by Cheryl Bolen
It wasn't until late that afternoon they got away from the Consulate and made it back to their hotel, sadly flat as he, Daphne, and Maxwell gathered in the hotel's drawing room. They were soon joined by Rosemary and her Captain. Since there was no longer a need for secrecy, they were free to disclose in front of Captain Cooper the reason for their presence in Egypt. This they did as they told Rosemary all that had transpired in their confrontation with Arbuthnot.
“I never cared for Mr. Arbuthnot,” Rosemary said, “but I hate to see him hang.”
“Mr. Briggs said that the fact he accepted money from a French agent was enough to charge him with treason,” Daphne said.
Captain Cooper winced. “The penalty for which is hanging.”
“It’s too late for Arbuthnot to learn that he who lies with dogs riseth with fleas,” Jack said. There was no greater dog than d'Arblier.
Rosemary had not taken a seat but had continued to stand next to the Captain. “I have an announcement to make.”
All eyes went to her.
“I have given Captain Cooper permission to ask Papa for my hand in marriage.”
If the poor girl had been expecting a gushing of congratulations, she had miscalculated. Several seconds of complete silence followed her announcement. They were all stunned.
Maxwell was the first to respond. He stood, crossed the floor, and offered to shake Cooper’s hand. “Felicitations, Captain. You are a most fortunate man.”
Then he moved to Rosemary and bowed. “I hope you will be very happy, my lady.”
Drawing his breath, he said, “I shall take my leave. I have correspondence that demands my attention.”
Poor fellow. Maxwell may have turned in a commendable performance, but there was no doubt he was gravely wounded by the announcement.
Daphne was quick to follow suit, offering her congratulations, but Jack could tell she did so only for politeness. Her voice lacked the warmth such an occasion would normally elicit in her.
Begrudgingly, he offered the ill-suited couple his best wishes.
Before an awkward silence could ensue, they were called to the dinner room. Maxwell never showed. Daphne picked at her food. Jack knew she was anxious to be alone with him to discuss this proposed addition to her family.
Half way through the meal, she rose, saying that she’d lost her appetite. “I know you and Captain Cooper have much to discuss. I think, too, you’ll be safe in your chamber tonight and won’t have to come to our room—unless, of course, it would please you to do so.”
“I believe the threats to my safety are now gone,” Rosemary said.
Jack stood, claiming his appetite had deserted him also. “It’s been a wretched couple of days.”
In their chamber, Daphne collapsed on the bed, fully clothed. Her voice was incredibly somber when she spoke. “My sister has made a grave mistake.”
“I know. It’s not a good match. Except for Cooper.”
“I really thought she and Mr. Maxwell were perfect for each other.”
Jack shrugged. “It’s hard to compete with one who’s the epitome of masculine physical perfection.” Not that Jack normally noticed another man’s appearance. It was just that he’d heard so much praise heaped upon Cooper that he’d taken notice of the man’s height and build and realized that few men were in possession of such attributes. A pity. Maxwell, though small, was twice the man.
“I’m just so beastly blue-deviled. I had loved coming here, and now as we're about to leave, I realize nothing has worked out well. The crowning blow is that my sister is throwing her life away on an unworthy suitor.”
“It’s Rosemary’s decision. We must accept it.”
“I was disappointed when Cornelia told us she was going to marry Lankersham, but at least Lankersham was a duke. Captain Cooper is beneath Rosemary on every count—most especially in intelligence.”
He came to sit beside her, taking her hand in his. “It’s Rosemary’s life.”
She sighed. “I suppose we'll see about returning home tomorrow.”
“I thought you wanted to go to Thebes.”
Her face brightened. “You’d take us?”
“With Maxwell.” He frowned. “But I don’t suppose Cooper could take that long of a leave.”
She turned up her nose. “He wouldn’t even have the slightest desire to see the antiquities there. He’s so utterly unsuitable for Rosemary.”
“We’ll discuss all this tomorrow. I can tell you’re exhausted.”
