by Lauren Smith
“Er . . . ,” she stuttered. “Would you mind terribly averting your eyes while I remove myself from my bath?”
“You’ve turned shy now?” Adam teased as he drew closer.
“Oh, please, you mustn’t tease me,” she said in mortification.
“She says this to me while wearing nothing but a coronet and a blush before her husband.” Adam gave a long-suffering sigh, but his eyes were bright with teasing.
“I was waiting for you,” she said, trying not to giggle.
Adam knelt by the tub, his eyes fixed on her face. “Well then, I have arrived, and you need not wait any longer. Stand and I will help you put this on,” He held up her robe. The glint in his eyes had softened, and she felt a warmth in her chest that made her giddy with joy.
Her face was on fire as she rose and he slipped the robe about her arms, then over her shoulders. Before the fabric could touch the water, he grasped her hips and raised her out of the copper tub, setting her down on her feet next to him.
“I rather like this,” he said. “My countess wearing nothing but her coronet. The diamonds make your eyes sparkle.” He brushed a damp lock of her hair back from her cheek.
“I quite forgot I was wearing it. I’m so sorry.”
“Tut, tut. What’s this now? No apologies. As I said, there is something quite wonderful about you wearing nothing but your skin and my diamonds. You’re quite spoiling me on our wedding night.”
“Oh, but—” Another hiccup escaped her, and she clapped her hands over her mouth in mortification.
“Have you had much to drink?” he asked more seriously.
“A bit,” she admitted, then hiccupped again.
With a sigh, Adam moved away from her and poured her a glass of water. “Drink this. Slowly.”
She did, and the hiccups soon vanished. “I’m terribly sorry, Adam. I was so fretfully nervous.”
“Nervous?” He rubbed her shoulders. “Whatever could make you nervous?”
“Well, you do, of course,” she said. “I mean, the thought of sharing a bed with you, that is . . .”
“You’re afraid of the marriage bed?”
Her robe slipped off one shoulder as she took another drink of water. Adam reached up and gently pulled the robe back up over her shoulder rather than down, for which she was grateful. Her breasts felt strange and tingly, and her nipples had pebbled in the chilly air. She would be embarrassed for him to see that.
“It’s silly, I know, but Gillian and Caroline said it might hurt, and I’m really not so brave as you think I am. But I will do my duty.” She lifted her chin, wanting to make him proud that she was ready for whatever came next.
Adam had been smiling until she said duty. Then his open, soft expression faded, and he grew reserved once more.
“There will be no duties fulfilled tonight. You need not fear me—for now, at least.”
He swept her up into his arms and carried her to bed. Then he pulled her covers back and laid her down beneath the sheets.
He bent his head and kissed her forehead. “Sleep well, lady wife.”
The wine was taking its toll upon her, but she reached out and caught his hand as she settled deeper beneath the bedsheets.
“Adam,” she sighed.
“Yes?”
“Stay. Please . . .”
She wanted to feel his body close to hers, to see what it was like to share such an intimate space with him throughout the night, to feel protected and cherished in his arms as she slept.
“You truly wish that?” he asked.
She nodded and yawned.
“Very well, lady wife. I see that you are the one who must be obeyed.” If he hadn’t said this with a chuckle, she might have been worried she’d somehow upset him. The bed dipped as he removed his waistcoat, boots, and stockings, and then he lay down beside her.
She moved closer to him after a moment, wanting to know what it felt like to sleep with a man. As she nestled into his side, she decided that it was quite nice to lie peacefully with one’s husband.
7
Adam was awake before the sun, and he held his wife in his arms for a long while. He was bemused as much as disappointed that he had not been able to bed her. Last night, when he’d found her in her bath wearing nothing but her coronet, he’d been overwhelmed with his desire. But the fear and surprise in her eyes had given him some measure of control. He was determined to protect her, shelter her, even from himself.
