They came down from the peak slowly, still joined while their rough breathing caused ripples in the water. What Gervase felt was far more than satisfaction, or even ecstasy. It was as if he had crossed into some strange new country with Diana, and his emotions were too new and profound to understand.
It was safer to say, “I’m surprised we didn’t raise the water to the boil.” One arm tight around her shoulders to support her above the surface, he brushed wet hair from her face tenderly as her cheek nestled against his collarbone. “I’m going to have fitted tubs installed in every house I own.”
He could feel the vibration of her laughter as they lay breast-to-breast. Raising her head, she replied, “I hadn’t realized how enjoyable a bath could be.” Cautiously standing up, she climbed from the tub, wrapping herself in one of the large towels folded in readiness. “There seems to be almost as much water on the floor as in the tub.”
The water was cold and lonely without her, so Gervase ducked under the surface to rinse his hair, then climbed out and they dried each other with towels and laughter. With both affection and lust satisfied, he was almost unconscious with fatigue. His last memory before falling into the deepest, most restful sleep of his life was enfolding Diana in his arms to hold her by his heart through the night.
* * *
As the young mistress and her lover slept, the French cook efficiently examined the contents of the viscount’s abandoned pack with an experienced eye, carefully copying his cryptic notes before returning everything to where she had found it. After months of time wasted here, she finally had something of value to report. Most of what she wrote meant nothing to her, but she did not doubt that the Count de Veseul would understand.
* * *
When Diana woke, it was early morning and Gervase was still sleeping soundly. The gray stranger’s face he had worn when she first saw him the night before was gone, and he looked young and peaceful. It pleased her enormously to have that effect. She didn’t have the heart to wake him, so she broke another rule, letting him sleep while she had breakfast with Geoffrey.
After her son had gone, she went to her chambers and found Gervase beginning to stir. When she ventured close to see if he was awake, he seized her and pulled her into the bed for a morning greeting that left them both flushed and laughing breathlessly. Afterward they lay face-to-face, his hand cradling her head as he drifted toward sleep again. Then, abruptly, his gray eyes snapped open. “What time is it?”
“About ten o’clock.”
“Good Lord, half the day is gone.” He sat up and ran one hand through his dark hair, which was in dire need of a cut. Then he slid out of bed and located his clothing, which had been cleaned, pressed, and left neatly folded on a chair.
Diana sighed and got up also. She should have known it wouldn’t last. She put her rumpled dress into some semblance of order, then pulled the bell twice as a signal for breakfast to be brought up. She enjoyed watching Gervase dress. Even his shabby clothes couldn’t hide the beauty of his lean body. Wide shoulders, narrow hips, long muscular limbs, and that lovely masculine grace of movement.... She gave a sigh of pleasure.
“What are you smirking about?” he asked with a quick smile as he buttoned his shirt.
“I do not smirk,” she said with dignity. “I was merely admiring your body.”
He rolled his eyes. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
She chuckled, delighted to see him in such a lighthearted mood. He pulled on his worn jacket, looking every inch a man of distinction. She supposed that when he was skulking around Europe he changed his manner, but now he was unmistakably on his home ground. Breakfast arrived and the smell of hot country sausages persuaded him to stay long enough to eat. In fact, he ate ravenously, having been too tired—or busy—to eat the night before. Having breakfasted with her son, Diana wasn’t hungry, but she had tea to keep Gervase company.
When he finished eating, he scooped her up in a playful hug, lifting her off her feet in sheer exuberance. “I’m sorry I have to leave, but as you can imagine, I’ve a thousand things to do after being away so long.”
“Are you sorry you lingered here?” she asked, hoping he wouldn’t say yes.
He grinned. “I should be, but I’m not.”
“Will you come tonight?”
“Yes. Late, but I’ll be here.” He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her toward him for a quick kiss that momentarily threatened to get out of hand. Then he was gone.
Diana had her own day’s tasks ahead of her, but for a few minutes she curled up in one of the wing chairs with a contented smile on her face. No matter what Gervase said or didn’t say, this morning she felt like a well-loved woman.
* * *
Gervase’s feeling of well-being was short-lived. He had intended to go directly to Whitehall to find the foreign minister, but his eye fell on the apothecary shop whose owner had watched Diana’s house. After the warmth of her welcome, it seemed absurd that he had set a spy on her; time to pay the fellow off.
The shop was empty at the moment, and the apothecary, a dusty little man, greeted the viscount without surprise. “Good morning, my lord. I trust you enjoy good health.” Then, with a knowing look, he added, “Your ladybird is a popular wench.”
The words were like a solid blow, puncturing Gervase’s warm glow. Schooling his face to blankness, he said coolly, “Indeed?”
“Aye. Mind, I can’t vouch for the nights, after I’ve gone home. During the day, things were quiet at first, but the last few weeks, she’s had a fair number of visitors.” Malice glinted in his colorless eyes. “Gentlemen visitors.”
Gervase reminded himself that it was the apothecary’s gossipy interest in his neighbors and his knowledge of prominent Londoners that made him so well-suited to spying; that and his location. And a caller was not necessarily a lover. “Did you recognize any of them?”
“Oh, aye. There was a gentleman we don’t see much in London nowadays, Lord Farnsworth. He scarcely left the house for a week or more. And there’s a young fellow, comes by in the afternoon. Saw them kissing in the window myself, bold as brass.”
Gervase felt ill. Had she taken other lovers from boredom, or because she had reason to believe that he wasn’t coming back? It hardly mattered. “Do you know who the young fellow was?”
