Meg and his valet were waiting, looking rather nervous, just inside the room. Crispin looked at them for few moments, and then dismissed them.
'I will ring for you in the morning,' he said firmly. 'Late in the morning. We are tired after our journey.'
Meg giggled, and the valet suppressed a smile.
'Sleep well, my lord, my lady,' he said, and swiftly bundled Meg out of the door.
Elizabeth heard muffled giggles and hurried footsteps retreating along the gallery.
'I do hope I will be able to struggle out of my clothes,' she murmured. 'After we have eaten.'
She moved across to the small table near the merrily blazing fire.
'I wonder what they have left for us? Why, it's all cold. I wonder why that is?'
Crispin chuckled.
'Come here, my love, and I will show you.'
Tenderly he helped Elizabeth remove her travelling cloak.
'Would you like to have some privacy to prepare for bed,' he asked.
Elizabeth smiled. To her surprise he looked shy.
'But Crispin, I may need help with some of the fastenings. And I don't wish to call Meg back when you sent her away.'
She held out her hand, and when he took it gently tugged him towards her. Then she turned her back to him and he began to fumble with the fastenings of her gown. Soon it dropped to the floor, and with a groan he let his hands play over her body. She arched against him, then swung round to face him.
'We shall do better, my lord, if we are both less encumbered with clothing.'
He laughed, but it seemed to do away with his reluctance.
'You are an unprincipled baggage! Come here, and we'll test the truth of that.'
He stripped off his clothes, while Elizabeth divested herself of her own shift and stockings.
'Shall I help you with your nightdress?' he asked.
'Only to have the pleasure of removing it again, my lord? Come, I am chilled standing here, let us get into bed,' she said, and scrambled beneath the covers.
'You're supposed to be the blushing bride,' he teased as he joined her. 'But I confess I am happy you are not. I never did fancy the prospect of marrying a girl who wished to protect her modesty at all costs.'
'I fear you will not find me modest. I grew out of such false diffidence long ago. I concluded much so-called modesty was prudery, and if the Minerva Press has taught me anything, it is that such prudery is not good between husband and wife.'
'Please,' he said, laughing, 'spare me another lecture on the virtues of the Minerva Press.'
'Of course, I will never again mention them, until I have myself penned one of their adventures.'
His hand, which had begun to stroke her shoulder, stilled, and she began to chuckle.
'You won't, will you?'
'Why not, my lord? I feel I am quite as talented as some of their authoresses. But I will not publish it under my own name.'
He laughed, and his hands became more venturesome. Elizabeth turned to face him, and slid her arms round his neck. He began to kiss her, but soon his mouth travelled down, dropping light kisses on her cheeks, her chin, her neck, which arched to meet his lips, her shoulders, and finally on her breasts.
He felt her response, and pulled her even closer while he explored her body with hands and lips.
'My darling Elizabeth,' he murmured in between kisses. 'I sometimes wondered if this day would ever come.'
'You have me now, for always.'
'For my delight and comfort. How can any man be so happy?'
It was a long time before they even remembered the supper laid out for them, and when Crispin asked if she was hungry, and wished to eat, she shook her head and snuggled closer to him.
'Maybe we can eat some of it for breakfast,' she suggested. 'But I am far too warm and comfortable to want to move. Crispin, I do love you so dearly.'
'And I will love you for the rest of my life.'
###
THE END
Marina Oliver has written over 60 novels, and has converted most of them to Ebooks. Others have been or are being published as Ebooks by other publishers.
For the latest information please see Marina's web site:
http://www.marina-oliver.net
Gambling was rife in Regency times, so I used the idea, in what I hope is an original way, in:
THE MARRIAGE GAMBLE
BY MARINA OLIVER
Luke, Earl of Frayne, is determined to recover Frayne Caste, even if it means marrying the present owner, Damaris Hallem, a girl he has never met.
Luke's father, an inveterate gambler, lost the Castle fifty years earlier to Damaris's grandfather, an innkeeper. As it was the first estate the Frayne family obtained, Luke feels a need to regain it.
Damaris, unwillingly obeying her grandfather's wishes, comes to London for the Season with her friend Mary, Lady Gordon, and her two young children. She will be twenty-one in July, and is looking forward to gaining control of her inheritance. Until now it has been in the charge of a distant cousin, Humphrey Lee, and Damaris is convinced he wants to marry her. She doesn't want any husband, to deprive her of control.
Luke's friend Francis tells him Damaris is a little dab of a girl, but already there are men looking with interest at the heiress. If he is to win her and the Castle he needs to make haste.
*
Lord Clifford's Dilemma Page 20
