Page 105 of The Paid Companion

Elenora’s release burst upon her like a storm. He raised his head quickly and saw her lips part. Her eyes were squeezed shut.

Disaster loomed.

He moved, propelling himself forward until he covered her body with his own. He caught her head between his hands and clamped his mouth over hers, swallowing the high, desperate shriek of astonished pleasure.

A moment later she softened beneath him. Cautiously he raised his head, freeing her mouth. He put a fingertip to her lips and spoke directly into her ear. She looked up at him with dazed, uncomprehending eyes.

“Margaret and Bennett are here,” he whispered.

Downstairs, the door closed. Margaret’s footsteps sounded on the stairs.

Arthur did not move so much as a muscle. Beneath him, Elenora was just as perfectly still. They both listened intently.

Margaret’s steps grew louder as she started down the hall toward her bedchamber. Arthur met Elenora’s eyes. As one, they both looked at the candle that still burned on the table.

He knew that they were each wondering the same thing. Would Margaret notice the pale slant of light beneath the door?

Margaret’s footsteps paused at her own bedchamber and then, just as Arthur had begun to believe he and Elenora had been spared, she continued on down the hall.

She was going to knock and she would expect Elenora to answer the door, he thought. He could only hope that Elenora would be able to come up with a convenient excuse for not inviting her into the bedchamber for a late-night chat.

He became aware of the fact that Elenora had both hands planted against his chest and was pushing upward with all her strength. Obediently, he rolled away and got silently to his feet beside the bed.

The inevitable knock sounded on the door of the bedchamber.

“Elenora? I noticed the candle. If you’re not too exhausted, I have the most exciting news. Bennett has asked me to marry him.”

“One moment, Margaret, while I put on my wrapper and slippers.” Elenora bounded out of bed. “Your news is thrilling. I am so pleased for you.”

She continued talking in bright, enthusiastic tones while she wrenched open the wardrobe door, yanked the billowing skirts of several gowns aside and gestured frantically at Arthur.

He realized that she intended for him to hide inside the damned wardrobe. He stifled a groan. She was right. It was the only place of concealment in the bedchamber.

He paused to pick up his dressing gown and slippers and then, with great reluctance, he got into the wardrobe. Elenora promptly closed the door. He was immediately enveloped in fine muslin, scented silks and darkness.

He heard Elenora open the bedchamber door.

“I think this calls for a celebration, don’t you?” she said to Margaret. “Why don’t we go downstairs to the library and sample some of Arthur’s excellent brandy? I want to hear every detail of Bennett’s proposal. Also, I have the most astonishing news to tell you, too.”

Margaret laughed happily, sounding for all the world like a young lady in the throes of her first great love affair. Maybe that was precisely the case, Arthur thought.

“Do you think we dare help ourselves to the brandy, though?” Margaret asked with a hint of genuine concern. “You know how Arthur feels about it. He treats the stuff as though it were a rare golden elixir of the gods.”

“Trust me,” Elenora said with great depth of feeling. “In this instance Arthur will not have the slightest objection to us going downstairs to drink some of his precious brandy.”

The door closed behind the two women.

Arthur brooded amid the shadows and the feminine skirts for a few minutes, wondering what had become of his orderly, well-planned life. He could not believe that he was hiding in a wardrobe inside a lady’s bedchamber.

Things like this had never happened to him before he had met Elenora.

35

The following afternoon was Wednesday, the day the servants had free. Elenora found herself alone in the house with Sally, who quickly disappeared to her room to read her new Margaret Mallory novel.

Margaret had gone out with Bennett a half hour before. Arthur had left soon thereafter, saying that he intended to search the rooms where Parker had lived. Elenora knew he had expected her to insist upon accompanying him, but when he had informed her of his plan, she had merely nodded absently and wished him luck finding the three red gems.

At two-thirty, she put on her bonnet and gloves and set out for a walk.