He had tucked her into bed, but he hadn’t expected her to ask him to stay. As muddled as she was by the wine, which she’d clearly had too much of, she still wanted him to stay with her. It had been years since he’d had a mistress. Ever since John’s death, he had done his best to keep intimate relationships out of his life. Now he had a wife, and it felt quite splendid to have her warm, soft, curvy body lying against his. His little Letty.
He brushed some loose curls away from her face and took his time examining her features in the pale predawn light that filtered in through the windows. He thought of how she’d called making love her wifely duty. That had wounded him, but he reminded himself that a woman’s first time often came with pain, and he could not begrudge her that natural fear of the unknown. She had no knowledge of the pleasure that came after. Once he had her trust, he would escort her through that first time and hold her until the pain passed.
He realized that he was going to have to seduce his wife, something he’d expected to have to do before marriage, not after. At least he had ample time and opportunity while they remained at Chilgrave.
Adam eased out of bed before tucking the blankets back around Letty. He then exited her bedchamber and returned to his own. He hadn’t removed his clothes from last evening, and now his shirt was rumpled. He’d just stripped out of his clothes when his valet entered.
“Good morning, my lord.” Helms’s genial smile greeted him as he bent to retrieve Adam’s trousers and shirt from the floor.
“Good morning.” Adam next set about shaving and then dressed in fresh clothes.
“Did you have a pleasant night, sir?” Helms asked.
“Well enough, though not as well as a man would hope for his wedding night.” He had always been open with his valet, and by his reaction Adam could tell the man had something to say. He nodded, letting him know he could speak freely.
“Mrs. Oxley was concerned, as was Mrs. Hadaway. It seems Lady Caroline and Lady Morrey got a bit deep in their cups last night.”
“Yes, I discovered as much last night,” Morrey sighed theatrically. “Wish me better luck today in wooing my tender bride.”
Helms gave an amused look. “Luck be with you, my lord.”
Adam ate breakfast alone, reviewing some letters Mrs. Hadaway had placed on a tray near his seat. As he was about to leave, Caroline slid into the dining room, shielding her eyes from the bright morning sun streaming through the windows. She winced as he quite purposefully dropped a fork on his plate.
“Helms was right. Both you and Letty had too much wine.”
“It was my mistake. We were talking, and the matters being discussed were of such a nature that I feared I needed a bit more than usual to wash away the memory of our talk. Not that it succeeded.”
Adam sat up straighter. “What did you talk about that so upset you?”
“I told her about John. She needed to know the truth, all of it. I know that you planned to tell her yourself, but part of his story is mine to share.”
“Of course, Caro. You’re quite right. You have as much right to share the story as I do. In many ways, he was more a part of your world than mine.”
His sister’s face grew pale. “Was Letty very frightened by what I told her? I woke up this morning feeling guilty, wondering whether or not she thinks differently of you now.” Caroline sank gracelessly into a chair opposite him.
“I don’t believe she thought very much about that last night. She was rather more concerned about the marriage bed.”
“Oh . . . Adam, y
ou didn’t do anything, did you? She wasn’t herself last night.”
“Of course I didn’t. You know I would never behave so boorishly.”
“I didn’t believe you would knowingly, but I wasn’t sure if you could tell. The drink snuck up on me an hour before I went to sleep, and I feared it might have been the same with her.”
He smiled a little. “She was hiccupping when I went to see her. That told me plain enough that the woman was not herself.”
“Hiccupping? Oh dear.” Caroline rose and collected a plate from the sideboard, then explored the foods still hot inside their chafing dishes.
“I think I’m going to go riding,” Adam said. “If you see Letty, ask her if she would like to go fishing with me this afternoon.”
His sister stared at him. “Fishing? You want to take her fishing?”
He grinned mischievously.“Yes.”
“It has clearly been a long time since you last wooed a woman. Most women don’t want to be taken fishing. She’d rather have you read her sonnets while you picnic on some lovely hill. You are mad,” Caroline said.
