Chapter 30
“What are you doing?”
Elizabeth chewed on her bottom lip as she dropped her hairpin and picked up the small nail she found lying on the floor next to Robert’s jacket and proceeded to stick it in the keyhole, uncaring that the owner of the chest was now standing over her, looking amused.
“Stealing your chest,” she said, even though she felt that it should be more than obvious what she was doing.
“Do you do this often?” Robert asked, placing the cup of tea that he’d promised her over a half-hour ago on the small table to the right before he gently pried the nail from her hand and handed over a small, simple, but still somewhat, stunning key.
“No,” Elizabeth admitted, “but I’ve decided to make an exception in this case.”
“So, you like the chest?” Robert asked after a slight hesitation.
“I wouldn’t be stealing it if I didn’t,” Elizabeth pointed out as she slid the key inside the lock and, with a satisfied sigh, unlocked the chest that she’d decided was rightfully hers twenty minutes ago when two footmen carried it into the room.
It was the most beautiful chest that she’d ever seen in her life. She’d never seen a piece of furniture that she’d gladly kill for before. The chest was made from the finest wood, which had been polished to perfection. Black metal strips lined the edges and corners perfectly, making it appear as though the metal and the wood were one instead of constructed together. The design in the wood was leveled, standing out in a way that complemented the black metal that decorated it to perfection.
She was sorely tempted to beg her father to buy her a matching bedroom set, something that she never would have done before, but she couldn’t. Not only would her father try to use her request against her to manipulate her into ending her marriage with Robert, but she would also be insulting her husband’s pride if she did something like that. He’d not only forgiven her for lying to him about the baby, but he’d offered to give her pin money when she’d brought nothing into the marriage, and he’d also turned down forty-thousand pounds to be with her. Well, she hadn’t exactly given him a chance to turn down that money, but he could have said something while she was having her way with him.
“It’s yours,” Robert said, kneeling beside her.
“I’m glad that we finally agree on something,” Elizabeth murmured absently as she raised the lid and looked inside, surprised to see what appeared to be two doors at the top, acting as another cover.
Robert chuckled as he reached past her and opened the two doors, revealing two sections; the left half held a small, deep tray at the top with three small drawers beneath it and the right half of the chest was lined with what appeared to be light pink silk on the bottom and three sides.
“This is for your slippers,” Robert explained as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pointed to the tray at the top, “and these drawers are for your hair ribbons, handkerchiefs, books, whatever you wish to place inside them.”
“This is really for me?” Elizabeth asked, touched beyond words that he would give her something so incredibly beautiful.
“Mmmmhmm,” Robert murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before he continued to explain the chest. “The silk will make sure that your dresses don’t get snagged on the wood and the doors will prevent them from being bounced around and wrinkled when the box is moved.”
“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered reverently, tracing her fingertips along the silk material.
“You haven’t seen the best part yet,” he said, sounding quite pleased as he gripped the center divider of the tray and pushed it to the side. A small click caught her attention. She watched as the entire left side shifted to the right, sliding over the silk bottom of the right side without touching it and revealing a hidden section in the chest.
“You can hide your money, valuables, and anything else that you don’t want to be found in here,” Robert explained as he once again pushed the small divider, but this time towards the left. With another soft click, the entire section slid back into place.
“Oh, my God,” was all she could manage because she’d never seen anything like it before.
“It was supposed to be your birthday present, minx, but since we’ll be leaving in a couple of weeks, I thought that you should have it now. I wanted to be here when it was brought to the room, but you weren’t feeling well and I didn’t want you to have to wait for your tea,” Raid said, rambling on nervously for the first time since she could remember.
“You bought this for me?” Elizabeth asked, not missing the part where he’d planned on giving this to her for her birthday.
“No,” Robert said, confusing her until she realized that perhaps he’d bought this for another woman. If that was the case, she didn’t think that she could stomach seeing a reminder that he’d wanted another woman no matter how much she loved the chest.
“This was made for you, minx,” he said, taking her by surprise.
“It was?” Elizabeth asked, feeling ridiculously happy that he would do something so wonderful for her when he’d professed to hate her. It made her wonder if it was possible that-
“I made it for you.”
“You made this?” Elizabeth asked, sending him a questioning look before returning her attention back to the chest.
“Yes,” Robert hoarsely as Elizabeth took her time examining the chest.
“When did you learn to do this?” she asked, running her fingertips over the silk he’d sewn into place.
“When I was fourteen,” Robert said, slowly exhaling as he leaned back against the foot of the bed.
