She was probably right.
One thing he did know. He could not stay here all night. Eventually, maybe, when she knew her servants better and if she was very sure of them. But not tonight. Marriage would be much more convenient, that was certain.
He set her away, then sat. “I’ll make sure no one sees me leave.”
Her hand caressed his back. He turned, bent, and kissed her.
“Tomorrow next,” she said. “I’ll decide by then.”
Chapter Eighteen
Kevin punched toward Nicholas’s body. Nicholas danced out of range, then stepped forward and punched back. The impact on his torso almost took Kevin’s breath away.
Nicholas stepped back again. “I refuse to go on. You are not paying attention. Much more of this and I will hurt you. I’m going to wash.”
“My apologies,” Kevin said while he followed him toward the dressing room. “I have no excuse.”
“I shouldn’t have encouraged you. You came down to breakfast half asleep.” Nicholas stripped off his shirt while the attendant poured warm water into two basins. “Are you announcing that engagement soon?”
Kevin dealt with his own washing. “That will be decided soon. She may well decline. She is smart enough to know what she will lose in the marriage. I may have to content myself with the way matters now stand.”
“It is odd for a woman to choose a liaison over marriage.”
“I’m wondering how to do that, if it goes that way.” Kevin wiped his face. “How do you do it?”
Nicholas’s motions stilled. Kevin kept washing.
“Are you asking me how to conduct an affair?”
“Only the practical strategies. I assume you know all about maintaining discretion and such. I am a novice at that.”
Nicholas proceeded to dress. “The first thing you need to know is that discretion is something of a joke. You need to go through the inconvenience of being discreet, but everyone will still know what is going on. They will pretend they don’t if you make the effort, however.”
“Why bother if there will still be gossip?”
“It buys you quiet gossip, instead of insults-at-your-club and doors-closing-in-your-face gossip. As for the lady, efforts at discretion will protect her reputation in a public sense, but there will still be talk. Just not getting-called-out-and-killed talk.” Nicholas checked his cravat. “Come with me if you expect more.”
Kevin joined Nicholas in wandering the streets until they found a tavern near the river.
“You have grown fond of democratic drinking establishments,” Kevin said, joining him at a rough table. The men around them bore the garments and speech of workers from the docks.
Nicholas called for two pints. “The ale is good and there isn’t a single member of the ton present to eye me like a chicken to be had for dinner.”
“The Season isn’t going well?”
“The fathers are as bad as the mothers. I lately embarked on a very indiscreet liaison in the hopes of discouraging them all, to no avail.” He shook his head.
“You were about to tell me about the discreet kinds, however.”
“You would see the steps if you turned that mind of yours to it. You go to her house, not she to yours. You arrive very late and leave before the street has risen.”
“I have figured out that much.”
“Even in the house, you avoid being seen by the servants, although they will all know you are there. If you arrive by coach, you get out two streets away and walk the rest. If you ride your horse, you use a stable in a distant mews. If you truly want to be discreet, you do not enter by the front door, but through the garden.”
“Must I climb up to her window?”
“I’m glad you find this amusing. No need to climb in windows because, as I said, no one really is being fooled.”
