“I think I will.” He then turned to Max and pointed back to the cottage. “In.”
Instead of moving, Max looked up at Lavinia.
The bloody dog was besotted, not that Demetrius could blame him.
“Go home, Max.” This time, when Lavinia pointed, the dog behaved and returned to the cottage. Demetrius followed and closed the door so that the dog did not follow them. “Why are we going into town?”
“Because I had forgotten Boxing Day. I must purchase small gifts for the servants.”
“As I have no servants…except, I do hire a maid to clean my set of rooms…should I have gotten her something?”
“If you were in London, I would have expected you to, but as you are not, I assume it is not necessary, unless you wish to gift her with something on your return.”
“I will need to give it consideration,” Demetrius returned. “And I will rely on your advice with regard to any purchase.”
He had not anticipated shopping today, but Demetrius did not mind since he would be with her and had no other plans.
“I did come to learn that I am the cause of an unintended inconvenience, which I have rectified.”
“What would that be?” he asked with interest.
It was then that she explained the conversation she had overheard and decision that she had made. But the most important detail that he held onto was that she would be alone in that cottage and without a single servant about to know what they may be up to. And, as she still intended to share meals with him, did he dare hope that some of that time would be in her bed?
After last night, he was anxious to become even closer to Lavinia and believed that they had finally shared enough of themselves that he no longer felt as if he was simply rushing for the sake of having her. Further, she’d not set him aside when she learned the truth, and even welcomed his touch last night.
Yes, the next three days, after the servants left the cottage, were going to be very pleasant indeed.
The rest of the morning and until the afternoon, Demetrius and Lavinia visited nearly every shop in Seaford. Not only was she able to purchase small gifts for each servant, which she would present to them with her monetary gift as well, but suggested that Demetrius give to the woman who cleaned his set of rooms an amount he would have likely spent. No doubt the woman would be more appreciative of that gift over a useless item.
The two also made purchases for themselves and had a delightful time wandering in and out of each shop and through the town, often nodding to those who they had met at the assembly.
If the residents had not considered them courting previously, no doubt they did now.
There was joy in the very air, which was to be expected he supposed with it being near Christmas and he developed the sudden urge to want to decorate on Christmas Eve. But where did one go to cut greenery here?
He pondered the matter, as they wandered until he finally asked the last shopkeeper while Lavinia was looking at the various fans on display.
Laden with packages, they returned not to her cottage, but to his because Lavinia wished to hide the presents so that they were not discovered by her servants before Boxing Day. She then returned home and he promised to be there in time for dinner. Further, he could not wait for her servants to depart. Not that he said as much to Lavinia, but she would soon learn what he had planned once they were finally alone.
Chapter
Eighteen
“Lady Teviot, may I have a word before Mr. Valentine arrives?”
“Of course, Mrs. Trenton.”
“Will Mr. Valentine remain after we have gone?”
“It is likely. We have enjoyed our evening conversations.”
“If we are not here, then you would be alone with him and I cannot help but worry that His Grace may be unhappy if he were to learn.”
If Mrs. Trenton had any idea of what had already occurred in the parlor and what Lavinia hoped would happen later, she would be quite scandalized no doubt.
“He is a friend,” Lavinia offered. “In fact, Mr. Valentine is the family solicitor and the two of us have known each other for months. It was only by coincidence that we both ended up in Seaford for Christmas.”
“I just do not want your reputation risked with us not being in the house.”
