Margaret clenched her teeth together when a shiver rolled through her.
She’d promised to marry Mr. Kirkley but she needed to be absolutely certain he could perform as required before she went through with it.
Hearing nothing but deep steady breathing from her unsuspecting fiancé inside the room, Margaret pushed the door inward and, feeling more like an emissary on an errand for the Crown than the desperate widow that she was, she quietly slipped inside and closed the door behind her.
The heavy drapes had been closed and, without even a hint of moonlight, the room was pitch dark.
She would climb onto the empty side of the bed and then work herself slowly toward the middle. She hadn’t considered how dark it would be, though, and hoped she didn’t stumble over any unexpected obstacles.
She paused while another shiver took hold and hugged herself until it passed. He’d be as like to strangle her for a murderer as make love to her.
Almost surprised when her feet obeyed her mind, she crept in farther, holding out her hands in the direction of where the bed would be. From the sound of his breathing, he seemed to be sleeping on the side nearest the door.
One. Two. She mentally counted each tiny step as she imagined the size of the room and almost congratulated herself when her fingertips touched the fabric of the counterpane. She held her breath though, when the mattress groaned as he shifted and then rolled.
She did not breathe until he stilled.
But so far, everything was going as planned. The counterpane had not been drawn down on this side. She was exactly where she needed to be.
If only the bed was not so very high up.
But she had expected it to be. Penelope had even had her practice climbing into her own without the steps.
Inch by careful inch, she drew the heavy cover downward until it was out of her way. That completed, she waited for another shiver to pass before summoning her courage for this next step.
She placed one foot up and onto the mattress and then had to count herself down to three twice before practically vaulting onto the bed.
Although her heart raced, she didn’t allow herself to breathe heavily but instead lay silently, fearing that her gymnastic leap had awakened him.
He shifted slightly, but his breathing continued.
Even, heavy, and reassuring.
And then it hit her. She’d forgotten to remove her night rail first.
Eyes opened, she stared at what would have been the ceiling if not for the darkness. She would make a horrible spy, after all, in that she’d forgotten something Penelope had considered to be imperative.
She was pleased and surprised with herself, however, in that she had accomplished the feat of entering his room and actually climbing into his bed. She’d doubted her ability to make it this far.
Committed to her task but mortified by this next step, she squeezed her eyes shut, gathered the lower half of her night rail, and then maneuvered it up and past her bum.
Cool air hit her legs and reminded her that even with the gown covering her top half, she was quite uncovered and most scandalously… exposed.
She hastily slid her feet and legs beneath the counterpane and then lay silent until she was certain her movements hadn’t awakened him. She wasn’t quite ready for that.
The sound of deep, even breathing reassured her.
Slowly and methodically, she extracted her arms from the sleeves of her gown and then slid the cotton material over her head.
She could still change her mind. It was not yet too late. She could drop off the side of the bed, don her gown once again, and, if necessary, crawl on all fours out of the room.
But if she did something so cowardly, she might also regret it for the rest of her life.
She held her gown over the edge of the mattress and, taking a deep breath, allowed it to drop to the floor.
Indeed, sneaking into his room was utterly improper, but Georgewasher fiancé.
It was not as though she was trying to trap the man, for heaven’s sake. He had already asked her to marry him. This was simply a matter of putting one’s cart before one’s horses so that one could assure herself that the horses, could in fact… er… gallop?
