Читать книгу Regency Scoundrels And Scandals - Louise Allen - Страница 29

‘Madame! Madame? Here, you, you can’t go in there and…Guv’nor!’ Grimstone came pounding down the passageway from the taproom, big fists clenched, then skidded to a halt, his expression one of almost comical astonishment as Jack turned, Eva in the crook of his arm.

‘Thank you, Grimstone. Madame is quite safe with me.’

The bodyguard backed off, grinning. ‘We’re in the taproom, guv’nor, if there’s anything you need.’

‘Divine intervention, probably,’ Eva thought she heard Jack mutter. ‘You can get my boots off,’ he added more loudly, standing on one foot while the man tugged from the back. The boot slid off with an unpleasant squelch and they switched to the other.

‘Landlord! A hot bath as soon as possible, if you please,’ Eva ordered, her hands already dragging off the heavy greatcoat. ‘You are soaked, right through. You’ll catch your death, Jack.’

He shrugged off the greatcoat and coat together, bundled them into Grimstone’s arms and turned back to her. ‘Don’t fuss, sweet, I am tough enough to stand some rain.’

‘You look like a half-drowned rat. Come to the fire.’ She tugged, but he stood his ground, then stooping, swept her up in his arms and made for the stairs. ‘Jack!’ Eva registered the staring faces around them break into broad smiles and buried her face in Jack’s shoulder. ‘Jack,’ she whispered, half in sheer embarrassment, half with the joy of being able to say his name.

‘Forget the hot water,’ he threw back over his shoulder as he climbed. ‘I’ll ring later.’

‘Jack!’ she was still protesting as he shouldered open the door and set her on her feet inside the bedchamber.

‘Eva.’ The door closed with a thud and the key clicked. ‘Eva, what in Heaven’s name are you doing here? Has there been an accident? Where’s Freddie? You should have been in Maubourg by now.’

‘He is, we were. I mean, we arrived yesterday. Freddie is with his uncle.’

‘So why are you here?’ Jack stood dripping, the water still trickling down from his hair and regarded her steadily. Oh, Lord, she had made such a mess of his face.

‘I was coming back. To England.’

‘But why are you here? If you left this morning, you should be well on your way by now.’ He did not ask why she was returning, she noticed with sinking heart.

Jack would think her a foolish and romantic woman, but there was nothing for it but to explain. ‘I wanted to stay in the inns we had used. And I could hardly turn up at ten in the morning at this one, could I? I have been here just two hours.’

He smiled then, his mouth curving into a tender line that made the tears start in her eyes. ‘Why were you coming back? Had you forgotten your bonnet?’

‘No.’ She could not joke about it. And she had to say it now. ‘I was coming to see you and say I was sorry. I handled it so badly.’ She could not stand to be the focus of those intelligent grey eyes—they seemed to see right through her, into the muddle and fear inside. ‘I thought about status and what I ought to do as Grand Duchess, not what I wanted to do as a woman. I hurt your pride, I made demands without thinking what you would need or want. I did not tell you the important thing.’ The words stuck in her throat. Dare she say them? Once said, they could never be unsaid.

But he did not ask. Of course, he did not want her to say it. Eva felt her heart sink, all the warmth his presence had surrounded her with shrank away. Why, with her handprint on his face, would Jack want her explanations?

‘Aren’t you going to ask me why I am here?’ The deep, amused voice did not sound like the angry man she had left at the masquerade.

‘I assume you were driven here by the storm.’

‘As it happens, I was heading for this place. Eva, has it not struck you as rather strange that I am here at all?’

‘Oh.’ She stared at him. ‘Of course. I was thinking so much about you it never occurred to me. You should be in London!’

‘I should be where you are,’ he said gently, taking her hand and pulling her to him. ‘I wanted to spend one night here before going on to the castle. One night to remember the first one, one night to get my speech in order.’

‘Speech?’ She was feeling stupid, numb, Somewhere a voice was whispering that this was going to be all right, but she dare not heed it.

‘The one where I fall to one knee and kiss your hand.’ He knelt in front of her and lifted her hand to his lips with his cold, damp one. ‘The one where I tell you I love you and ask you to marry me.’ He waited patiently, his lips curving into a smile against her knuckles.

‘But you said…’ She stumbled to a halt, gazing down on the bent head, the otter-sleek wet hair, the vulnerable, exposed nape. ‘You love me?’

