Sophie turned to him, her rich mahogany eyes filled with uncertainty. “Yes, she does.” After nervously catching the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth, she pulled in a deep breath and let it ease out. “As do I.”
He coaxed her into his arms and tilted her face up to his. “I am glad of that, my love. Do not be uncertain or afraid, because I promise you, that is a trait you and I share.”
She touched his cheek as if convincing herself he was real. “I am glad too, then,” she said softly. “I know I promised to leave the worries of our past behind, but the troubles of our present seem to keep dragging them forward.”
“I understand. What with two attempts on your life, blackmail threats, and a forced marriage? Most women would find themselves so overwhelmed they would take to their beds for weeks on end.” He treated himself to the lightest of kisses, unable to resist the sweet temptation of her mouth so close to his. “But fortunately for me, you are notmostwomen. You have taken it all in stride even while imprisoned by full mourning. You need a diversion from all these beastly troubles, my fractious little swan. You need an outing.”
“Full mourning, my lord. Remember?”
“My lord?” He tucked her tighter against him. “All because I called you fractious?”
Her crestfallen look eased the knot in his chest that always twinged whenever he suspected her old resentments had risen once again. “No—you are right. I am quite fractious.” She stretched on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Everything is closing in around me, and this ridiculous mourning for a brother who never existed is insulting and unfair to those truly going through the loss of a loved one.” She gave an irritated huff that made her delicate nostrils flare. “And now Maman has suddenly become unreasonable. I am beside myself and resent that position very much.”
While Nash longed to sweep her up to the bedroom and treat them both to an entirely different position, even his aching lust sensed Sophie needed more than resuming their marital delights for an afternoon. No, as much as he longed to sink into herand never surface again, that was for later, after she’d had some respite from their current troubles. He nibbled a kiss across the rosy sweetness of her mouth, then lifted his head and whispered, “What say you to a bit of scandalous behavior?”
Her eyes lit up like a pair of the brightest candles. “Scandalous, you say?” She teased him with a suggestive wiggle that made him second-guess his decision about not retiring to their bedchamber. “Since we are married, how could anything we do together possibly be scandalous?”
“While I adore your line of thinking, my seductive swan, I had something else in mind.”
Her immediate frown delighted him. “I told you I am quite well, and last night you refused me after promising…”
He silenced her with another kiss. “You had just been shot at by someone you thought was a friend and were exhausted from the day’s trials.” After another gentle kiss, he barely lifted his head and lost himself in her stormy gaze. “And dare I remind you that you immediately fell asleep in my arms?”
She huffed like a child about to throw a tantrum. “No.”
He tried not to smile, but her wanting him with such ferocity filled his heart with joy. “Go upstairs and have Marie help you into your riding habit,” he whispered. “Let the gossips be damned.”
Eyeing him as though wondering what demon had taken control of his tongue, she eased a step back. “Was it not you that sided with Maman only yesterday about Dr. MacMaddenly’s recommendation that I forgo riding for at least several weeks?”
Nash ducked his head, feeling like a schoolboy caught in a lie. “Yes, it was me. However, your troubled spirits concern me as much or more than your physical wellbeing. If the mind is not at peace, how can the body be?” He nodded at the sunny window. “It is a lovely day, and surely a calm, meandering ride through Hyde Park would do you more good than harm.”
“And you do not mind the wagging tongues that will surely be set off by our riding on Rotten Row while propriety demands I hide at home in layers of black bombazine and crepe, respectfully mourning my brother?”
“Let the wagging tongues be damned.”
Her hopeful smile started small, then blossomed into the full gamut of lighthearted joy he had hoped to coax free.
“I don’t know which pleases me more,” she said, “the fact that you remembered how I love riding or that I will actually be free of this Society-imposed prison for a few hours, and you refuse to let the gossips control our lives.”
“Wecontrol our lives.” Then he amended the bold statement with a humble tip of his head. “Well, we control as much of our lives as Her Majesty and Prinny allow.” He gave her a quick kiss and nudged her toward the door. “Hurry now and get changed before we lose any more daylight.”
“I shall be ready in no time.” She gathered up her skirts and dashed away.
The sound of her skipping up the stairs filled him with joy and warm satisfaction. This was what the two of them needed—a brief escape into their own little world to strengthen their fragile bond. As he headed toward the window for a precautionary glance at the street, Merritt walked back into the parlor, scrubbing his face as if wearied to the bone.
“You survived,” Nash said, unable to resist a teasing jab at his friend.
“Barely. She told me to go to the devil in no uncertain terms.” Merritt shook his head. “And I believe a few of those terms were some of the coarsest French vulgarities I have ever heard anyone say, much less a lady.”
“All because of your concern for her safety?” Nash eyed the man, knowing there had to be more to the story. The dowager countess never lost her temper and quite coolly eviscerated herenemies with a cutting wit that required no derogatory terms whatsoever. “What did you say to her?”
Merritt rubbed the back of his neck while staring downward and uneasily shuffling in place. “It might not have been what I said that drew the dressing-down she delivered.”
Nash folded his arms across his chest and waited, knowing his friend would eventually confess all.
After a deep breath and a blustery sigh, Merritt shrugged. “I believe it was the kiss.”
“The kiss?” Nash stared at him in disbelief. “You were foolish enough to kiss the woman when you knew her to be overwrought about all that has recently come to pass?”
