"Look what ya did to m’lady!" the shopkeeper's wife screeched as she raised the broom and brought it down towards the cowering child.
Even as he reached out to grab the broom, he prepared himself for Elizabeth's outburst. Her dress was completely ruined and he'd seen women go into hysterics over less. He really didn't want to deal with it, but maybe it would be for the best if she showed James exactly what he was in for, he thought as he caught the broom in his hand before it slammed into....
Elizabeth's back?
He'd been so focused on the shopkeeper's wife and the broom that he hadn't seen Elizabeth drop to the ground to cover the crying child with her body. As he ripped the broom away from the woman's grasp, he forced himself not to soften at the sight of the woman he once thought as a selfish brat protecting a helpless child. This changed nothing, he reminded himself, except that now for some reason he would rather die than see her married to James and it had nothing to do with hating her.
As James moved to have a very loud word with the shopkeeper and his wife, Robert helped Elizabeth to her feet, forcing himself to ignore the urge to pull her into his arms.
"Thank you," she murmured as she reached down to help the crying child to her feet, but he simply moved Elizabeth aside and picked up the small child. He headed for the door, pausing only long enough to grab the little boy by the scruff of his neck as he went to box the woman's ears for threatening his sister.
"Hey! Let me go!" the boy demanded as he tried to twist and turn out of his grasp.
"Be good," Robert said, sighing heavily as Elizabeth joined them and took the little boy's hand into hers.
"Let's go see if we can find something more filling than lemon drops for your stomach, shall we?" she asked with a cheerful smile as she headed down the street with the little boy running to keep up and probably expecting him to follow like some lap dog, he thought with disgust as he did just that.
"Why are you smiling?" the little girl in his arms asked, sounding both wary and curious.
"No reason, pet," he said even as he cursed himself for quickening his step to catch up with the overly cheerful woman that he hated, but couldn't stand to be away from.
Chapter 16
This was getting creepy, very creepy indeed. For the past three weeks in a row she’d woken up feeling alone. That was odd considering that she went to bed alone, so of course she should feel alone when she woke up in the morning. This was different. It felt like at some point during the night that she hadn’t been alone. It was the oddest sensation. Of course it might just be her nerves.
For the past month her father had been putting off her requests to leave and doing everything he could to keep her home. It wasn't exactly difficult to figure out the reason. They were hoping to marry her off before her birthday and were doing everything they could to make sure that it happened, including keeping her home and available for suitors when they called.
His decision probably also had something to do with the fact that he’d found out about her attempts to go visit Annabel’s niece without his permission. Finding out that she’d been planning on visiting a section of town that was strictly prohibited to her hadn’t exactly warmed him to the idea of allowing her to go to her estate on her own. It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if her mother hadn’t caught wind of her plans to bring food and clothing to a servant, who was carrying her old employer’s bastard, and gone into hysterics over Elizabeth embarrassing them by consorting with servants.
Then Jane, whom she was ninety-nine percent sure had been informing on her to her parents for some time now, decided to share the tale of the sweet shop and how Elizabeth had taken the two children to an inn for a hot meal. The maid had of course embellished the tale by stressing how everyone who was anyone saw the entire thing. After that rather eventful day, her father had announced that she was restricted to the house and grounds until further notice.
Now it seemed as though everyone but her had something to do. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She had plenty to do, but she was being kept in the house against her protests. She spent most of her time trying not to be bored. Thankfully, James spent time with her during the day, reading with her and taking her for walks in the rose garden, which was lovely. A few years ago she would have blushed and probably hyperventilated under his attention. Now it was just nice to have another friend.
It was funny after all these years that feelings she thought she felt so deeply as a child, love, was nothing more than infatuation. She had no doubt that he would make a fine husband. He was kind, funny and easy to talk with. If she had met him before that night in the orangery, she would have undoubtedly fallen in love with him in truth.
Unfortunately that wasn’t how things occurred. Even though she had no plans on marrying, she’d never planned to live her life by taking lovers. Every time she thought back on that night, she was filled with humiliation now instead of the precious gift she once thought it was. She’d only kissed one man in her life before that night and that had been a quick peck on the lips and she’d known who she’d been kissing at the time. Not only had she kissed a man that she hadn’t known, but she’d also given her innocence to him, freely.
The fact that it turned out to be Robert, who’d been the boy she hated more than anything on earth, only made it worse. She tried not to dwell on what he must think of her or what he would do with that piece of knowledge if she pushed him too far. Did he think that she did that often?
No matter what she did or said, she did care what he thought. That time they spoke as strangers was one of the most enjoyable times in her life. She’d never felt so relaxed or comfortable with another living soul as she had with him that night. They connected, really connected that night and she wasn’t thinking about when she’d made love with him, that had been very pleasurable, but the way he spoke to her, smiled, and listened had melted her heart.
She didn’t want to like him or crave his touch. This was Robert after all. He was the little boy who once placed honey on her pillow and pushed her into a muddy pond when they were children. In spite of everything, she longed to be with him, near him. She often found herself pacing the upstairs landing late at night in the hopes of hearing his deep voice. She was pathetic, utterly pathetic.
At least she fought her feelings, she reassured herself. She purposely avoided him whenever he was in the house, which was not very often. It seemed that he was only here to sleep. She often wondered where he went. Was he at a club? Visiting friends? A woman? She pushed the last thought out of her mind. She did not like to think of him with other women even though she most certainly did not want him for herself. Not at all. It was this silly “ghost” that was putting her on edge.
She checked the pillow next to hers. It looked slept on. The only explanation that she could come up with was that she’d rolled over onto that side sometime during the night, because the bedclothes on that side were also wrinkled. It was the only thing that made sense.