‘I love you. I should have told you then, in London. Instead I said a number of stupid, angry things. Eva, I let my pride get in the way of how I feel about you. I reacted without thinking about how we could make this work, and I know we can.’

‘And I did not even think about how it needed to be made to work. I did not think about compromise, I just wanted you in my life. My old life, as though I could uproot you, demand that you fit into the court at Maubourg.’

‘We need to invent a new life.’

‘Oh, yes.’ A new life, with Jack. Who loved her.

‘There was an important thing you had to say to me,’ he prompted.

‘I have never said it to any man before.’ Eva tugged at his hands until he rose and stood very close, looking down at her. Her heart was banging against her ribs. She had to explain that this was not an easy thing, a thing she had given before. She searched for the words. ‘Louis did not expect me to love him, and although I respected him very much, I never felt anything more for him than that. But I want to say those words to you, and for you to know how important they are for me.’

‘Which is why it is hard to say.’ Jack nodded. ‘I understand. If it were not important, it would be easy, that is how I felt. I have never said those words, either.’

‘I love you.’ Eva put one hand on his shoulder and lifted the other against the bruises on his cheek. His skin was stubbled and cold, but she felt as though she was warm right through from that one touch. ‘I love you with all my heart, and I wish very much to marry you.’ And then it was suddenly easy to say. ‘I love you, I love you, I lo—Jack!’ He swept her up in his arms again and carried her to the bed. She stared up at him from the soft white quilt. ‘Jack, you must get warm, you are soaked through.’

‘I intend to get warm, very soon.’ He had discarded his neckcloth, his numb fingers were fumbling the buttons on his shirt; she knelt up on the bed to help. He tossed it aside and she found that her hand was pressed flat against the front of his breeches, against the only hot part of him. ‘Just as soon as I get these off.’ He moved her hands away and unfastened the fall, pushing them off so he stood naked and magnificent and completely unashamed in front of her, showing her just how much he wanted her. ‘There. Now you can warm me up.’

‘Dry your hair first,’ Eva said shakily, half-convinced she had fallen asleep in front of the parlour fire and was dreaming this.

‘Undress.’ Impatient, Jack reached for a towel and began to rub his hair, his eyes never leaving her.

There was no disobeying him, there never was. Eva slid off the bed and began to unbutton her gown, heeling off her slippers. She should undress slowly, she thought, tease him, but she was too impatient. Her fingers moved faster and faster, pulling at her petticoats, yanking at her corset strings, fumbling with her garters until she was naked.

Jack tossed the wet towel on to the tumbled heap of her clothes and turned to sit on the bed, pulling her towards him until she was standing between his legs.

‘Now then, your Serene Highness, how do you propose going about this?’

‘Like this.’ Eva put her hands on his shoulders for balance and climbed up so she was kneeling on the edge of the bed, straddling the narrow hips, her thighs pressed tight against his flanks, the heat of her tantalising, just above the thrusting erection. She wriggled, seeking just the right angle, making him gasp and clutch her waist, then she slid down in one hard movement to take him, all of him, possessing and possessed.

Eye to eye they were still, her breasts pressed against him, his barely controlled, panting breath fretting their nipples together into an almost unbearable friction. Then she leaned her weight in, feeling the inner muscles gripping and holding the whole hot wonderful length of him as they fell in a tangle of limbs, back on to the bed.

Jack rolled her, his voice a growl, his mouth everywhere, tasting and licking and kissing as though to reclaim every inch of her. ‘I love you,’ he gasped in her ear, ‘I love you.’

‘I love you,’ she answered, only to find his kiss swallowing the words as his mouth sealed over hers, drawing the breath and the soul out of her body. He drove into her, harder, deeper than she had thought possible, and began to move, driving her wild, her body arching under his, her legs curled round his hips, her heels locked, urging his taut buttocks down.

‘I love you.’ Which of them spoke? She did not know, only that the world was turning into black velvet night, that she was spinning in space, that the pleasure flooding her body was his gift to her, just as she gave him all the love in her heart as he reared up, taut with ecstasy above her, gasped her name and collapsed into her embrace, their bodies still locked in delight.

Jack was conscious of determined hands dragging the covers up over his body, opened one eye and found he was burrowed comfortably into Eva’s bosom. Bliss. He extended his tongue and touched one pink nipple and was rewarded by a squeak of outrage and a giggle. He shifted his position and began to give the stiffening peak serious attention.

