“I should never have let you leave the house. I don’t wish to explain your death to your mother. Take the dress off if you like, I’ll not complain.” Standing within the shaft of moonlight his worried look belied his flirtatious words.
“Gerard…”
“Be still, Harry.Please.”
Down on her knees, Harriett scattered straw searching for her shawl. Finding it, she pulled it out.
“Your gown is undone at the back,” Gerard said, “I’ll do it up for you.”
She drew in a sharp breath she was naked underneath. “It’s all right the way it is.”
“You’ll catch a cold. There’s a cool breeze tonight. Why didn’t you wear your pelisse?”
“It wasn’t in my room,” she said defensively.
He grabbed her shoulders. “Turn around.”
“Well really,” she protested, affronted at being manhandled. Aware by his tone that he wouldn’t be put off, she turned her back to him.
“Your hair is like a cloud of burnished gold,” he said, sweeping her tresses over her shoulder. “Seeing it this way reminds me of when you were a schoolroom miss. Don’t have so many freckles now.”
“I had very few freckles,” she said incensed.
“You still have a small scattering over your nose,” he murmured. “They suit you.”
Gerard’s strong fingers worked at her dress, his knuckles grazing against her spine. His touch stirred Harriett’s nerves to fever pitch.
“Why do women’s clothes have to be such an infuriatingly complicated arrangement? This design is more complex than a maze. Men are able to slip in and out of their clothes with ease.”
“Not the tight coats the Bond Street beaus wear. And some men wear corsets!” Wondering how many other gowns he’d wrestled with, she held the bodice of her gown against her breasts as his expert fingers looped the strings.
“Well you’re not wearing a corset, Harry, or a petticoat.”
“I couldn’t manage them on my own.”
“Which rather makes my point doesn’t it.”
If there was a point, she’d lost the sense of it some minutes ago. What was she doing here with her reputation at risk? He grew silent as he worked. She tried to breathe normally. One breath in and one out.In and out. Why did he take so long? His fingers moved closer to the two dimples at the base of her spine. She tingled all over and fought the urge not to pull away.
“You have very soft skin, Harry.” His voice sounded gruff.
She let the breath out in a gasp. “Do I?”
“It’s so pale.” He tugged more forcefully his breathing labored. “Do you never wear anything under your gowns?”
“Of course I do!” She jerked away from him and heard a ripping noise.
“That’s torn it! What did you do that for?”
“You were standing on my flounce! And it’s none of your business what I wear under my gowns.” She moved away, dragging the shawl with her. “I’ll never be able to explainthisto Mama.”
“Let me finish this.” He grabbed the loose ties of her dress and drew them forward beneath her arms.
“I’ll finish it, thank you.” She snatched the strings from him. There was no way she could endure his knuckles touching her unfettered breasts on the high-waisted gown. She tied a neat bow under the bodice, and arranged the shawl over her shoulders.
He huffed out a sigh. “I’m sorry Harry. I shouldn’t have asked you to come out here tonight. I must have lost my mind.”
“And you’ve told me nothing. Have you no idea who that man was?”
