The Seduction of Sarah Marks (17 page)

“I didn’t know!” Eastleigh roared. “I thought you…the way you turned on me…”

A miserable little grin swiped Rob’s mouth. “Looks like we nearly did each other in, hey, Augie?”

They walked along for a while longer with Lilith in their arms and her with her eyes closed, silent as death. And Eastleigh filled with the pain of having remembered everything.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I think war destroys any sense of who we are when we are trained to fight the enemy. In my mind, you being a turncoat was the worst of the lot. I’d lost too many of my men to your kind—or what I thought was your kind.”

A grimness washed through Rob’s eyes and meshed with something Eastleigh could not discern. “I’m afraid I left you in a rather bad way, as well, Cousin.”

“You were only defending yourself.”

Rob set his focus over Eastleigh’s shoulder. “That’s not what I’m trying to apologize for.”

A shiver raced along Eastleigh’s spine. “Then what the hell for?”

“After your sword went through me, and you turned away, the Russian colonel slipped in behind you. I struck you, intending to merely knock you out long enough for him to think I’d done you in so he’d let his guard down and I could get a shot at him.”

“What are you saying?”

“I didn’t mean to cause you so much damage, Augie.”

Rob had caused his amnesia? Shock tore through him. He stumbled.

Lilith whimpered.

He shook his head to clear it and fell right back into step with Rob. “What the hell did you use on me?”

“A silver candelabrum the arrogant bastard insisted on carrying with him wherever he went.”

“Who rescued you?”

“You mean who rescued
us
? Hemphill. He came along just in time, or we both likely would’ve bled out—you with a split skull and me having been run through.”

Anger snaked through Eastleigh. “Then the
good
doctor knew everything all along.”

“He is a good doctor. He saved the both of us, didn’t he?”

“And said nothing to me all this while. The bloody bastard.”

Rob shrugged. “You know Hemphill’s theories. I agreed not to say anything to anyone, including your family. Had to let you despise me, even though your memory didn’t allow you to reason why.”

Eastleigh stared straight ahead, trying to sort out his feelings. “Is this why you’ve stayed away from our entire family all this while? From Mum?”

Rob gave him a rueful smile. “She can be a clever one at figuring things out, can’t she?”

They rounded a copse, and Eastleigh spied a mass of figures heading their way. “Here they come.”

Rob snorted. “Hemphill’s with them. Still so pitiful in the saddle, one can spot him a mile off.”

“Thank heavens,” Lilith said. “I doubt I could’ve stood the two of you much longer.”

Chapter Twenty-two

Lilith did not die on the dining room table while Hemphill operated on her as she’d feared. After Tildy washed her body and cleaned her hair, Doctor Hemphill placed a tea strainer over her nose and mouth and layered a cloth over the top where he dripped a smelly concoction he referred to as diethyl ether.

One moment she was awake, staring up at the lighted chandelier overhead, and the next thing she knew, she was lying in a big, comfortable bed in a room full of Malverns. The curtains were drawn wide, exposing a clear, blue sky.

“Look, she’s opened her eyes,” someone said, and the low din in the room quieted.

“There they went closed again. Someone get Hemphill.”

Was that a moan? Coming from her? Oh, she didn’t know. Or care. A heavy weight made the mattress sag, and a familiar hand touched her brow. Next thing, a kiss brushed her cheek, and that wonderful, deep voice she so loved to hear whispered in her ear. “You’ll be all right, darling.”

“Darling?” She struggled to respond, but couldn’t manage whatever it was she’d meant to say. Anyway, she’d forgotten already and drifted off.

A dull, thudding pain wrapped around her thigh, pinched her muscles, and drew her awake. Her eyelids fluttered open. Where had the day gone? In a room lit by a single candle, sat Eastleigh, handsome but so serious looking, with deep shadows smudged beneath his eyes. One elbow was propped on the chair’s arm, his thumb working at his chipped tooth. He wore his red silk banyan and dark slippers.

She glanced about the room. “I’m in your bed.”

He leaned over and gently tucked a stray lock behind her ear. “If you do not yet have all your faculties, let me remind you there was a certain discussion before the ether was applied, whereby you demanded to end up nowhere else.”

She took a long moment looking around the room while she collected her thoughts. Eastleigh’s chambers were rich in masculinity, but with a great depth of character—if one could say as much about a room. The rich dark woods, luxurious carpets, and lovely pieces Eastleigh had collected from his travels had been placed just so—all his doing. It was a large room, yet cozy with its fire blazing, two large chairs flanking the fireplace, and a shelf full of books.

A sense of belonging bloomed in her and brought a smile to her lips. “Yes, I do recall, now.”

Eastleigh settled his gaze on her. “I wouldn’t have wanted you to be anywhere else but here.” His voice caught, then grew husky. “With me. In this very bed.”

He moved from the chair and sat beside her, the mattress giving beneath his weight. “It’s been a frightfully long couple of days, darling. In more ways than you can imagine.”

The very sound of his voice would have been enough to soothe her, but the scent of him, the heat radiating from his body, and oh, his fingers tracing a line down her cheek comforted her even more. A simple act, but a slice of heaven nonetheless. “What of Mum?”

