Chapter 29
Anne snuggled closer and hid her face on Colin’s chest. Oh, how she wanted to tell him! To shout it to the whole world. I love Colin Bell, Viscount Manning. Her Lord Grumpy-Trousers. Who would have imagined?
For a moment, she froze in his arms, wondering if, yet again, she had vocalized her thoughts.
But Colin appeared lost in his own thoughts. As his fingers tenderly traced lines up and down her arm, his mind appeared far away.
“Colin? What is it?”
“Hmm?” He stared down at her, his gaze refocusing.
“What were you thinking about?”
A beat passed before he smiled and kissed the tip of her nose. “I was thinking we’d better dress and go back to the house before someone hunts us down.” He rose and held out his hand to help her up.
They dressed in silence, with Colin helping to fasten her gown.
As Colin rowed them from the folly back toward the house, he kept his attention on the oars. The storm cloud she’d envisioned over his head when they’d first met returned, and he appeared troubled.
What had she done now to annoy him?
Although he sat mere feet from her, she felt as if a great chasm separated them, and if she dared to reach across and bridge the gap, she would tumble into an endless abyss.
Back inside the house, he kissed her lightly, the passion they’d shared in the folly disturbingly absent. “I must return to my work. I will see you at supper.”
She wanted to kick him in his retreating backside. “Men,” she muttered.
By supper, whatever had led to Colin’s sudden shift from warm and loving to cold and distant had passed, and although there still seemed to be a cloud hovering over him, it had become less stormy and more puffy and white, with peeks of sun poking through on occasion.
Part of her wished to jab him with her fork just to get some kind of reaction from him. Even their lovemaking that night seemed different. He was still a generous lover, that had not changed, but he seemed to restrain himself, as if he were afraid to unleash whatever part of himself he withheld.
When she woke in the morning, he was gone, which wasn’t especially surprising as he often rose earlier than she did, but he wasn’t in either the breakfast room, his study, or the morning room with the girls.
Ellie popped off the sofa, raced toward her, and threw her arms about Anne’s waist. “Anne! He’s gone to get them!”
A frown pinched Anne’s forehead. “Who’s gone? To get whom?”
Ellie peered up. Excitement lighting her face. “Papa has gone to get the puppies! He received word from Mr. Ford this morning and left immediately.”
Anne hugged her stepdaughter. “That’s wonderful, Ellie. Did he say how long he would be gone?”
Cassie joined them and shook her head. “Not really. He said he had something else important to attend to and would be back some time either late this afternoon or early evening.”
A whole day! The idea initially annoyed her until she remembered the hidden passageway. Colin would be away from his study, and she would have most of the day to explore unhampered!
That was unless the girls demanded her attention. Wicked delight shivered through her as Miss Hart entered, a stack of books in her arms.
She smiled warmly and curtsied toward Anne. “Lady Manning. Should I return later with the girls’ lessons, or would you care to join us?”
Although she’d grown to love the girls as much as she loved Colin, albeit in a different way, Anne did not love lessons.
She offered a quick, and if she said so, an excellent excuse.
“As tempting as the idea is to join you, I feel a headache coming on. I think I shall retire to my room. If you see Mrs. Campbell before I do, tell her I don’t wish to be disturbed. ”
She hugged Ellie and Cassie once more, telling them the new puppies were certain to make her feel better, then slipped from the room.
Almost at Colin’s study, Greene’s voice from behind stopped her.
“Madam. If you are looking for his lordship, he advised me to tell you he’s left on an errand.”
She spun toward him, careful to school her expression into one not arousing suspicion. “Thank you, Greene.”
When the man continued to stand before her, Anne summoned her most commanding voice. “Is there something else you wish to tell me?”
Greene’s gaze darted behind her, where Colin’s study awaited mere feet away. “No, madam.” The obnoxious man had the audacity to hold out his hand as if ushering her back the way she had come. As if it weren’t her own home and she couldn’t go where she pleased.
Yet, she had to be careful, and it was the perfect opportunity to plant her lie. “Very well. I was simply going to tell him I have a headache. I will be in my room and do not wish to be disturbed. Will you kindly relay that to Mrs. Campbell and the rest of the staff?”
“Of course, madam.”
Anne skirted around the man toward the staircase, keenly aware he watched her every move. Once on the upper floor, she waited a few moments, then peeked around the corner to find Greene walking away from the study.
Thank goodness!
He stopped momentarily when Mrs. Campbell approached, and the two exchanged hushed words. Then both dispersed in opposite directions.
The hallway where Anne waited remained blessedly free of servants, but she had her excuse at the ready, as long as she wasn’t caught going toward the study again.
On tiptoe, she crept back down the staircase, holding her breath with each squeak of a step or sound of a muffled voice. When she reached the study, she darted inside and went straight to where she’d seen Greene slipping through the opening in the wall.
Where is it? She froze and pinched her lips together, hoping she hadn’t said that aloud.
The pattern of the wallpaper disguised the seam, but using her hands, she felt the slight crease of the opening and pushed.
It didn’t budge, and she wanted to stamp her foot at the stubborn thing and demand it open. She struggled to remember if the wall had been pushed inward or outward when she’d seen Greene.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway, and she ducked under Colin’s desk and prayed that whoever it was wouldn’t enter.
Sometimes prayers are answered, and the person continued moving past the room and down the hall.
After waiting a few more moments, she rose and resumed her quest to open the wall.