Something caught her eye as she pulled the sheets back. Frowning, she picked it up and examined the pocketknife. Her breath caught in her throat and her stomach churned. Desperate to ease her stomach, she reached out for the tepid tea Jane had left her and took a small sip. That small sip triggered something unholy in her stomach. She dropped the cup and all but ran for the chamber pot.
After several minutes she was able to sit up straight. Her stomach twisted with worry. She was late. Three weeks late to be exact. For the first week she’d thought it was the stress of her situation. It had happened before, but never for this long. Now she was sick in the mornings and sometimes during the day. She did her best to hide it, but soon someone was going to notice. Then her life would change forever.
“I’m fine,” Elizabeth mumbled to herself in the hopes that by saying it that it would somehow make it true. Her father had been putting off allowing her to visit her north estate, but no longer. He was going to let her go in a few days. He’d promised and this time she was going to hold him to his word. Until then she had to hold it together.
She walked back to the bed, hoping she could lie down for a few minutes so that her stomach would have a chance to settle down. Before she could lie down, the odor of the spilled tea hit her hard once again. She ran back in time to the pot and finished emptying her stomach. She was fine. Everything would be fine. Things would be fine, she told herself not really believing it for one second.
* * *
Robert pulled open one of the drawers on his side of the desk. He and Elizabeth had come to an unspoken understanding about sharing the library. They each had their own side of the desk and no one peeked. It was rather comfortable. She was just as neat as he was so he didn’t mind sharing the space.
He stared at the ledger in front of him without really seeing it. His body felt ripped in half. He desperately wanted to go back upstairs and crawl back in bed with Elizabeth. Four weeks and he was addicted to her. He couldn’t fall asleep in his own bed. He’d tried several times and each time he failed miserably. As if to prove his point, he would fall asleep almost immediately when his hand rested upon her hip.
This was bad. This was very bad. He needed her too much. His body yearned for her in every possible way. He enjoyed her quick wit and sharp tongue. She could be funny and he knew that she was kind. This was beyond horrible. He hated the woman. She was his enemy.
His enemy.
He was such an ass. This situation was intolerable. He couldn’t take it anymore. Every day he had to fight back the urge to punch the suitors that came calling. He had to sit back and watch James attempt to woo her. It killed him. Sometimes he would disappear all day and night only to come back to her like a sailor to a siren and curl up with her. He needed her more than his next breath, and he hated her for it. He hated this power she had over him. He was going to leave and soon for his own sanity.
The library door suddenly slammed shut. “Are you crazy?”
He looked up to see Elizabeth holding his pocketknife. His gaze quickly shifted to the closed door as he stood up to go open it. Being found with her in a closed room could end with a trip to the church and he wasn’t having that, not with a woman who hated him.
“Are you? What’s wrong with you shutting that door?” He made it to the front of the desk when she stormed up to him, holding up his knife.
“Guess where I found this?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t a clue,” he said as he reached for it, but before he could take it, she dropped it in her gown pocket.
“For the past three weeks I’ve been haunted by a ghost,” she announced.
Hmm, she couldn’t be talking about him, because he’d been crawling into her bed for the past four weeks. Of course she might not realize that he’d been doing it for that long. It was probably best not to correct her on the time frame, he decided.
“Oh?” he asked in a bored tone.
“Mmhmm, seems I have a ghost crawling into bed with me. Odd, isn’t it?”
“I would say so. You would think the ghost would have better options.”
She slapped him somewhat hard on his shoulder. “Ow!”
“Good! Now explain to me why you’ve been coming to my room!”
A knock at the door was their only warning that they were about to be caught. “Hide!” he hissed.
She threw him a furious look before she scrambled to do just that since being found alone with him in a closed room was not an option. Throwing him one last glare, she quickly moved around the desk and ducked beneath it before he could stop her.
“Not there!” he hissed.
Elizabeth ignored him and crawled under the desk. With an irritated groan he sat down in the chair and moved his legs beneath the desk. This desk really was large, he mused. He was a tall man and his legs were situated comfortably beneath the desk and he could barely feel her. He knew that she was there of course. He could practically feel the rage pouring off her. She was effectively trapped now, he thought with a small grin, liking his advantage probably more than he should.
“Come in,” he said, pretending to be working.
James walked in. “I thought I’d find you here.”
“What can I do for you? Come to learn how to run an estate?” he joked, chuckling at his brother’s horrified expression.
It always amused him that his brother, who was the heir, lived the life of a second son. He didn’t take anything seriously, had absolutely no interests in learning how to run the estate that he would one day inherit and he spent all of his time with women, cards and living with absolutely no purpose. James was living the life that Robert should be pursuing, but it just wasn’t in him. He liked running his own estate, working up a sweat and creating things with his hands. He’d never fit in with society or in his family. He didn’t act like the son of an Earl and probably never would. He liked being his own man. He just wished that it wasn’t so damn lonely sometimes.
James paled. “Good lord no! I’ll hire someone for that.” The way James said that like he would need an estate manager soon caught Robert’s attention.
“What’s going on?” he asked cautiously.
James sat in the chair in front of the desk, throwing an ankle across his knee. “I’m getting married.”
“Oh?” Dread filled him instantly. “Who?”
“Who do you think?”
“Just tell me.”
“Lady Elizabeth, you dolt. Who else have I been courting for the past month?”
Chapter 17
Elizabeth shifted and moved closer to the opening to listen. The desk was so thick that it muffled some of the sounds. She pushed between Robert’s legs and waited. He spread his legs for her automatically so that she could sit comfortably.