the table. The way she held the candle allowed him to see the outline of her body through her flimsy nightclothes. He tried not to stare.
As if she sensed what was happening in his body, she asked. “Why could you not sleep? Are you worried about danger?”
He sighed, but then smiled at her. “Well, no, actually. If you must know, a beautiful woman sleeping so close to my room was a distraction.”
She nodded. “I will admit, I suffered from something of the same affliction. I can’t help but remember that night that we… but then I think about how I would feel if your mother caught us. She already detests me.”
“She does not detest you.”
“Well, she is not fond of me, and I do not want to give her more reasons not to like me.”
Hugh closed the book and stood up. He replaced it on the shelf and turned to look at Adele. The room was dim, the only light coming from the candles they’d each brought with them. Adele set hers on the mantle over the fireplace, as if she knew she was about to need both hands.
Hugh went to her. She was hard to see in the low light, but the way the thin fabric of her nightgown skimmed right over her skin was tantalizing. She wore no corset now, no drawers or petticoats or other undergarments. Hugh himself wore only an old dressing gown. Very little separated them, something that became immediately apparent when he kissed her and she pressed her chest against his.
He wanted her. He wanted to rip off the flimsy nightgown and have her right on this table. The lust he’d been banking since she’d moved into his house was suddenly begging to be let loose.
She pressed her hands to his chest and pushed him away slightly. “Can you wait until our wedding night?”
“No.”
He moved to kiss her again, but she stopped him. “I was not jesting. What happens if your mother catches us, well,in flagrante.”
“We’re about to be married, Adele. What does it matter?”
“It matters, Hugh. We are not husband and wife yet.”
With a sigh, Hugh stepped back. “Fine, fine. Mother sleeps like the dead, by the way, and her room is at the far end of the hall.”
“You have less than two weeks to wait. Is that really so difficult?”
“Yes.”
She laughed. “Well, we definitely cannot… take liberties in the library. Someone will hear us.”
Hugh sighed. She was, of course, right, but that didn’t stop him from putting his hands on her waist and dipping his head to kiss her shoulder. “But on our wedding night, I can take liberties?”
She picked up his face and met his gaze. She actually smirked at him, a seductive look in her eyes. “You can take all the liberties you want then.”
He laughed. “I adore you, you know.”
“And I you. But we must behave ourselves for, what, nine more days?”
