by Cheryl Bolen
Now his heart raced. "And . . . what were your feelings toward Squire Wheeler?"
"Why, the man was the age of my father and had grown children my age. And he was completely bald."
Edward's hand raked through his hair to assure himself he was not going bald. "What did the demmed squire think?" Edward asked with outrage. "Trying to take the virtue of a young maiden. There ought to be laws against such." Now he was beginning to sound like Miss Grimm.
"I agree with you, Mr. Coke."
As Edward went off to sleep, his fists were clenched. He rather wanted to give that bald-headed squire a facer.
Chapter 23
When Harry had gone to bed, Louisa had been sitting beside the candle writing one of her essays, and when he awoke, she was still writing, though she wore a different dress.
Her attention perked when she saw him stirring. "I have thought of a plan, my lord."
He reached for the tea she had set on the bedside table. "Allow me my tea first, if you please." He pulled the sheets up to cover his nakedness, took a welcome gulp, then asked that she turn around while he slipped on his pantaloons. Louisa's sense of propriety, thank God, did not extend to a revulsion over bare-chested men.
With his pants on and his eyes suitably open, he turned to her. "Have you been thinking of your plan all night?"
She put down her pen. "Of course not. I will have you know I slept rather well – and have nearly completed Mr. Lewis's newest essay."
"Shall I have the privilege of reading it before it is published?"
"If you like." The smug contentment in her voice belied her air of complacency. He knew she was most desirous that he read it.
"What is it about?"
"It's actually more ethical than political. It's on the extinction of honesty."
His brows lowered. "You may ruffle many feathers."
She shrugged. "I don't mind that – if the essay accomplishes some good."
"Or, to quote the great Jeremy Bentham, for the good of all."
"You know, my lord, that I'm not a Benthamite purist," she said with indignation.
"I do know. You also respect the rights of the individual."
She gave him a condescending nod.
He finished his tea and stood up to finish getting dressed. Louisa, returning to her essay writing, seemed to take no notice of him. He was growing so comfortable in her company that he had a sense of what it would be like to share one's life with someone else, as one did with a wife.
A pity he would never find a wife whom he could care for as much as he cared for Louisa.
When he was finished he asked, "Pray, now you may tell me of your great idea for me to reclaim my mother's portrait."
"Us."
His lips compressed. "Me, my good woman," he said sternly, "not us."
"Then I will not tell you."
"Fine," he snapped.
Seeing that he was headed to the door, Louisa put down her pen and stood. "You could at least hear my plan."
He folded his arms across his chest and gazed down the bridge of his nose at her. "Tell me your plan."
"I cannot tell you when you're standing there impatient to leave the room. Come, sit on the bed with me."
He strode across the room and sat on the bed beside her, their thighs parallel to each others'. He noticed that his extended a good eight inches beyond hers. She truly was not much larger than a child.
"Did you not tell me that anything could be had, provided one's pockets were deep enough?"
He nodded. "I did."
"So I thought you could purchase used clothing for you and me to disguise our station in life -- that is, if you can find some large enough for you."
"The question is whether we can find some small enough for you. That is if I were going to allow you to participate -- which I'm not."
She scowled at him beneath lowered brows. "Once we are dressed appropriately, you bribe the greengrocer to hide us in his wagon when he enters Gorwich Castle. While he is conducting business to distract the cook, we sneak in. Then we wait until dark. You will then remove the portrait from its frame as I stand as lookout."
"And if we're caught?"
"Then I expect the vile Lord Tremaine would merely have you thrown out as he did yesterday."
Her plan really wasn't so objectionable, after all. And she was probably correct about Tremaine throwing them out on their ears.
Harry faced Louisa, devilment in his flashing eyes. "All right. It's a good plan." He got to his feet. "Now how do I go about finding the greengrocer?"
* * *
As much as he disliked the prospect of wearing well worn homespuns, Harry knew he would have to disguise himself from the small army of footmen who had removed him from the castle the day before. The disguise became reality when he actually found clothing to fit him. Well, not really fit him since he had to tie the waist with a rope to keep the pants from falling down. The village's huge blacksmith was the only man who was close to Harry's height. The man parted with his old clothing for a guinea. The condition of the clothes the blacksmith had outgrown was poor indeed. He must have worn them daily for a dozen years.
Finding clothing for Louisa proved far easier. Any number of the stable lads were clamoring to part with their old clothing for a guinea. Only one of them, however, proved to be a close match in size to Louisa, and the poor lad possessed but one suit of clothing. Louisa promised she would bring it back as soon as she could, hopefully that evening.
She made rather a cute boy, Harry thought. Of course her breasts were a bit of a problem, but he was not comfortable discussing them with her, as much as he would like to. She would likely give him a facer.
Now suitably dressed, Harry had no problem persuading the greengrocer to carry a pair of extra companions into the castle yard -- and to keep quiet about it – for a couple of quid. The ruddy man's eyes rounded when he beheld the money. It was probably more than he earned in several months.