“She’ll be fine. A mild attack is all.” He moved his fingers to her mouth and outlined the edges of her lips, setting them to tingling.

“She’s already nagging Hemphill. Claims we drained her supply of good gin when he poured it through your wound before stitching you up. So now she’s decided to settle for cherry cordial.” A brief smile touched his lips. “Hemphill’s not letting her have any just yet, however.”

Lilith lifted a hand to cover his. Stilling her movements, he kissed her fingertips. “Is that what happened? He was able to remove the stick and then poured gin through the hole left in my leg?”

“That’s some of what happened. Stubborn little piece of wood, that. Left enough debris inside your leg to mulch a garden, so the whole ordeal took a bit more time then he’d anticipated. Would you care for a bit of laudanum to dull the pain?”

“Not at the moment.” They fell silent. He cared deeply for her. She was certain of it now. And with so great an intensity, the very essence of his devotion vibrated in the air between them. The heady notion washed through her like fresh rain on a spring day. She’d never felt such as this from anyone before. Hadn’t a clue what she’d been missing. And to think how foolishly close they had come to throwing it all away.

Tears clogged her throat. “You’re right. It has been a very long few days.” She took in a breath to try and ease her urge to cry. It did no good. “Do you recall I said one day I would feel the need to crawl into your arms and weep?”

“Is now the day?” The husk in his voice trickled through him clear to his skin and into hers. His fingers slipped from beneath her hand and slid over to run along the side of her jaw, soft as an angel’s kiss.

“I do believe so.” She patted the other side of the bed and forgot about trying to swallow her tears. “Come. Climb in beside me and hold me.”

“Give me a moment.” He moved to an enameled cabinet across the room and returned carrying a small black velvet box. “I had wanted to take you to a jeweler in France to have a special wedding ring made, but since we have yet to make the trip, I thought you might like this in the interim.”

His eyes filled with promise, he took a deep breath and opened the box.

Lilith gasped. A gold ring with a large, multi-faceted stone surrounded by seed pearls sat in the center of the black velvet. “Oh, my,” was all she could manage.

“It was Mum’s. The stone is a rare alexandrite that came out of an emerald mine in the Russian Urals. She’d like you to have it. If it doesn’t suit you, we can have something made once we get to Paris.”

Lilith lifted the ring from the case and slipped it on her finger. “How could I ever want something other than this? It’s exquisite. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“The special thing about an alexandrite is, if you observe the color during the day, it is a lovely blue, but in the evening, it turns nearly purple, as you see it now. I don’t know how it works, but I always thought it was lovely.”

Lilith looked up at her husband and, with tears falling freely, patted the bed once again. “Now, I really do need to crawl into your arms.”

…

Morning greeted Lilith with breakfast in bed brought by Tildy and her mother. Eastleigh, up and already dressed, followed behind them, supervising their every move and acting as though she’d never been banished from Easton Park. “You’ll not stay long. I don’t want my wife tired out.”

“Oh, Eastleigh, I’m already frightfully bored, and it’s not even nine of the clock. I could use some company seeing as how you’ve been gone since the crack of dawn.”

He grinned. “I’d think twice about extending an invitation if I were you. We’ve a house full of Malverns, all itching to hear your side of things. Especially the part about meeting up with Rob.” He shot her a curious look. “Which I’ve wondered about, as well.”

Oh, dear.
She got busy with her eggs and kippers. Had Rob said anything about what occurred at his house? Eastleigh wouldn’t be
that
forgiving. “Speaking of your cousin, what happened to him after Doctor Hemphill had me placed in the back of the wagon? I cannot recall seeing him again, and I should like to thank him.”

Eastleigh sat in the chair closest to the bed. “Once he saw you were taken care of, he went home straight away. He’s accepted an invitation to dinner this evening.” He paused to study her for a moment. “About your meeting up with him—there’s no need to tell the tale more than once, so if you’d care to inform me, I can relay the facts to the others.”

Lilith’s mother watched her, waiting quiet as a mouse while Tildy poured a cup of tea, set it on Lilith’s tray, and backed away. “If that’s all, milady, I’ll excuse myself and leave you to your privacy.”

A good sip of tea ought to wet Lilith’s suddenly dry throat. She took her time depositing the sugar into the cup and stirring slowly while she thought things through. No sense in being specific about
certain
things that had been horribly misunderstood. She took a sip and set her cup down.

And no sense dawdling any further or suspicions would certainly arise, especially where the naughty Sir Crocodile was concerned. “Oh, there’s nothing to tell, really. The storm had grown quite fierce by the time I got to Rob, so I notified him of Mum’s having taken ill. After that, I hurried back ahead of him, only to have the tree tumble over right when I got there and toss me into the river. Since he was not far behind me, he saw what happened and dove right in.”

She looked at her mother and her husband and smiled. There, that was indeed the truth, as it were. “I do need to thank him.”
And see to it he does not elaborate any further.

Eastleigh’s eyes narrowed, and he opened his mouth to speak, but a knocking on the door stopped him. “Blast it all, the locusts have descended.”

