Chapter Twenty
The lapse between his arrival and his note to Letitia did not go unnoticed.
“He took his own sweet time,” she snarled, unfolding the missive and reading the contents. “He invites me over tomorrow evening for dinner, so that he may consult me on the additions he’s thinking about including in the conservatory.” She snorted. “As if he needs my advice.”
Harriet placidly continued brushing Letitia’s winter cloak. “He needs an excuse, Letitia. You know that. He can’t just drop you a note that saysAll right, come over tomorrow night. Let’s fuck.”
Harriet’s blunt comment surprised a laugh out of Letitia. “My word. You have come a long way since we first met.”
“You have corrupted me,” chuckled Harriet.
“Well, yes. And I have observed your cheeks blooming on many a morning recently.” She tapped a finger to her chin. “It seems that this unusual development might just have begun the night after I loaned you my book?”
The bloom appeared once more as Harriet’s face turned crimson. “Oh hush.”
“I knew it.” Letitia was satisfied. “Fun, isn’t it?”
“Please…” Harriet squirmed in embarrassment.
“Very well, we will say no more about it. But perhaps now you will understand my eagerness to pursue such matters to their fullest conclusion. And byfullest, I mean with the cooperation of something…filling.”
Harriet plopped down onto Letitia’s bed and buried her face in her hands with a tiny squawk.
“I see you comprehend my intentions.”
Harriet raised her head. “How are you going to manage it, Letitia?”
“Oh, I suspect the usual way will work quiet well.”
“Notthat,” groaned Harriet. “How will you manage to spend the entire night at FitzArden without anyone finding out?”
“Hmm.” Letitia rose from her desk and walked over to her cloak, brushing her fingers over the soft surface as her mind turned the problem over several times. “Well, firstly, Edmund is away. So that removes one potential problem.”
“As is Miss Hecate.”
“Yes, she seems to be quite happy in London. She will be back before Christmas, of course. But you’re right, another problem out of the way.”
“So that leaves Lady Rosaline. And the Vicar and Mrs. Ridlington, I suppose,” mused Harriet.
“I’m not worried about Simon and Tabby. They won’t be here overnight, so they wouldn’t know. No, it’s Rosaline. She’s a good mother, in every way. And she cares for us as deeply as if we were her brothers and sisters by blood, rather than marriage.”
Harriet nodded. “She is all that and more, Letitia. To her, family is all. Their happiness must take precedence over all things.”
“Let me think it over, Harry. This is important, since I’d not want to be known as the village lightskirt.”
“Well I doubt that would happen, since there already several of those.”
Distracted, Letitia turned to look at Harriet. “Really? Who?”
Harriet rolled her eyes, and the conversation turned to more mundane village matters for several minutes.
“Of course, the last real issue, is you.” Letitia looked at Harriet. “What am I going to do with you?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I simply cannot walk to James’s alone. That is simply beyond anything that could be deemed acceptable. And he does have servants.”
“Oh.” Harriet began to understand. “So I will be spending the night at FitzArden as well?”