* * *
Rosemary came to her chamber and closed the door behind her. How she missed her maid! Since she had come out of the school room, she'd had a personal maid who saw that her clothes were cleaned and ironed, who styled her hair, and who assisted her in dressing. It was a luxury Daphne, who was impervious to fashion, could not understand. With a sigh, Rosemary began to strip off her dress and prepare for bed.
On this, the night of her engagement, she should be ecstatically happy. But she was not. She supposed adjusting to the idea of being betrothed was rather like adjusting to kissing. It would take time.
As she doused her candle and fell onto her bed, she thought of all that had transpired in that one single day. The whole course of her life was altered. It was a long time before she fell to sleep, and not terribly long after she did, she awakened from a curious dream.
In her dream, she was kissing. And she was vastly enjoying the kissing. When she looked up at her lover, she saw spectacles. It was not the man to whom she was betrothed! It was Mr. Maxwell.
The very thought of kissing Mr. Maxwell sent her heartbeat roaring. She suddenly recalled that this was not the first time she'd had so profound a physical reaction to him. She remembered how she'd felt two days previously when he'd opened his eyes and slowly swept his gaze down her body. Every cell in her body had tingled. She'd felt womanly for the first time in her life.
Today, when Captain Cooper's lazy gaze had moved from her head to her toes, she'd felt nothing. Nothing except uncomfortable.
She lay in her bed for a long time, pondering this strangely intoxicating feeling that had come over her. Isn't marrying Captain Cooper what she'd wanted since the day of her debut? Now that she had captured his affections, she felt neither victory nor joy.
All she could think of was Mr. Maxwell. How lucky was the woman who engaged his affections. Would they spend half the year in Arabian countries and half at Cambridge as he'd done as a bachelor? What an exciting life they would have.
More than that, she thought of kissing Mr. Maxwell. She wondered if in reality his kisses would elicit no more passion than those of Captain Cooper. Or would they be the blissful kisses of her dream?
She felt traitorous. Here she was, engaged to the Captain and dreaming about Mr. Maxwell. Something was grossly wrong with all this. A woman should not be feeling remorse on the night of her betrothal.
She had done the wrong thing.
The very contemplation of kissing Mr. Maxwell caused her breath to grow short.
"That settles it," she told herself. "There's no way to know if I'm in error until I kiss Mr. Maxwell." If his kisses left her as dissatisfied as Captain Cooper's, then she would know that kissing was an activity that must be cultivated over time, rather like the trial and error involved in botanical studies.
She sat up in her bed. She was about to do something she would never contemplate were she in her homeland, but here in Egypt she could indulge in acts that would never be sanctioned in London.
Besides, Mr. Maxwell was an honorable man.
She got up and moved to the small mirror over the wash basin and brushed out her hair. Next, she dabbed rosewater on her neck. Then she left her room and padded down the corridor to Mr. Maxwell's chamber and knocked softly.
Footsteps answered. "Who's there?" he asked.
"It's Lady Rosemary."
"Is something wrong?"
"Please, allow me to come into your chamber."
"Give me a moment." More footsteps.
Daphne had told her it was not uncommon for men, especially in these climates, to sleep naked. The idea of Mr. Maxwell stretched naked on a bed caused her to throb in places she'd previously been unaware of.
A moment later, he swept open the door. He was barefoot but had managed to slip on trousers and a shirt that he hadn't bothered to tuck in. He still had not shaved, and his beard was quite masculine looking. He'd left off his spectacles.
He let her in and softly shut the door. "You shouldn't be here."
"I know, but I also know that you're a gentleman who would not take liberties and would not ever disclose that I came to your chamber in the middle of the night."
"Of course I wouldn't." He moved backward, away from her encroachment. "Pray, my lady, why have you come?"
She never removed her heated gaze from his. "I have come to ask something of you."
"Anything."
She moved to him, her breath ragged. When there were just inches between them, she looked up at him and spoke in a husky purr. "I should like for you to kiss me."