“Though this be madness, yet there is method in it,” he replied.
“Do not quote Shakespeare to me this early in the morning.”
He bent to kiss her forehead. “Very well, I shall wait until luncheon.”
Letty stirred awake slowly, her mind fuzzy. Had she gotten married yesterday? It all seemed so fantastical that for a momentshe thought it had been a dream, but it did not take long to realize she was not in her home, but at Chilgrave Castle. She pulled the blankets off her body and saw no blood upon her thighs or the sheets.
Her eyes fell to the coronet on the bedside table, and it all came back in a rush. Sitting in her bath with that diadem on her head, giggling and hiccupping when her husband had walked in on her. Him lifting her up and putting her to bed. And he had stayed . . . but now her bed was empty. She slipped out of bed and went to the windows that overlooked the land beyond the castle walls. A figure riding a white horse was barely visible in the distance. She sensed that it was Adam, though she could not be sure.
“Morning, my lady,” Mina greeted as she entered the bedchamber.
Letty greeted her lady’s maid before turning her gaze back to the window. The figure was gone now, having vanished into the woods.
“His lordship had breakfast and rode out. You may dine at your leisure, my lady.”
So it had been Adam. She wished she had gone with him. She enjoyed riding immensely, and it was not so easy to ride in London, where sidesaddles were required and ladies could only move at a sedate pace. Out in the country, she was free to ride as she liked. With her father dead and her mother ill, Letty had had no one to check her wilder impulses for many of her formative years. James had no issue with her riding astride or riding fast.
“Mina, could you have my riding habit set out? I should like to catch up to my husband.”
“Certainly.” Her lady’s maid helped her dress in her dark-red riding habit, a lovely gown that had a loose train but also split skirts. These skirts would allow her to ride astride rather than sidesaddle. Madame Ella had raised a brow at the unique request when Letty had ordered it, but she had complied with the change in design.
Letty hurried downstairs, stopping only to grab a few biscuits to nibble on while the groom settled a horse for her.
Caroline emerged from the drawing room. “Letty? Are you going out? I believe Adam assumed you would sleep in after last night.He said to tell you that he wished to take you fishing.”
“Well, I’m still tired, but I couldn’t stay in bed. Fishing, did you say?” That was unexpected, but she wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to be outside while the weather was so fine. Once the cold set in, she could cuddle up all winter and read books by the fire. “I saw Adam riding, and I thought I would join him.”
“He rides quite far, sometimes several miles,” Caroline said, her eyes clouded with concern. “Perhaps you would like to wait for him to show you around the grounds?”
“Nonsense. I have an excellent sense of direction.” She hugged Caroline and rushed out the door to meet the groom a footman had summoned for her. He held the reins of a lovely black mare with dainty ankles. A proper saddle, not a side saddle, had been prepared per her request.
“This is Lizzie, my lady. Short for Elizabeth. She’s the queen of the Morrey stables.” The young groom beamed with pride as he stroked the horse’s neck.
“Oh, she’s lovely. What’s your name?”
“I’m Robbie, my lady.” He offered his cupped hands, and she placed one booted foot in them as he hoisted her up.
“Thank you, Robbie.”
She wielded her crop gently, tapping Lizzie’s flank so that the black mare trotted down the bridge across the water. Once she was across, she steered her horse in the direction she had seen Adam riding. She did have a natural sense of direction, so she had no trouble discerning that he had ridden almost straight north. She followed the natural paths, noting where the grass was trampled across the field, and once certain of her course, she sent the horse into a gallop.
Letty laughed in joy as the wind rushed through her hair. There was nothing more freeing than being on the back of a galloping horse. No one could stop her, no one could see her, judge her, or cage her. She was free.