‘Jack—not again! My love, we ought to eat.’ My love. He closed his eyes again and just luxuriated in the words.

‘Must we?’ he managed at length.

‘Yes.’ Eva wriggled upright, a deliciously arousing activity in itself. ‘We have made love a positively indecent number of times and I am starving.’

‘Mmm,’ he agreed. Her change of position had brought his head into her lap; his tongue was quite prepared to explore down here, as well.

‘Jack!’ It was the imperious Grand Duchess voice. He rather thought he had not been dragged out of trouble by his ears since he was six, but he yielded, flopping over on to his back to smile up at her sleepily.

‘Dinner,’ he agreed. ‘I’ll ring.’ His legs supported him as far as the bell pull, just. He yanked at it, then struggled into his shirt and breeches. ‘Where? Here?’

‘Yes.’ Eva had slid out of bed and was groping amidst her clothes, complaining because the wet towel had made her stays damp. ‘Oh, bother it.’ She tossed her underthings aside, dragged on her gown, pushed her bare feet in to her slippers and went to braid her hair into a thick tail down her back.

There was a tap at the door. Jack put out his head and found Grimstone there, his expression so blank it was positively insolent. ‘Food. Wine. Here. Quickly.’

‘Guv’nor. It’s one o’clock.’ There was a pause. ‘In the morning.’ Another pause. ‘I’ll find something.’

Jack closed the door and leaned on it. ‘Do you know what time it is?’

Eva’s eyes were wide. ‘I heard. Poor Grimstone.’

‘I am sorry. Are you very tired?’

‘No. Not at all.’ His love twinkled at him wickedly. ‘I had a very nice sleep after the last time.’

‘Eva, we have to talk before we get to Maubourg. We have to have decided how this is going to work before we talk to Freddie and your brother-in-law.’

She got up and went to clear the small table that would take their food. With her hair in its simple plait and her rumpled skirts, she looked deliciously domestic. ‘I had thought—and you must tell me if this is not all right—that we could be in England when Freddie is at school and then here when it is the holidays. But I do not know whether you have an estate in England.’ She shook her head ruefully. ‘I am so ashamed, I never even took the time to find out about your home.’

‘That is a good compromise.’ Jack found himself thinking about Knightsacre, how he had neglected it, how it needed a mistress to love it back into life. ‘My estate is called Knightsacre. You would like it, Eva, it is in the West Country. Soft, green land, rolling hills, wide, clear rivers. You could learn to be the mistress of the house—it is three hundred years old, but with no towers and no dungeons. I have neglected it for years: it is waiting for you.’

‘Oh, yes. I can imagine it, imagine you riding home from wide acres to the steps of an English mansion that we will make home again for us. But here—what will you do in Maubourg? Will you not be bored? That was what I was going to think about on the journey.’

The knock on the door halted her worries while Grimstone carried in his spoils from the kitchen and set them out. ‘This all right, guv’nor?’

‘Good, thank you. You go to bed now.’

‘We’re taking it in turns to sit up. Don’t like to leave the place unguarded, not with Madame on the premises.’ He inclined his head sharply to Eva and took himself out.

Jack pulled up a chair and waited for Eva to sort out the platters of bread, cheese and cold meats. ‘You are worrying about me being bored—does that mean I have to work?’ His mouth quirked. ‘I was expecting to have a very smart cocked hat and to stand one pace behind you during ceremonials, looking handsome.’ Her dismay at his teasing must have shown on her face. ‘I am sorry, sweet. I thought I would be an additional tutor for Freddie—teach him to shoot and fence and improve his riding. And I wonder if there is something I can do to promote agriculture—growing flowers for perfume is all very well, but the arable crops look woeful.’

She reached across the table and touched his hand. ‘You will be his father, not his tutor; he will love the attention. Thank you.’ She took a sip of tea and frowned. ‘Jack, will this stop your work for the government?’

‘It will stop my private work. As for the government, I will have to see. I would not be able to do anything that could compromise the duchy.’

‘Or dangerous.’ He raised one eyebrow. ‘Oh, all right, anyone would think it is fun! Well, nothing involving rescuing ladies, that I insist upon.’

‘Very well.’ He could promise that, at least.

‘Jack,’ she said again, still frowning in thought.

‘Yes?’ He watched her and tried to come to terms with being happy. It felt very odd.

‘Before, when we have made love, you were very careful. Tonight you have not been.’ She blushed rosily. ‘I liked it even more. But does that mean you do not mind if we start a family?’

