How to Handle a Scandal (20 page)

She was desperate to touch him by the time he let her hands go. She pulled his shirt free of his breeches and ran her hands over the bunched muscles of his abdomen, nearly expiring just from the pleasure of finally touching his bare skin. She explored greedily, and his flat stomach twitched as her hands skimmed downward. She found the hard ridge straining against his breeches.

She was rewarded with the sound of Tommy’s teeth gnashing. “God, Eliza.”

They touched each other with abandon through their clothes, until he tore her drawers downward. She paid him back by unfastening the buttons on his breeches, then gasped when he was exposed.

He laughed.

“It was dark at that brothel,” she explained, “and I couldn’t see you.”

He gave her a wicked look, reached for the table behind him, and pushed the dishes aside carelessly. His hands slid to her hips, and he lifted her and put her bottom on the table. Cutlery clattered to the floor.

“When I was younger,” she panted, “I thought you were so nice.”

“An illusion. I wanted to do all this to you back then, but I couldn’t.” He pulled her legs around his waist and pushed her gown back from her knees. With no hesitation, he touched her between her spread legs. He rubbed her in slow little circles that made her nearly crazed with pleasure.

“Tell me,” he said, still rubbing, and she knew she’d tell him anything if he only would keep doing what he was doing, “that night you were being Victoria, you said something about never knowing it could be so good.”

Her cheeks heated as she remembered.

“What exactly did you mean?” he asked as his clever fingers robbed her of the last vestiges of her will. “You’d been married—surely you’d done the deed before?”

“I meant the bliss,” she said, barely managing to get the words out.

His face lit up. “So you’d never known that bliss before?”

She shook her head.

If it was possible, the devilish light in his eyes turned wickeder. “But you liked it that night,” he said.

“Yes,” she whispered hoarsely.

He leaned over her and splayed his hands on either side of her head and moved into her slowly, impossibly slowly. She pressed against him, needing more, and he groaned but he wouldn’t be rushed as he filled her. She’d never wanted anything as urgently as she wanted Tommy right then, and she wrapped her legs around him as he bent over her.

He captured her hands again and swept them over her head and continued his slow torture.

“Tommy,” she murmured.

“Eliza,” he said. “You’ve never been more beautiful.”

Something in him seemed to break, and his strokes started to come faster, driving her nearly mindless until finally her release crashed over her. As she cried out, he captured the sound with his mouth, moaning as he found his own release.

A few moments later he slid onto the table, coming to rest at her side. “That was…rather wonderful.”

“Yes,” she breathed, still feeling a sense of awe. “It was.”

Something had happened to her, along with the physical pleasure. The first time they’d made love at the brothel, she’d felt an unaccustomed vulnerability, and now she felt it again, only stronger, and it scared her. She told herself that if she didn’t think about it, maybe it would go away.

Tommy leaned forward and collected her drawers and handed them to her along with his handkerchief. He fastened his breeches while she put herself to rights.

An enormous yawn stole over her. “It’s terribly late, and we still have so much to finish before people start arriving tomorrow. We ought to get to bed.”

“By all means,” he said, “but you’re sleeping in my bed from now on.”

“If you insist,” she said dreamily.

He held out a hand, and when she placed hers there, he kissed the back of her hand. “Though I warn you,” he said as he pulled the chair away from the doorknob, “you’re not going to get much sleep tonight.”

She gave a silent cheer. “Oh well, there’s always coffee.”

The household bustle started extra early the next morning as the staff hurried to put the final touches on the manor. Eliza had already let it be known that they could expect bonuses for their efforts, and they were all working like fiends.

Eliza and Tommy breakfasted quickly, standing at the sideboard in the dining room with cups of coffee and slices of leftover cake from the night before, a simple meal that left the kitchen staff free to continue with their preparation of pastries, breads, soups, and all manner of meats and vegetables for the guests who were expected to arrive late that morning.

Eliza stifled a yawn and helped herself to more coffee. Tommy had pounced on her almost as soon as they’d tumbled into bed the night before. His lovemaking was incredible, inventive, and unlike anything she’d ever experienced. Though
she
was the one who’d awoken
him
very early that morning.

