He didn't need to say what he was thinking. It was written all over his face.
Tobias scrutinized his young friend, just what did happen between you and that young woman last night?"
Zach's gray gaze leveled with his. "That, my friend, is none of your business," he replied. He was tired, this situation with Elyse Winslow had only made the stay in London more precarious, and he still didn't have the information he wanted.
Somehow, he had to meet with Barrington again. He was confident the man had managed to elude the police the evening before.
"What do you want me to do?" Tobias asked, knowing that it would do no good to argue the matter.
"When she awakens, I want you to make arrangements for her return to Lucy Maitland's home. She was to spend the night there. Explain to the Maitlands that I entrusted her to your care and spent last night aboard my ship. That should protect Miss Winslow's reputation." Zach crossed the room and poured coffee into another cup. He hadn't slept the entire night. He hadn't wanted to and could still feel the heat of her skin.
Seizing a decanter, he added a liberal amount of brandy to the steaming coffee. "I'll be leaving shortly. As far as any of the servants are concerned, I returned to my ship last night." He reached inside the pocket of his pants and threw several hundred-pound notes down on the table.
"She'll need clothing before she returns, the finest you can buy." His voice was harsh. "After all, a lady must look the part."
A lady. Yes, she was a lady, in spite of the man's clothes, in spite of her independent nature. And she was as far removed from him as the truth about his father.
"All right," Tobias replied. "I don't like it, but I'll do it. And pray she goes along with the idea. I'll check her myself, then make the necessary arrangements. The sooner she returns home the better, for everyone." He took a drink, his first drink in over twenty-four hours, then shuddered. "I must be getting old. I swear that stuff doesn't taste like it used to." With that, he turned, leaving Zach to his tormented thoughts.
His thoughts were filled with the memory of her in that massive bed, her slender body curled against him. Why did he want her even now? he asked himself.
Elyse clutched the satin coverlet against her naked body. Slowly, like the mist in her dreams, the night before receded until there was only herself. She was alone.
She gazed about the room, the events of the previous night slowly coming back to her, the sight of her clothes on the floor beside the bed. She hadn't been dreaming.
She squeezed her eyes shut as she remembered everything. How could he...? How could she have been such a fool to allow it...? What was she to do now?
The house was completely silent except for the ticking of the clock. Five o'clock. Everyone, including the household staff, would be asleep. She had to leave. But she needed clothing and a way to get home.
She left the bed and crossed the room. She searched the large armoire.
It was empty, as were the dressing table drawers. As she looked about the room, she realized with the lack of personal items this was undoubtedly one of the many guest rooms.
Lord and Lady Vale were gone, but she might be able to find something to wear in Lady Vale's rooms. She stepped silently into the hall, listening for any sounds of movement from the floor below, then slipped down the hall toward the closed doors on either side.
She smiled to herself as she found the room that was obviously Lady Vale's private suite of rooms. There was just enough light that came in through the windows for her to make out the large wardrobe in the adjoining room. The wardrobe was overflowing with clothes.
Pink was obviously Lady Vale's signature color. Gown, slippers, hat, and stockings of the same pale color that decorated the walls of the room.
Why couldn't it be something subtle, gray or blue? she thought as she searched for something she might wear.
The gown she finally chose was a shade of deep wine color with pink at the bodice and at a panel down the front of the skirt. The gown fit well enough across the bodice, and she was able to button it herself. She returned to the room she'd found herself in that morning and gathered the remnants of her clothes and the boots she had worn.
At a sound from the hall, she flattened herself into the shadows at the edge of the room at a knock at the door and then a portly man walked into the room.
Tobias looked first to the bed, then went to the adjoining room. He quickly returned to the bedchamber. Both rooms were empty. She was gone!
Elyse quickly stepped from the shadows at the edge of the room as the door slammed shut. The man was undoubtedly on his way to inform St. James that his guest was nowhere to be found. She had to get out of this house!
The main staircase was her only hope for escape. Running to the landing, she leaned over and listened. Downstairs, a door slammed, the echo reverberating up to her.
It was foolhardy and she knew it, but there was no other choice. She quickly ran down the staircase, past a formal parlor on one side and a set of closed double doors on the other.
"I tell you she's gone!"
Elyse raced across the entry hall. There wasn't time to try the front doors. If they were locked, she was caught. As the man she'd just seen emerged from a doorway, his back to her, she ducked around a massive, long table into the shadows.
"That's impossible!" St. James replied.
