Page 78 of Scandalous Nights With the Earl

‘Steeped in history,’ he returned. ‘Oliver and Esther sent word today that they would like to come and visit the day after tomorrow. Would you feel up to that?’

‘Yes, I would like to see them, but I wonder how they feel about me after what has happened?’

‘Oh, I wouldn’t worry. They have had their own battles with Society and survived. Perhaps it would be good for you to hear how they did it and then we could do the same.’

‘We?’

‘I’m here with you, Willa. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.’

‘Thank you.’

He leant down and kissed the top of her head gently. Outside the stars were bright in an inky sky.

‘You must show me which is your star one day.’

‘In truth I can’t remember where it is. Lionel’s gesture was always only an empty one after all and I did not set much store by it.’

‘Then let’s choose another star and name it as our own.’

Her nod heartened him. ‘We could do that and wish on it for good fortune. Do you know, without you I think I might have given up on life altogether?’

He shook his head. ‘Given up? You? My brave warrior woman who can handle any situation with aplomb? I doubt it.’

She turned and kissed him then, on the lips with care and shyness, and his eyebrows rose.

‘Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night, in the dining room?’

‘A formal occasion? Just us?’

‘I promised you a courtship, Wilhelmina. I will not rush you into anything else.’

Not even another kiss? she wanted to say, but she stayed silent. The joy at feeling better was building inside her and for the first time in weeks and weeks she wasn’t bilious. Even the tiredness was diminishing and in its place came hope and excitement.

Phillip’s warmth beside her was welcomed and the way he ran his fingers over her bare arm in a caress was wonderful.

Together. Here at Elmsworth Manor. She never wanted to leave. She wanted to stay here forever with him, away from others, away from censure.

Yet to live well they would have to take risks and confront those who were critical of them. But not right now, she thought next as she snuggled into him. Now they would lie here in the quiet darkness and simply be. She liked the way he had said he was not going anywhere, the protection of his family home and land all around them, and their little one growing inside her each day.

Willa dressed with care for dinner the next evening, in a simple gown that she had found in the Hastings marketplace before she had gone to Winchelsea.

She styled her hair herself, rolling it softly into a loose bun and securing it with very few pins.

When the clock in the corner beat out the time of half-past seven she took the flowered cotton frock from its hanger and pulled it over her head, securing the many small buttons and straightening the neckline.

Stretching the fabric of the skirt back against her stomach, she enjoyed the slight roundness before she let the fabric go.

Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes looked bright, the sick, wan woman gone and replaced by one who was blooming and radiant and happy.

She would tell Phillip about the baby this very evening but she would do it properly. She would tell him that she loved him first and had done so since the first moment of meeting him. She would hide nothing. He had always stressed the importance of honesty and so she would give that to him.

A quarter of an hour later there was a knock on the door, and when she opened it Phillip Moreland stood there.

He wore cream breeches and a burgundy jacket under which he had donned a white shirt and neck cloth. His hair was slightlywet, slicked back into its unusual length, unbound today and inclined to curl.

He was beautiful. And unfamiliar. A suitor whom she would never have expected to have, a man who was incomparable, the weight of Society and tradition gathered in his footsteps.

‘You look impossibly like an earl of the realm, my lord.’