“Of course.Anna, you’re absolutely right.”He signaled the owner, who hurried over.“I need your best two rooms for the night.For these ladies.”
“I’ve got nothing but the one you slept in last night, my lord,” the man said apologetically.“The squall has got everyone delayed and stuck here.I didn’t give it away, thinking you’d need it.”
“Then I’ll give mine to these ladies,” he said.
Jonathan supposed he could sleep in the common room or on the floor or in the stables for all he cared.Lise was not hours nor miles away.She was here!He touched her arm again, and she made a sound like purring, though it was really a deep sigh.It stirred his loins.
Over two months since they’d lain together.Once they got back to London and prepared for the wedding, they would not be allowed any time alone.Not like this.Even if he applied for a common license at Doctors’ Commons the moment they returned to the city, swore on the head of King George himself that there was no legal impediment, and paid the fee, Lise would not be his immediately.
If he knew anything about mothers, his own and Lise’s, the event would be taken out of their hands.A custom dress must be sewn, invitations sent out, and a wedding breakfast planned down to the last crumb.
And he would gladly be patient now that she was in England and going to be his bride.Except that, currently, she was seated less than a foot away, batting her eyelashes at him and offering a wicked grin.
When she lifted a slender brown eyebrow, he nearly groaned.
This was undoubtedly their last chance to ...share a mutually pleasurable congress until after the wedding day.
“I’ll be right back.”
He found the innkeeper chatting with another stranded passenger.
“My good man,” Jonathan began.“A word in private, if you please.”They stepped away from prying ears.“Have any rooms opened up?”
The owner appeared contrite.“I’m afraid not, my lord.”
“Hm.What about your own private quarters, then?”
The man frowned.“My lord?”
“Do you live on the premises?”Jonathan asked, his tone as smooth as Persian silk.
“I have lodgings at the back, with my wife.”
“Might I rent them for the night?I was going to sleep ...somewhere nearby.Right in this room across a table if need be or in the stable, but my ...ah...my sister and her maid aren’t used to traveling.They won’t sleep a wink if I’m not nearby.”
“Your sister, my lord?”
Jonathan didn’t give a fig that the man knew better.“I will pay well to rent your private lodgings as long as there are two places to sleep.You may use the fine room I slept in last night.”
“You want me to disturb my wife,” he asked, dumbfounded, “and tell her she’s to come sleep in our inn?”
“I assure you the bed was plenty large enough for two,” Jonathan reminded him.“Or I can tell my friends back in London, travelers all, that when they come to Harwich, the King’s Arm might have them sleeping in a stable.If a viscount and heir to the Earl of Castleton can be made to rough it, I guess anyone can.”
The man frowned.
“Sorry to have troubled you, sir,” Jonathan added and turned.
“Wait, my lord.I’ll rent you my lodgings, but it’ll cost you a dear price.My wife is as likely to blister my ears all night as sleep peacefully beside me.But there’s a second room, with a small bed that was our son’s before he married.You’ll all three be most comfortable.”
“Splendid.”Jonathan paid him.“Please ask your good wife to put clean linens on the beds.When it’s ready, I’m sure the ladies will be glad to get settled.”
“Your sister and her maid, that is,” the innkeeper reminded him.
Luckily the man didn’t give a sly wink or say anything seedy.Jonathan couldn’t abide by such base familiarity with a stranger.
“Precisely,” he said and returned to his table to finish the stew.His already good mood now lifted to sheer joy.
Within the hour, Anna was settled in the small chamber that had belonged to the innkeeper’s son.He could hear Lise making sure her maid had everything she needed, including a warming pan between the sheets.