Harry was rather surprised at how easy it was to get within the castle walls. He and Louisa each carried a basket of vegetables down to the kitchen while the regular greengrocer spoke to the cook.
From the kitchen Harry and Louisa crept up the servants' stairway and ducked into the silver closet. Since Tremaine was reported to be reclusive, surely there would be no upcoming function for which silver must be polished. Just to be safe, Harry and Louisa hid in one of the lower cupboards--which was no problem for Louisa, but which forced Harry to nearly fold himself into a box.
They had decided to stay there until they presumed the dinner hour passed. That's when they would enter the dining room and relieve Lord Tremaine of his ill-gotten portrait.
If the drawbridge was closed at night, they were prepared to spend the night under the dining room table and leave the castle when the drawbridge lifted at the first light of dawn.
The problem was the deuced cabinet was unbearably hot and far too little for him. He decided to take his chances just standing in the silver closet. After all, anything could be had for a price. He would merely pay whoever discovered him to keep quiet.
Then Harry remembered the fear he had seen on the London solicitor's face when he had declined Harry's generous offer. Tremaine instilled that kind of fear in people. The butler -- or whoever found them -- would be no different, Harry realized with disappointment.
If he couldn't bribe the bloody butler or whatever servant might catch him, he would just have to tie up the servant and gag him with the rope that held up his pants. Harry had no idea how he would then hold up his pants in such an event.
"I can't stand this another minute," Harry whispered to Louisa.
"I know," she whispered. "I can barely breathe."
"I expect I'm taking all the air."
Unable to sit in the cupboard another minute, Harry got out. It felt deuced good to stretch his legs and fill his lungs with the plentiful supply of air.
Louisa followed him.
"What will we do if one of the
servants comes in here?" she asked.
"We shall have to see if my pockets are deep enough."
A pity there was no window in the silver room. How would they know when night fell? Though it was only morning, the meager chamber was as dark as midnight. And to think, they would be confined here for another ten hours.
Taking Louisa's hand, he slid along the back wall to a sitting position, and she rested beside him. Once again he was filled with a protectiveness toward the slim woman who sat so close to him in the darkness. He cursed himself for allowing her to come. If something should happen to her. . .it was far too painful to contemplate. He only knew he would give his own worthless life to protect hers.
They sat in the dark stillness for an hour, neither of them needing words to bind them, for they were closer to one another than those bound by flowery phrases -- or by a vicar's ceremony.
"Harry?" she whispered finally.
Nothing she could have said would have been more welcome. He hated it when she reverted to calling him my lord. Harry and Louisa suited them and their peculiar relationship. "Yes?" he answered softly.
"I suppose when you regain Wycliff House you'll want to start a family."
How had she known? Since the day he had reclaimed Cartmore Hall, his goal had been to find a fine woman who could bear him children, thereby fulfilling the Wycliff legacy. Until he met Louisa he had never thought to find a woman who owned his heart as his mother's heart was secured by his father. "That's been the whole point," he said.
She was silent a moment. "You want to reestablish the family that once meant so much to you," she said with an irrepressible sadness in her voice.
"You know me too well," he said curtly.
Silence hung between them. They could hear the shuffling of servants' feet outside their tiny chamber, and despite himself, each time footsteps drew near, his heart stampeded. Not for himself. Fear had always been a stranger to him, but a numbing fear for Louisa consumed him. "Perhaps you should get back in the cupboard. We can leave the door open, and I'll swiftly shut it in the event our presence is detected."
"No!" she shrieked. "I believe I'd rather die with you than go on without you."
Her words swamped him in a flurry of passionate emotions. His arm slipped around her slim shoulders and his lips hungrily moved to hers.
She lifted her face to his and eagerly received his kiss.
These weeks of restraint were undone in one sweet moment. Had he known that she could care so much for him that she would rather die than live without him, he'd not have denied himself the utter bliss of holding her in his arms, of kissing her with a fiery passion.
This was neither the time nor the place to give in to his potent needs. Hopefully, he would have a lifetime together with the woman he had come to love. He drew away from her. "Forgive me, madam."
She was silent, and he feared he had greatly offended her.
"Would that I could see my watch," he said in a feeble attempt to change the direction of her thoughts. "How will we know when supper is over?"
"I expect we'll hear the sound of plates being carried back to the kitchen.
Another great period of silence fell. Poor Louisa, he thought, was just learning to trust a man for the first time in her life, and he had forced himself on her. How vile he was! Then he remembered the sweet taste of her lips – lips that had eagerly sought his. He remembered, too, the pleasure her words had given him when she had said she would rather die with him. Such thought had the power to give him hope that the proper little bluestocking did not find him so repulsive after all. He must do nothing more to repel her. She was far too precious to lose to his own carnal needs.
After the passage of more than an hour, she spoke again. "I had not realized how hungry I'd be."
He found her hand in the darkness and squeezed it. "You'll eat to your heart's content as soon as we get the painting." His stomach plummeted. What if they were caught? He had no assurances Tremaine would not prefer to mete his own punishment. Harry could not risk Louisa's safety. Suddenly, his mother's portrait seemed not worth the huge risk.
