Instead of the dress, she once more wore the black pantaloons and brown shirt. She hoped they made her almost invisible in the night. She carried nothing she might leave behind. No wrap, no hat. It had been easier last time, with that long shawl covering her from shoulders to knees. That extra layer had provided protection, although she knew better than to believe it would make any difference if a man behaved like a scoundrel.
She eased through the kitchen and up the servant stairs. Silence surrounded her like a fog. One could always tell if people were about, even if they only slept. One felt them even if one did not hear them. Tonight, the house carried only a little of that energy. She knew from whence it came.
She found the library door open. She stepped inside. No fire tonight. No lamps. The drapes had been drawn back, however, and moonlight created a deep dusk.
He sat where he had before, on a divan facing the cold hearth. His frock coat lay on a nearby chair. His boots stood alongside it. She saw no cravat at his neck but instead a deep, dark V of an open collar above his unbuttoned waistcoat. He might be halfway through preparing for bed.
That thought made her swallow hard.Yes, Katherine, now that you ask, I am in trouble.
One unopened bottle of champagne stood on the nearby table. He held no glass this time. It seemed one thing would be different tonight. He was not already drunk.
“Ah, there you are,” he said. “Promptness is a virtue, I am told. I rarely match you in it.”
Yet tonight he was here on time, wasn’t he? “I did not want you to think I had not seen the notice.”
He lifted a bundle of cloth from the divan beside him. “You must want it back badly if you risked coming here again. Are you worried someone might recognize it? If so, our circles must intersect in some way.”
He had indeed begun wondering.
“It is the best wrap I own and the only one that is silk. I was sorry to lose it. Thank you for arranging to return it to me.” She ventured a few steps closer and held out her hand.
He placed the shawl back on the divan. “I think if I hand this to you that you will disappear without fulfilling the conditions.”
She barely saw his slow smile form, but she knew it heralded trouble. The air in the library all but crackled with his naughty intentions.
“‘The same as last time,’ your notice said. I am here at the time named. I will share champagne if you want, and chat a while. Then I must leave.”
“And one kiss. You forgot the kiss.”
“Of course. One kiss.”
“I see you are wearing those pantaloons again.”
“For the same reasons. I apologize if you find them unsightly.”
“Not at all. You are fetching in them. Distinctive. I also don’t think you wear stays with that ensemble. The image of you free of them appeals to me.” He gestured lazily to her shirt. “That could use some improvement. It is too large for you. Too . . . voluminous.”
“You mean that you regret you can’t see anything of my breasts that you picture so free of stays.”
“So much for my attempts at delicacy. You are a most direct woman.”
“So direct that I will now ask you to hand over that shawl. It is why I am here, after all.”
“That is not the only reason why you are here, and we both know it.” His gaze dared her to deny the truth of that, to repudiate the scandalous tension slowly but relentlessly tightening between them.
“That is true,” she said. “I also came for another glass of champagne. There is no telling when and if I will drink it again.”
He laughed quietly and picked up the bottle. He began peeling the seal. “Since you said there was little risk tonight, I find myself inclined to press my advantage on a few of the conditions.”
“You are making new conditions? That is not fair.”
“Nor is encouraging me to get so foxed that I fall asleep. You did not play fair last time. You challenged me, then made sure my powder got wet.”
Not only had he been wondering, he had been reviewing the entire evening. “I did not encourage you to drink. If you could not fire your pistol, do not blame me.”
He examined her with a skeptical gaze. She returned an indignant one. He finally viewed her less dangerously. “My apologies. It was ignoble to claim you planned that.” He returned his attention to the bottle. “I only brought one this time, to make sure I did not overindulge in the wrong pleasure.”
“No strawberries and cream?”