“I hope there won’t be fish on the menu today,” he said as he blew on his steaming coffee.

“Only a bit of trout at dinner.” She nibbled a corner of cake, which was deliciously dusted with sugar.

“I thought wives were supposed to dote on their husbands, serving them only their favorite dishes.”

She gave him a look. “We’re also having a joint of beef. Most people like variety. And have you ever even tried trout?”

The edges of his mouth quivered.

“You haven’t!” she said triumphantly. “And you such an adventurer. I begin to wonder at all this swashbuckling you are reputed to have been doing, if you haven’t even had the courage to try different foods.”

He downed the last of his coffee and stepped close. He smelled of fresh morning, of rich coffee and shaving soap and a new start. “I’ll wager you’ll find, Lady Halifax, that I’m not in the least lacking in boldness.”

Her skin heated as she thought about all the places he’d touched her the night before. He leaned closer and his breath tickled her ear enticingly. “Keep remembering. Or better yet, come back to bed with me.”

“Certainly not,” she said, giving him a little push, though the primness she’d intended for her tone was compromised by her smile and the sparks dancing up her neck. “We have people arriving practically any minute.”

He sighed. “It will have to be a stolen moment later in the day. Maybe in the stillroom.”

She groaned. “You just reminded me: the stillroom is full of cobwebs. I’ll have to send someone to clean it. Now,” she said briskly, “since we still have no butler, please go down to the stable and check that everything is ready for the horses and coaches.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I love Will and Anna, but I don’t know what made them think we’d be ready for guests so soon.”

“There’s still time to hide all the food and extra wood. If we left Hellfire Hall to its own devices, it would probably drive them away in a matter of hours.”

“As if that would work.” She leaned forward and treated herself to a quick kiss on his freshly shaved cheek, then went to see to a thousand last-minute details.

Several hours later, she was settling the last bunch of flowers into a large crockery pot in the guest room meant for Meg when she looked out the window and saw the Grandville coach coming up the rutted drive to Hellfire Hall. She ran down the steps to the front door, calling out to Tommy that they’d arrived. He was standing in the drive with her as the carriage came to a stop.

“They’ll want to talk about the wedding and our marriage,” he said.

“I know.”

He took her hand and squeezed it.

Will handed Anna down, and she rushed forward and embraced them both eagerly. “Did he sweep you off your feet?” she asked Eliza when they pulled apart. “Were you surprised?”

“I was definitely surprised,” Eliza said. “We stopped at a little chapel in a village.”

Will pulled her into a crushing embrace. “Congratulations, dear Eliza,” he said.

“Thank you,” she murmured thickly, feeling the guilty weight of what their marriage meant to Will and Anna.

Will pulled Tommy into a hearty embrace. She noticed that Tommy had no trouble accepting his brother’s congratulations with easy cheer.

“There was a sort of general outrage in Town,” Anna said, “when it became known that the pair of you had eloped, thus depriving society of what everyone thought would have been the most exciting wedding of the year.”

“We felt cheated as well,” Will said, “so I’m sure you’ll forgive us for wishing to come celebrate with you here.”

“Of course,” Tommy said. He looked entirely relaxed, which Eliza couldn’t see how he managed with Will’s dark eyes fixed on him as though waiting for Tommy to enlighten him about the real reason they’d eloped.

Will swung Victoria and Heck down from the coach. Vic promptly caught herself up in Eliza’s skirts, hugging her legs and giggling, and Heck manfully extended a hand to Eliza, though the properness of the gesture was somewhat diminished by him saying, “Mama says I may call you Aunt Eliza now, but do I have to? I just want to call you Eliza.”

She leaned down and swiped a lightning-fast kiss across his boyish cheek. “Of course you can still call me Eliza. Though I think it’s pretty fine that you’re now my nephew as well as my cousin.”

“And here’s Rex, of course,” Will said, drawing Eliza and Tommy’s attention back to the coach. “Do join us, Rex.”

* * *

Tommy watched as Rex got down from the carriage.