Before he could protest, she stood on her toes and leaned into him, pressing her lips against his. His breath hitched for only a second, and then he gathered her close and gave in to the maddening, dizzying, thoroughly delightful intoxication of this kiss.
It was nothing like the Captain's. This was the most pleasurable thing she'd ever done! She did not know who'd initiated it, but their mouths opened to each other's exploration, and she was quite sure she could swoon from utter joy.
In that moment, the veil of melancholy lifted from her. She may have done the wrong thing with Captain Cooper, but she was definitely doing the right thing with Mr. Maxwell. This is the man she was meant to spend her life with.
This was the man she loved.
He finally forced himself to break the kiss, and when he spoke, there was a breathlessness in his voice. "Forgive me. I shouldn't have."
Her index finger lightly touched the mouth that had given her such pleasure. "Don't say that. I'm so happy you did."
"You are?"
She nodded.
"Why did you want me to kiss you?"
"For a very good reason, a reason that could profoundly affect the rest of my life."
His brows lowered. "I don't understand."
"I felt nothing other than possible repugnance when Captain Cooper kissed me for the first time today. I knew in my heart that wasn't how one was supposed to feel with the man one is supposed to marry."
She drew a deep breath, then continued. "Tonight I dreamed I was kissing you, and it wasn't at all repugnant. That's why I came. I had to know if your kisses would accelerate my pulse, if your kisses would ignite my passion, if your kisses would steal away my breath."
He was silent for a moment, as if he were afraid to ask. "That's an extraordinarily lofty expectation."
She couldn't dispel the memory of that wonderful kiss. "Oh, but you are an extraordinary kisser, Stanton." She had never before called a man by his Christian name.
"Do you really think so? I have no expertise in such matters."
"Today I've learned that kissing is not about expertise. It's about the love between two people. I've come to realize that I cannot marry the Captain when my heart belongs to you." She knew that because of the disparity in their rank, she had to be the first to make a declaration.
"Oh, God," he growled as he moved to her and drew her into his arms. "You really aren't going to marry him?"
"No, my dearest Stanton." How she adored calling him by his first name!
His hands sifted through her long tresses. "I'm very happy to hear that."
"Now that I've made a cake of myself over you, I was hoping you might say something romantic to me. Do you think you could ever fall in love with me?"
"I know nothing of love, but I know yours is the first face I've pictured every morning, the last every night. I know that the anticipation of being with you each day made me happy, that when you were with Captain Cooper I was sad. I know that I would lay down my life to preserve yours. For I cannot imagine a world without beautiful Rose."
She kissed his cheek "I am your Rose, my love."
He drew back, lifted her right hand, and softly kissed it. "Come, let's go to the window seat and plan our future."
"I do hope you're going to offer for me."
"You possess everything I could ever want in a wife. Could you—once you sever your ties with the Captain, that is—consent to marry me?"
"Nothing could make me happier."
Hand in hand, they strode to the window seat. He threw open the window just as the first Call to Prayer of the day rang out from the minaret and wafted through the smoky-coloured predawn skies.
* * *
Daphne had grown so accustomed to the Calls to Prayer that she'd been sleeping through the predawn Fajr. But not today. She had a feeling something had happened to Rosemary, and she leapt from her bed to rush to her sister's chamber. I just need to know she's all right. Daphne knocked on Rosemary's door, but there was no answer. She tried the knob, and her heart thudded. It was open! After all her sister had been through, there was no way she would be so careless.
That had to mean she was not in her chamber.
Daphne threw open the door and moved to Rosemary's bed. It was empty. There was no sign of her in the chamber. Good, lord! She'd been abducted again.
Her heartbeat thundering, she raced back to her own bedchamber and awakened Jack. "Rosemary's gone!"
He bolted up. "That can't be!"
"But she is!"
"You're overreacting. You know as well as I that there are no longer any threats to her safety." He drew a breath. "Has it occurred to you that she and her intended might be . . . having a little cuddle?"