Once more, she ran her hands along the patterned paper, this time going across in both directions from the seam. There, to the left, she found the other seam and pushed.
It still wouldn’t budge, and as her hand dropped along the wall, she felt it. A tiny opening, barely big enough for a finger. She reached inside and discovered a tiny latch.
A satisfying pop followed, and the door swung slightly open toward her. She wanted to do a little dance, but there wasn’t time for celebration.
She slipped inside the dark entrance and closed the door with a click.
A faint, unpleasant memory surfaced of being confined in that tiny service closet at Hartridge House.
But hadn’t that led to her marriage to Colin?
And that had turned out well. Courage summoned, she squinted in the dark.
She needed light. Ready to go back out, she popped the door back open a tiny crack.
The beam of light from Colin’s study illuminated a slim table resting against the passage wall.
On top lay a finger lamp and a box of lucifer matches.
Careful to hold the match away from her as she struck it against the plate on the box, a sizzle and a spark rewarded her. And after lighting the lamp, she closed the secret door, ready to explore.
Colin had risen early that morning. He’d hated leaving Anne alone in bed, but he curbed his desire to wake her for another round of lovemaking. There was simply too much to do to become distracted by his tempting wife.
With two stops to make, he set off, hoping to return home by sundown. Both calls were of equal, but wholly different, importance. Along with the letter he’d received about the puppies that morning, Mr. Sedley had replied to Colin’s request to withdraw his name from consideration as MP.
Commons needs another man with connections to Lords. Although I understand your predicament, I implore you to come in person so we may discuss the matter. Perhaps we can find a solution.
Colin doubted it, but he felt duty-bound to offer the man an explanation. Or perhaps it was because some of Anne’s optimism had taken root in him, and he held tight to the tenuous possibility of an option.
After exchanging pleasantries, where Colin informed Sedley of his marriage, they got down to business. The meeting went well, exceeding Colin’s expectations. A persuasive speaker, Sedley made an excellent point.
“The Crown doesn’t hand out writs of acceleration lightly, my lord.
I can’t recall when the last was issued.
And your father may recover enough to remove the implication of urgency.
Why not wait and continue your pursuit for MP?
With the election two weeks away, it would be a shame to withdraw unnecessarily.
” He paused for effect. “And your marriage to a woman who isn’t from a titled family might hold great sway with those who distrust the aristocracy. ”
“You truly believe Anne could help my campaign?”
“I do, sir. Words may impress. But actions. Ah, there is power there.”
Colin wondered how much power his marriage to Anne would hold if the people knew she came from a wealthy family. But the promise of winning the election for MP overshadowed his doubts. He rose and extended his hand. “Very well. You make an excellent argument.”
Sedley grinned as he gripped Colin’s hand in a firm handshake. “As do you.” He patted Colin on the back as he showed him out. “Now let us focus on winning this election. And felicitations on your marriage. You appear ten stone lighter.”
And as Colin boarded the coach for his second task of the day, he felt ten stone lighter as well.
Tired of fighting his feelings for fear of rejection, he made a vow.
Anne deserved the real him, not just an image of the man he wanted her to see.
And with her help, he would discover exactly who that man was.
He would confess his love to her and tell her he hoped she would grow to love him in return someday.
As he watched the passing scenery, he found himself whistling. Had it not been for retrieving three rambunctious puppies, he would have taken a horse. And had he been on horseback, he would have broken into a gallop out of sheer unbridled exuberance.
Instead, he relaxed back onto the squabs of the carriage. The idea of being on horseback called forth a memory of a certain Elfin Princess on a stubborn horse named Dolly, and Colin barked a laugh. Oh, how she had changed him.
For the good.
No. For the better.
His Nymph of Nuisance might even help him win the MP seat. He made a mental note to ask if she would like to accompany him on calls around the borough prior to the election.
His day continued to get better when he arrived at the breeder’s. Not only did they still have two puppies, they had four—three males and one undersized bitch.
Colin stooped to pet the scrawny one who had more energy than size.
“She’s the runt of the litter, that one, my lord. These would be a better choice.” The breeder picked up the three males, who squirmed in his arms and licked his face. “That is unless you don’t mind having her go into heat and having pups of her own.”
Colin gave that deliberate thought. His two hounds were male—and large.
The tiny puppy gazed up at him with her huge eyes, and he couldn’t help but think of Anne.
With another scratch to her head, he rose.
“Fair point. What will happen to her?” He inclined his head toward the puppy, who whined for more attention.
“Don’t you worry about that, sir. If we can’t sell her, we’ll take good care of her.”
Reassured, Colin paid the man and boarded his coach for home. As the puppies played at his feet, he pushed aside the guilt for leaving the tiny puppy. But he couldn’t put his girls through the heartbreak if one of his hounds got her with pups and she had trouble delivering them.
Once again, his thoughts turned to Anne. As often as they’d made love, she could be pregnant soon. Would she be able to survive the birth? She had to.
He simply wouldn’t accept any other outcome. As hard as Margery’s death had been, Anne’s would be so much worse.
The puppies pushed all morbid thoughts from his mind as they frolicked and played on the floor by his feet. He’d forgotten the joy that having a puppy entailed. Until one of them lifted his leg and relieved himself on Colin’s boots.
His head fell back against the squabs once more, and he laughed. He couldn’t wait to get home and show the puppies to Anne and the girls.