With an almost imperceptible grin, she lifted her hand and languidly touched his face. ‘Can I be your mistress now?’
Chapter Twenty
‘You will not kill her. Do you hear me?’ Simon Linfield turned on his wife with a snarl.
‘I am in this bloody mess because of you,’ he bit out. ‘I should have wrung the chit’s neck the minute her mother breathed her last.’
Judith Linfield flinched away from the rage in her husband’s eyes but didn’t back down. ‘If you so much as harm a hair on her head, I swear I will expose you to Ruteledge,’ she hissed, repeating the threat that had kept Georgiana alive all these years.
Linfield half raised his hand to strike her, then stopped and took a deep breath. ‘There will come a time in theverynear future, dearest wife, when that warning will no longer work,’ he murmured chillingly instead. ‘And at that moment, you would do well to look to your own position lest the little bitch is not the only one to end up unaccounted for.’
His wife blanched and swallowed. She knew well that the only reason she was still walking free was the fact that her husband needed her family’s money.
Simon Linfield had lived his whole life on the fringes of society. The only two things standing between him and titled wealth were Edward Linfield and Georgiana Huxley. Judith would have informed on her husband years ago if she hadn’t believed that Georgiana’s life with her grandfather would be even worse than the one she had now.
She had seen Victoria. Locked away in a tower room for the whole of her eighteen years.
No, she would have to bide her time and ensure that she and Georgiana were as far away from Simon as possible when the Earl finally breathed his last. She had no illusions that either of them would survive for even a day once that news reached her husband.
She listened to the door slam and prayed that her threat would prevent him from doing his worst when he finally got his hands on his quarry.
∞∞∞
Anthony was beginning to drift into sleep when George suddenly sat up in bed. ‘I forgot about Nelson,’ she explained when he raised a sleepy eyebrow. ‘If I’m goin’ to stay ‘ere with you for the rest o’ the night, we can’t leave ‘im down there all on ‘is own.’
‘Why the devil not?’ Anthony protested, pulling on the blanket she’d dislodged. ‘I’m certain he’s more than comfortable stretched out on your bed.’
George shook her head and tossed back the bedclothes to climb out of the bed.
‘Are you always this restless?’ he complained, yanking again at the blanket. She looked down at him.
‘Some of us ‘ave never ‘ad the luxury of a good night’s sleep,’ she reprimanded him. ‘Keepin’ one eye open meant you got to open the other one in the mornin’.’
Anthony stared at her, fully appreciating, perhaps for the first time, just how difficult her childhood must have been. He turned onto his side, leaning on his elbow. ‘From now on, you’ll never have to sleep with one eye open,’ he vowed, reaching out to stroke her arm.
Her answer was a ribald chuckle. ‘Long as I keep yer bed warm, I dare say.’
Anthony shook his head with a sigh. ‘You will always keep my bed warm, George, and I yours.’ He spoke slowly and carefully as if to a child. ‘I will never marry another.’ She made no answer to that but turned her head away quickly and climbed off the bed.
‘I won’t be long,’ she declared, pulling her shirt on to cover her nakedness. Anthony watched as she slipped through the door, then with a sigh, sat up and lit the candle on the nightstand before lying back against the pillows, his hands behind his head.
While he understood in part her continued reluctance to marry him, she had clearly failed to take into account the possible consequences of their lovemaking. He could not protect her if she became with child unless she agreed to become his wife. Earlier, he’d vowed to wait, but their lovemaking had changed everything. Somehow, he would convince her that marrying him would not be the traumatic experience she believed. None of his sisters would even think to judge her - God knew, they’d have no grounds given their own behaviour over the years. He just needed to convince her of it.
And he was certain that once his mother and father recognised his resolve, they too would accept the inevitable. He gave a rueful chuckle. George had already met his father and clearly thought him more than a little dicked in the nob - what she’d think of his mother when she finally met her, he couldn’t even begin to imagine.
A couple of minutes later, he heard footsteps on the stairs followed by a scratching sound at the door. ‘Old yer ‘orses,’ preceded a whirlwind on three legs as Nelson launched himself onto the bed. Giving the mongrel a fuss, he looked enquiringly at the young woman who was now hovering by the door.
‘What now?’ he murmured as she scanned her eyes around the room. Shutting the door, George looked over at him and bit her lip. Evidently something was bothering her that was preventing her from returning to bed. He sat back up and stared at her expectantly.
At length, she sighed and held out her hand. ‘I need somewhere to ‘ide these.’ Her two remaining guineas were sitting on top of her customary bandages, now crushed into her palm.
‘Why do you need to hide them?’ he questioned evenly. She gave a shrug.
‘In case.’ He waited for her to elaborate, but she seemed to think the explanation enough.
‘Then why don’t you keep them where you’ve always kept them.’ He nodded to her breasts, visible through her shirt. He felt his cock stir as he clearly saw her nipples poking through the linen.
‘I can’t keep takin’ em off every time you fancy a tuppin’ she retorted matter-of-factly. ‘And wot wi’ all this bloody washin’, I’ll end up losin’ ‘em.’