‘I would like to, very much.’

‘Oh, good.’ Her smile made him feel he had given her the earth and the sea and the sky. It made him feel so powerful that he could do anything. ‘A boy and a girl?’

‘A boy and two girls,’ he corrected. ‘We need to keep the numbers even, and the girls will look like you, which will be delightful.’

‘Very well. How wonderful if we had started our family tonight.’

‘How soon can we get married?’ He had not thought of that. A baby. There must be no scandal. And this was not something that could be achieved with a quick licence from the Bishop.

Eva frowned, a slice of bread halfway to her lips. She really did not look like a Grand Duchess. He tried to remember the imperiously angry creature he had found in her chamber the first night.

‘Two weeks,’ she pronounced. ‘I will tell the Archbishop he must sort it out.’

Oh, yes! Imperious was back. ‘Make it three,’ he suggested. ‘Then we can get the English guests here. I’ll start a list.’

They carried the notebook and pencil back to bed, leaning shoulder to shoulder as they planned the wedding. ‘Who gives you away?’ Jack asked, and was answered by a soft murmur. Her head was on his shoulder, her eyes closed. He prised the paper from her hands and snuggled her back into the bed, then slipped out to douse the candles. As he got back she turned, curled her arm around his chest and snuggled close. Jack closed his eyes on the darkness and smiled. He had told her he would always come back for her, and he had. The miracle was, she had been there for him.

It had not occurred to Eva that anyone would recognise her. Their first visit, and then last night, had lulled her into a sense of security. But when they came downstairs the next morning they found in the entranceway Grimstone and both footmen, ostensibly discussing the state of Jack’s boots with the landlord. There were also a plump woman, several maids and the ostler.

‘Madame,’ the landlord said seriously, breaking off the discussion and hurrying to the foot of the stairs. ‘I must tell you, my wife has recognised you. I just wanted to say that all here are loyal supporters of the Grand Ducal house and we would sooner cut out our own tongues than gossip. You may be assured of our utmost discretion.’

She felt ready to sink, but Jack merely shook the startled innkeeper by the hand ‘You are all invited to the wedding,’ he said largely. ‘Grimstone, see to it. Oh, yes, and a coat of arms for over the door. By Appointment.’ He murmured in Eva’s ear in English. ‘I can do that, can’t I?’

‘Freddie can. You had better ask him.’ She was going to collapse into giggles at any moment, which was probably better than strong hysterics, which seemed the alternative option. Jack was getting the hang of this very rapidly; she had forgotten that in his trade acting was a vital skill.

‘I had better ask his permission to marry you, don’t you think?’ he added, handing her up into the coach.

‘You would both be crippled with embarrassment,’ Eva protested.

‘Nonsense. I will be very solemn, call him by his title every other word. He’ll love it. Then we can drink a toast in best Napoleon brandy.’

‘Jack, he’s nine!’

‘I did say best brandy.’ He grinned unrepentantly as she shook her head at him. ‘Now brief me about everyone I am going to meet.’

‘Well, as you’ve sent Grimstone on ahead, I should imagine the entire court will have turned out.’ Eva made herself concentrate—staring like a moonling at her gorgeous lover and husband-to-be would have to wait. ‘First of all there is Philippe…’

The entire court and the full Guard of Honour and all the staff appeared to have turned out. Jack helped her down amidst a trumpet fanfare and wild clapping from the onlookers.

‘How do they know?’ he hissed, nodding towards the townsfolk.

‘They don’t, but this is obviously an Occasion.’

‘I am going to design myself a uniform,’ Jack remarked as they solemnly paced across the flagstones to where Philippe was waiting, Freddie grinning hugely at his side. ‘Something very severe and black with just a hint of silver braid.’

‘There is no need, my love.’ Eva waved graciously to the cheering crowd, her other hand very obviously resting on Jack’s arm. She felt so proud she thought she was going to float. ‘I have thought of a suitable office and title for you, and it doesn’t come with a uniform.’

‘None?’

‘Not a stitch,’ she said as they arrived at the foot of the steps. ‘Master of the Bedchamber.’

Jack stopped and looked down at her, his eyes dark, and she wondered for a moment if the joke offended him. Then he tossed his hat at the crowd, took her firmly in his arms, and kissed their Grand Duchess full on the mouth. As the crowd roared its approval, he lifted his lips just enough to murmur, ‘An office for life, I collect, my darling. I accept, with all my heart.’