“Sir Tommy,” Rex said casually as he shook his hand. Will caught Tommy’s eye and arched a brow as if to convey that Tommy was going to have his hands full. Apparently Rex’s stay at Halifax House hadn’t worked any civilizing magic on him, but Tommy hadn’t really supposed he could be that lucky.

He introduced Rex to Eliza. “Ma’am,” the boy said, his eyes widening with admiration as he took her in. Tommy hid a smirk.

“So you knew Sir Tommy in India, Rex?” she asked.

Rex shrugged, as though this was a topic of little interest to him. Clearly, unlike Heck, Rex didn’t think Tommy was all the crack. “He did the same sort of work my father did.”

Tommy swept his hand toward the manor with a flourish. “What do you all think?”

“It looks really old and crumbling,” Heck said with awe. “Can we explore it?”

“Of course,” Tommy said. “It would be a sad waste of a former pirate’s lair if you didn’t. You will doubtless be glad that the place has been cleaned up a bit, but I’m happy to report, for those who are interested,” his gaze included Rex, “that the dungeons have been left undisturbed.”

“Dungeons,” Heck breathed, his expression dreamy.

Rex rolled his eyes. “Is there a curricle? I should like to drive one. I’m known to be adept with horses.”

A stunned silence greeted these rude, pompous words, though Tommy heard Eliza’s softly indrawn breath. He summoned his most neutral tone—this was Oliver’s son, and even if he was a brat, he was surely still grieving the loss of his father—and said, “I’m afraid we don’t have a curricle here. But there’s a pony cart. Perhaps it could even be taken for a ride in the woods.”

“Oh!” said Vic, clapping her hands. “Are there foxes in your woods? I love foxes.”

“Pony carts are for babies,” Rex sneered.

“By the gods,” Tommy muttered, nearly in awe of the boy’s rudeness. He was saved from having to come up with some reply by a second carriage pulling up the drive.

“That will be Louie, Ruby, and Meg,” Will said. “They had to fetch Marcus from the Thorntons’, where he’s been staying while Lady Gildenhall is away visiting friends.” Lady Gildenhall was mother to Louie, Ruby, Emerald, Andrew, and Marcus. Ruby liked to say that Marcus, being so much younger than his other siblings, was like a prince with a bevy of attendants, but Eliza had noticed that, like the rest of them, Ruby was extremely fond of Marcus and enjoyed his youthful antics. Mostly.

“And they’ve brought David Holley’s daughter, Susanna, as well,” Anna said.

“You remember David Holley, Tommy,” Will said. “He was Louie’s conscience when they were at university together.” Tommy laughed. “Louie offered to bring Susanna to give the girl a holiday while David and his wife tour the Lake District. Susanna’s about the same age as Rex and Marcus.”

Marcus and Susanna spilled out of the carriage like cannon shot, full of repressed high spirits.

“Tommy!” Marcus called, sprinting over. “What a fantastic place!” At fourteen, Marcus was a bit taller than Rex and sturdier, with the confident air of a fellow who knew he was handsome, and whose brother was an earl. He had the Halifax green eyes and gold-colored hair like Louie, along with a nose that was currently a bit too big for his face.

“It does look…unusual,” Susanna Holley said, curtseying to Tommy and Eliza as Meg, Ruby, and finally Louie emerged from the carriage. The girl was quite pretty, with honey-blond ringlets and fine brown eyes, and Tommy noticed Rex’s eyes lingering on her when they were introduced. Rex and Marcus shook hands.

“We might take out the pony cart,” announced Vic.

“I once drove a pony cart so fast, the wheels came off,” Rex said.

Marcus guffawed. “That’s something!”

“Really, Marcus,” scolded Ruby.

Mrs. Hatch met the party inside and announced that there was lemonade in the garden. The young people all headed down the corridor that led to the back entrance, Marcus and Rex with their heads already bent together.

* * *

Meg slipped an arm around Eliza’s waist as they stood in the foyer and whispered, “When Anna told me they were coming here, I had to come too, to make certain you were all right. Did Tommy
kidnap
you that day we were on our way to Bath? I thought he was taking you back to London.”

Eliza gave a rueful chuckle. “I guess you could say he swashbuckled me. But everything’s all right.”