He rose to his feet. "I have lost my eagerness to reclaim my mother's portrait. If I pay Tremaine handsomely enough, perhaps he will allow me to have it copied."
"Listen," Louisa whispered, "'tis the sound of dishes."
The clatter of stacked plates tapping into one another drew closer, then faded away toward the basement. Tremaine had finished eating.
Louisa came to stand beside him. "We can get it now, Harry. You've come so far, I can't let you leave empty handed."
"It could be dangerous."
"You have no confidence in my plan," she said with disappointment.
He could envision a pout on her little rosebud mouth. He hated like the devil to squelch her confidence. "It was an excellent plan, but I seem to be too great a coward to pull it off."
"You're lying to protect me," she said. "There's not a cowardly bone in your body."
"You don't know me as well as you think."
"But I do, Harry," she said in a soft voice. Then she laid a gentle hand on his arm. "Please, Harry, let's get your mother's portrait. I assure you we'll go undetected."
She sounded so confident, his fears for her were swept away. "Very well. Shall we go for it, Mr. Lewis?"
"You remember where the dining room is?" she whispered.
"On the next floor. I believe we should take the servants' stairs."
He crowded in front of her so he could be the first out the door. He crept into the cold stone hallway and turned back to motion for her to come. Then he rounded the stairway, placing his foot on the first step. As soon as he did so, he heard two laughing maids on the landing above.
He and Louisa scurried back to the silver closet, with their ears to the door. They waited until the women had passed, then left the sanctuary of the closet once more.
This time they made it all the way up the stairs. They saw and heard no one.
"Which way's the dining room from here, do you think?" he asked when they arrived at the central hallway.
"I believe it's on the other end of this hall," Louisa said, "but how can we avoid being seen by those footmen at the end of the corridor?"
"We can sneak into the first room, and from there I can climb out the window and make it over to the window of the dining room."
"Just because the dining room has been modernized with large windows doesn't mean the other rooms have. Do you remember how high and how small castle windows normally are?"
"You have a point there," he said.
"Not to mention we're on the second floor. You know how to climb horizontally?"
"You have another good point."
"It's a very good thing I came along with you."
They stood there at the base of another flight of back stairs with no idea how they were going to get into the dining room. After some length and a dozen faulty scenarios, he exclaimed, "I have an idea."
"What?"
"I'm afraid we'll have to use you as a distraction. You will need to try to creep along the main rooms of this level of the castle and creep up the main staircase, then distract the footmen who are on the other end of this hall."
"How can I distract them?"
"Certainly not with feminine wiles," he muttered. "Not dressed like that."
"I know! Pretending to be a boy, I'll say I'm looking for my Papa, who had business at the castle. I'll say I was playing with the baby kittens, and I fear he must have left me."
"How do you know there are baby kittens?"
"I don't." She smiled. "But they don't, either."
"There's one major problem," he said hesitantly.
"What, pray tell?"
"Your. . .your breasts." He coughed.
She looked down at her chest. If one looked closely, two smooth humps the size of small apples could be seen. "You do have a point there."
"More like two," he mumbled. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."
She g
lared at him. "I suppose it's back to the silver closet. There were many rags in that room I could use to flatten my bosom by binding it."
To his consternation, his heart raced as they went down the same flight of stairs they had just climbed.
In the silver closet, Louisa took the longest rags, presented her back to Harry, shed her boy's shirt, and asked him to wrap several layers of rags tightly around her chest, tying them in the back.
It was bloody difficult not to think about her breasts, and the devil take it, he could not repress the desire to see them, to feel them. But, of course, he must.
When they were finished, it was back to the second floor. He stood near the servants' stairs while Louisa stole through the main corridor where she was supposed to distract the footmen.
Just around the corner from the two liveried servants at the other end of the hall, Harry waited and worried for the next ten minutes. It was with relief he heard Louisa's child-like voice speaking with the sentries.
With that as a distraction, Harry dropped to his belly and crawled like a snake, slithering into the first chamber. Fortunately it was the lady's study, which was a good thing, since there was no lady of the castle. He got to his feet and walked across the room, then dove to the floor again to crawl a few more feet down the hall to the dining room. Louisa's voice carried as she talked to the footmen. That servant would be less likely to notice a dot on the ground as he would notice a brute of man like Harry strolling down the hall.
All was well, and he got safely to the red dining room, breathing a sigh of relief. He remembered the housekeeper calling it the rose room. The room's candles were no longer lit, but the room was not in total darkness because its large windows gave out onto the lantern-lit castle yard below.
He looked up reverently at the portrait of his mother, a lump in his throat. God, but it looked so much like her he could almost smell her lavender water and hear the soft whisper of her loving voice. He stood for a moment gazing at her elegance. The darkness of her hair contrasted against her smooth, milky flesh and ivory silken gown. It was as if her serene presence filled the room, lifting away his fears.