"That scoundrel! How could he take advantage of Rosemary's innocence? Come, you and I are going to his room."
"I'll do no such thing! He's done the honorable thing by offering for her."
"If he's having a cuddle with my maiden sister, that is not at all the honorable thing!" She stomped her foot. "I'll go without you."
When she got to the door of their bedchamber, she turned back. "He is on the third floor, is he not?"
"Daf, you can't run about the hotel in your night shift."
"I'm not taking the time to get dressed." She stalked off.
Cursing, he threw his legs over the bed to go after her (once he dressed).
When she got to the third floor, she wasn't precisely sure which chamber was Captain Conceited's. She recalled that he'd gotten the last available chamber. She'd been told it was the smallest and was at the back of the building. Deciding that the third floor plan must be identical to her floor, she knew which was the smallest chamber. It would be the one above Mr. Maxwell's.
She went to that door and softly knocked. Nothing. Good lord, what if the Captain had abducted Rosemary? She knocked louder. This time she heard a man's grumble, then heavy footsteps. "Who's there at this ungodly hour?" he demanded.
"It's Lady Daphne. I'm looking for my sister."
The door whipped open.
Oh, dear. The captain didn't appear to be wearing . . . anything. He did show her a modicum of respect by standing behind the door. "Lady Rosemary's not in her chamber?" He sounded truly distressed.
"Are you sure she's not with you?"
"I'd bloody well know it if my betrothed was with me! And I resent that you'd think a fine lady like Rosemary would be coming to the room of a man to whom she was not married."
"I was only hoping, for I fear the white slavers have taken her."
"Dear God."
Jack walked up. "Now see here, Daphne. No white slavers got your sister."
"Not last time, but they must have this time."
"Allow me to get dressed," Captain Cooper said. "We must begin searching for her."
"Dearest, go awaken Mr. Maxwell. We'll need his help."
Jack nodded, squeezed her hand sympathetically and began to descend the stairs. She
solemnly followed. What had begun as a journey of a lifetime for her sister had resulted in one's worst nightmare. She prayed Rosemary would not be harmed, prayed that she wasn't being sold into some sultan's harem.
What she saw when she reached their corridor gladdened her heart. Mr. Maxwell's doorway framed Rosemary in her night shift standing exceedingly close to Mr. Maxwell, whose arm was around her. They looked like a couple who'd long been happily married.
Daphne raced to her sister and hugged her. "I was so worried about you!"
"I have an announcement to make," Rosemary said, tilting her head to bestow a loving smile on Stanton Maxwell.
"Dearest," Daphne said, "if you're going to announce you intentions of marrying Mr. Maxwell, you simply cannot do that until you terminate your betrothal with Captain Cooper."
Heavy footsteps hurried down the stairs, two stairs at a time. When Captain Conceited met them and ran his eye over Rosemary and Mr. Maxwell, he exploded. "What the devil's going on? What have you done to my intended?" The Captain lunged at Mr. Maxwell, swinging a fist at his face.
But Mr. Maxwell ducked, then shoved away the other man, who was twice his size.
When the Captain started back, Jack interceded, standing between the two men. "I think Lady Rosemary and Captain Cooper may need a few minutes together."
"I'll not speak to her, not when she's so improperly dressed," the Captain said.
"Then allow me to tell you," Rosemary began, "that despite that you did me a great honor by asking me to be your wife, I have decided we will not suit."
"It's just as well," Captain Cooper hissed. "I won't have a wife who's been sullied by white slavers."
Mr. Maxwell was so enraged, he shoved Jack aside and assaulted the captain, crashing a fist into his face.
To all of their astonishment, the huge Captain fell to the ground.
All was silent.
The Captain nursed his bruised pride for a moment before he got to his feet and began to mount the stairs. "I'll return to Rached this morning."
Jack and Daphne joined the happy couple in Mr. Maxwell's chamber. By now the sun was rising, and she could clearly see their faces. A happier couple she had never seen. How perfect they were for each other!