“Hmm,” Meg whispered back. “We have to talk later.”

“Well,” Tommy said to the group, “what do you all think of Hellfire Hall?”

“It’s charming,” Anna said. Will lifted a skeptical eyebrow and Tommy laughed.

“Well, it’s vastly better than it was when we arrived,” Tommy said, “but it’s still a work in progress. We hope you’ll all be comfortable, though.”

“It’s generous of you both to host us so soon after your wedding,” Ruby said.

Louie snorted. “As if they had a choice. I’m willing to bet Grandville simply announced we were coming.”

The corner of Will’s mouth quivered briefly.

“Hellfire Hall does look a bit grim on the outside,” Meg said, “though I thought I saw some pretty greenery hanging from the battlements.”

“I had some holly hung there, which I thought looked rather nice,” Eliza said.

“It spoils the whole brigand look of the place,” Tommy said with a sigh.

Meg laughed. “And that’s a bad thing?”

The foyer now looked much nicer as well. The walls had been hung with a stately old tapestry from the attic, a fire blazed in the enormous hearth, and a handsome table stood by the staircase, bearing a silver bowl piled with apples.

Meg’s eyebrows rose as her gaze landed on the sculpture Tommy had bought. She squinted at it. “What is that?”

“Art,” Tommy said. “Do you like it?”

“I couldn’t really say.”

“And isn’t that a sign of great art?”

Eliza noticed the edges of Meg’s mouth crinkling with suppressed laughter and smiled to herself. Meg was generally immune to charming men, but Tommy was awfully hard to resist.

“Well, Tommy,” Will said, “Rex is an interesting fellow.”

Tommy grimaced. “I suppose I owe you and Anna quite a bit for hosting him these last few days. Has he been an enormous trial?”

Anna glanced at her husband. “I’m sure we’d never describe a child in those words.”

“Oh, I think you could describe this one like that,” Will said. “He set fire to several of the rosebushes in the Halifax House garden.”

Tommy winced.

“And he’s the son of your friend?” Louie said incredulously.

Tommy nodded. “Oliver was an excellent fellow, but I did sometimes wonder if he’d neglected the boy. After Oliver’s wife died a few years ago, he left the boy in the care of a very indulgent ayah.”

Ruby said, “He seems unfortunately named, considering his temperament. And now you have your very own young king.”

“Not exactly,” Tommy hastened to say. “I’m merely looking out for him until his aunt can be found. She’s the wardrobe mistress for a traveling theater troupe, and I’ve got a man looking for her.”

Louie chuckled. “You’ll be lucky if she doesn’t meet the boy and decide not to take him.”

“Louie!” Ruby said.

“He seems to have been both ignored and spoiled,” Anna said. “With appropriate guidance, surely his better nature will emerge.”

Eliza said, “He reminds me of some of the girls we had at Truehart Manor. They just needed extra understanding.”

Will, Louie, and Tommy shared a look. “You may find that boys are much more annoying,” Louie said.

“Do remember,” Eliza said as she led them upstairs, “that the hall was abandoned for years before we arrived, and that its previous tenants were pirates.”

“I’m not certain whether to expect cold, dirty rooms, or treasure chests everywhere,” Louie said.

“Ha,” Tommy said. “Though, really, Eliza’s worked miracles. The place was nearly uninhabitable when we arrived.”

Eliza felt warmed by his praise. “Tommy was the one who bought all the art,” she said. “Including the sculpture in the entryway.”

“Then Tommy can be the one to answer any questions Vic and Heck have about what the sculpted people are doing,” Will said.

Meg was the last to be shown her room, and as she and Eliza and Tommy paused outside the door to her chamber, her eyes came to rest on Tommy.

“So,” she said a little stiffly, as though leaving him room to account for himself.

He laughed. “I haven’t done anything awful to your friend,” he said. “Well, except for bringing her here.”

Eliza sent Tommy off so she and Meg could have a few minutes alone. Meg’s trunks had already been brought up, and Mrs. Hatch would send a maid shortly to help with the unpacking.

As soon as they had closed the door, Meg said, “I’ve been worried about you, even though Anna explained about Tommy’s plans to sweep you off your feet.”