“How do you know it’s a Malvern and not the doctor?” Lilith asked.

“Because there’s that irritating little one tap, followed by four, and then two more.” There it went again, precisely as he’d said. “Come in, for God’s sake.”

The door opened a ways, and a hand shoved through, holding a bouquet of flowers—all whites and blues, with a single red rose in the center. It had to be Sebastian, the big flirt. “How lovely! Do come in.”

Lady Willamette stepped over the threshold.

Lilith’s mouth fell open.

Eastleigh snorted.

Lilith’s mother stepped forward. “I had better go.”

“No,” Will said. “What I have to say is for everyone’s ears.” She approached the bed and held herself straight and proud. “I should not have left Miss Sarah Marks’s gardening book on your bed when Eastleigh asked me not to. It was wrong of me.”

She dug into her trouser pocket and pulled out a packet. “These are seeds from Miss Marks’s own garden. I do hope you will see fit to planting them in yours.”

Eastleigh’s brow shot up. “Hell, Will. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Shut it, Augie.” She looked around. “Where’s Tildy? I need a bloody vase.”

Lilith clasped her hand over her mouth to keep from giggling—at Will for trying to act so surly, for the astonishment on Eastleigh’s face, and for Mother’s cheeks reddening at Will’s use of the word “bloody,” as if using the term were an everyday occurrence. Come to think of it, for Will, it probably was.

“I’ll see to finding Tildy.” Lilith’s mother made to slide out the door.

“No need,” Will said, crossing over to yank on the bell pull.

Lilith’s mother sat in a chair and folded her hands in her lap, looking quite uncomfortable.

“The flowers are lovely, Will. And I can’t wait to plant the seeds.” She had to come up with something better than that to try and ease Will’s obvious discomfort. “And as for you placing the book on my bed, don’t let’s get buried in the past. We only have the moment, so let us live in it.”

“I say, isn’t that my line?” Merriment danced in Eastleigh’s eyes.

The door, having been left partially open by Lilith’s mother, swung wide, and three brothers stepped through. Ridley handed Will a vase. “Need one of these, dear girl?”

Rose, Violet, and Iris rushed in behind them and straight to Lilith’s bedside. “We’ve been waiting in Mum’s room,” Iris said. “She’s awfully upset that she’s not allowed out of bed to join in. I think she is about to convince Doctor Hemphill that it is far worse to have her upset in her own chambers whilst we hear all about what happened.”

Lilith looked about the room and at everyone gathered around, so obviously glad to see her. Life was good. More than good. She thought of her visit to Lord and Lady Ardmore’s home and his daughters lying about their father’s bed while Rose read to them. Her throat got a little tight, so before she lost her nerve, she patted the bed. “Come, ladies. Join me, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

…

Eastleigh entered his bedchamber four days later, carrying a box Mum had given him. “The locusts have departed, and with Hemphill’s permission, Mum has called us to high tea. I’ll carry you.”

Lilith tossed back the covers. “You mean I can finally leave this room? No wonder you were so anxious to get up and about after you took that nasty fall. What’s in the box?”

He set it on the bed and removed the cover. “Something from Mum’s travels that should prove to be a sight more comfortable than a corset and stuffy day dress.”

“Why would I need anything but a dressing gown if everyone’s gone and we’re merely going down the corridor to Mum’s chambers? Besides, Mum said she and Lady Hester Stanhope dressed in men’s clothing while abroad, so I doubt I’d be at all interested.”

“Darling, she managed to pack away a lady’s frock or two. You’re going to like this. Mum’s below, by the way, waiting for us.”

He lifted out a silky-looking, pale turquoise garment in two pieces. “And look, you have slippers to match.”

“Oh, my. The color alone is worth the wearing.” She reached over and took the fabric between her fingers. “So soft. Would you mind calling for Tildy to help me into it?”

“I can manage this.” He leaned over and touched the tip of his tongue to her earlobe. God, he loved the taste of her skin.

Her breath escaped with a small hiss. His groin tightened. The days coming up, before those stitches in her leg were removed and he could get his hands all over her, were going to grow mighty long. “Here, let me help you out of your gown.”

“I’ll need my chemise and drawers. Tildy knows where they are. Or I can manage since Doctor Hemphill has me walking a few steps.”

“You won’t need them. Can you manage to stand?”

“I see.” She scraped her teeth over her bottom lip, and a flush rose to her cheeks.

Hell, the mere mention of going without her underthings, and she was as ready as he to do more than hold one another through the night. She rose from the bed and lifted her arms over her head.

He removed her nightrail and dropped it to the floor. Then groaned. “You’re so incredibly beautiful.”

She took his hand and placed it against her breast. “I think I’d like one of those delicious kisses you’re so good at giving.”

“Take care with your leg, Lilith.” But his thumb had already rubbed across her nipple. It grew taut beneath his touch.

She leaned into him and, pressing her body against his, set her mouth to his lips. Their tongues touched, and his cock jumped to attention. Her hand found the front of his trousers and slid up and down. A wild, primal urge cut straight to his core. He was so hard now, he hurt. A husky moan slipped past his lips. He pulled away. “We can’t do this.”