A dozen minutes later, she slowed her horse to a canter and then a trot as she spotted Adam ahead of her. He was galloping his horse across a distant hill almost perpendicular to her path. She pulled back on the reins and watched him for a moment, admiring the way he controlled his beast, urging it to turn sharply, then suddenly skid to a stop. A thought occurred to her. Was he practicing this type of horsemanship for fun—or for reasons related to his life as a spy? It would no doubt come in handy to be able to halt a horse that quickly and turn so sharply.
Letty urged Lizzie closer as he took off in another sprint. She gave chase, deciding she wanted to test her skill against his. Adam’s black cloak flew out behind him. He was halfway down the hill when he glanced over his shoulder and saw her in pursuit. He halted so abruptly that she shot past him, laughing at the expression of shock on his face as she surged by.
She looked over her shoulder and saw that he was now chasing her. The white stallion he rode thundered like an old medieval charger a gallant knight might ride. Letty kicked Lizzie’s sides and leaned forward, reducing the wind resistance. Lizzie was indeed a fast creature.
“Come on, my lovely.” She urged the horse onward, and they fled in delight at the thrill of being pursued by their male counterparts.
They sprinted down the rest of the hill and through a wooded glen with tall oaks that created a shimmery canopy. Out ofthe corner of her eye, she saw Adam had gained enough ground to come up alongside her, though he was not close enough to grab her. She kept riding, refusing to stop, and when she stole a look at him, he seemed equally minded to beat her. In the distance, the woods opened up into a field, and there were tall hedges in parts of the field.
“Letty, stop!” Adam called out.
Unbeknownst to him, Letty was a master jumper.“Catch me if you dare!” she challenged before taking the first hedge. She cleared it with ease. A moment later, Adam followed.
The field proved a dangerous set of jumps, but Letty crossed each hurdle with natural expertise. As she reached the end of the field, she halted Lizzie almost as sharply as Adam had halted his mount. But somehow he and his white stallion now stood at the end of the field, directly in front of her.
How the devil . . . ?
He looked furious. Was it because she hadn’t stopped when he’d ordered her to?
Adam started his horse toward her. “Letty,” he called out gruffly.
“Adam, I’m sorry. I was having too much fun. You saw that I had no issues jumping—”
He grasped her reins when he reached her and held her horse still as he glared at her.
“That’s not the point. When I say stop, stop for God’s sake. You do
n’t know the land here, not yet. You could have run straight into the marshes. Lizzie would have broken her legs and rolled over and crushed you.”
“Oh . . .” Letty bit her lip for a moment before speaking. “I’ve had that happen before.”
Adam stared at her in horror.“What?”
“I was thirteen. My new pony was spooked by a barn cat in the yard. He reared back and fell on top of me. He didn’t break his legs, thankfully.” The memory was not a happy one. The pony had been uninjured, but she had broken her ankle and suffered the pain of having it set in plaster. She’d been miserable in bed for a full week until James and one of the carpenters in the village had made some crutches for her. Then she was able to hobble about the house a bit until the plaster was finally removed.
Adam continued to chide her. “Then you must know the danger of running a horse over ground you aren’t familiar with.”
“You forget, my lord, that even ground you believe you know can change with a single rainstorm. And no horse is ever safe, or perfect.”
For a moment the two of them stared at each other, one stern, the other defiant.
“And there is that fire,” Adam said as he cupped her cheek. She was still astride Lizzie, and he was upon his white beast, but for a moment Letty felt as though she were leaning up against him, all of the inner parts of her soul touching his. Then the spell was broken as the white stallion nipped playfully at her horse’s neck. Lizzie shied away, and the horses moved farther apart, forcing Adam’s hand to drop from her.
“Follow me.” Adam waved as he nudged his horse into a walk.
Letty followed. They rode in a companionable silence for a long while, allowing the trees in the woods to whisper to them as the breeze played in their branches. The morning mist was now slowly fading as the sun began to burn away the clouds. The effect left sunlight rippling across their path, illuminating patches of mist, which glittered like diamond dust scattered on the wind.
Adam paused his horse at the edge of the woods. They were facing the field again.
