Chapter 5 #2
“Is that meant to be a threat of some sort?” She crossed her arms. “Ravenscroft will never cut me. Imagine the man attempting to stay silent for longer than five minutes.”
The way he studied her with that amused, sultry look made her feel as though she were the most unexpected gift of all. “If the magpie is like a brother, does that make the marchioness my auntie?”
Charity choked. “Call Selina that at your peril. She threatened to add to the bounty on my head if I let a word out about Kensington, I’ll have you know. Elder sister at worst.”
“And Sir Nathaniel?” His slight smile widened.
Charity pretended to consider this. “He does have a rather lost-puppy feel to him, now that he’s here on his own. We can take him into the ‘family’ as well.”
This set Peregrine off again. Laughing, he pulled Charity into his arms, letting them wind around her so tightly it nearly squeezed the air from her lungs. But quickly, he loosened his grip, backing up enough to meet her eyes.
Amused by his friendly mauling, she brought her fingers to play along his jaw, glad that the shadow of worry had lightened.
When he laughed, the planes of his cheekbones seemed sharper somehow.
And when he smiled at her this way, he was…
beautiful. Like a glimpse of something divine. He stole one’s breath away.
“Could you imagine being related to the three of them?” Perry rallied her. “We would not have a moment’s peace. Ever.”
She could; the five of them being a peculiar sort of family wasn’t nearly as unpleasant as one might think.
In fact, it might be the only one she had after marrying Peregrine.
“I think that is how a family is supposed to be, but in a happy way,” she added dryly, and then she indicated the cage. “What will you do with it?”
Perry stepped back to survey the room, and then he walked over to a stand holding a small globe. He moved the globe over to his desk and put the gilded cage in its place. “This is likely as good a spot as any. Or do you have another idea?”
It was jarringly discordant. “It matches nothing. What would you like to wager that your maids will try to ‘accidentally’ knock it into the fireplace? When you speak to the staff about your mother, perhaps you should warn them about this dangerous thing also.”
His smile slipped, and Charity regretted her flippant words. He had just stopped looking so tormented, and now he was back in a place of worry. “Go, update your household, and then come back and get me,” she suggested quickly. “I need to write to Miller, to let her know to bring clothes tomorrow.”
When he returned, Charity gave the letters to the footman, Jack. And once her hands were empty, Perry reached into his pocket and pulled a brass key out of it, putting it in her palm.
Charity stared at it, wondering why it seemed familiar. “Is this—?”
“The key I took from your bedroom at Atholl House.” He gave her a chagrined smile. “I had thought about using it at some point to visit you. Or at least to annoy you. But the opportunity never presented itself, and… it seems you may not be in residence there much longer?”
Charity rose up on her toes and kissed the corner of his mouth. “As if a simple lock would keep you away from me. Especially in any room with a window.”
Taking her hand, he led her over to the leather sofa near the fireplace. Peregrine settled on one end, tugging her down beside him. Feet up, and skirt tucked over her legs, she leaned in, resting her head on his shoulder.
Instinctively, she knew tonight was a night meant for comfort, not pleasure. She relished his warmth. The slowing rhythm of his breath. The steady beat within his chest. There were no others. Tonight, there was no one else in the world but the two of them.
“What are you thinking?” Perry whispered.
“About the night we first met on that balcony.”
“You thought I was handsome, didn’t you?” he asked teasingly, laughing again when she swatted him. “Lark told me once that all the girls did.”
“Since your head is already swollen with conceit, yes. I considered you incredibly handsome,” Charity said tartly. “I admit that I may have allowed myself to imagine marrying someone like you. Someday.”
“Like me? You would lead me to believe you were dreaming of other men while I was standing in front of you?” The humour in his voice removed any sting from his chastisement.
“I did not know your name, remember?” Charity replied. “I could hardly imagine myself as your wife.”
“My wife,” Perry whispered, his voice adoring. Reverent. He stroked a finger down the side of her neck. “Can you bear to take on my name? To hear others address you as Lady Fitzroy?”
She smiled. “Not Lady Fitzroy. Lady Peregrine Fitzroy. Hearing your name will never bring me anything but pleasure. So no, I do not think I will mind it at all.”
Near midnight, they crawled into his bed. Perry wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged her close against him. His hand did not stray from that position on her belly. After the trials of this day, he was in need of intimacy of a different sort that night.
With her fingernails, Charity traced gentle swirls over the top of his hand and wrist until his breathing slowed into the deep, steady cadence of sleep. Only then did she allow herself to drift off as well.
“Sparkles—” Perry’s amused voice pulled Charity from the depths of sleep. “Help me. Your hair—”
Charity rolled over, freeing Perry’s arm and moving her hair away at the same time. Without Miller there to help her get ready for bed, her braid had pulled free during the night, giving Peregrine a mouthful of loose hair. She pushed upright and scrambled to smooth her hair back in place.
Perry reclined on his pillows, plucking a stray strand from his nightshirt to hold aloft. “I wasn’t lying to the Queen when I said this was a curse.”
“Maybe you should offer that explanation to Prinny when he asks why we are in such desperate need of an exception.” She put a hand to her mouth mockingly. “My wayward hairs could ruin my reputation if he doesn’t help us wed straight away.”
Perry lifted another hair from his pillow. “Then three days may be too long. We should leap into my carriage and ride straight for Gretna Green.”
If only. Setting the scandal of an elopement aside, there was the matter of the guardianship of her ward, the young Duke of Atholl. The rumour mill might claim Perry was attempting to gain control over the heir and fortune.
Better not to risk it. “With our luck, our horse would go lame before we made it out of London. Proceed as planned and we shall begin our married life at least with Prinny’s blessing.” Charity leaned over and kissed Perry before crawling out of the bed and ringing for breakfast.
Miller had arrived with a few gowns, including her court dress. The Prince Regent’s reply to Peregrine’s request to meet arrived soon after. Prinny would see them in his private quarters at St James’s shortly before the Queen’s Drawing Room.
As they walked to the carriage that afternoon, Charity examined Peregrine’s clothing.
The touch of chiaroscuro in his appearance was a concession to vanity that even Brummell had publicly endorsed.
His coat was so heavily embroidered with intricate patterns of silver thread and spangles along the cuffs and front that it shone like a night sky, subtly catching the light to complement his fair colouring.
On most, silver tended to fade beneath notice, but not everyone had Perry’s nearly white blonde colouring. If he pushed up his cuffs, it would reveal forearms with a light dusting of hair that grew shades darker, the farther up his arm it went—
“Sparkles? Charity?” Perry called her name a second time before she blinked back to the present. “Are you having second thoughts?”
She cleared her throat, face growing hot. “Thoughts, yes. Help me into the carriage before I decide to act on them.”
“Oh?” he drawled, looking interested. “Do tell.”
“If I do, we will never make it to our audience with Prinny.” Charity glanced down at the wide skirts of her Georgian court gown, measuring them against the doorframe.
The Queen preferred the older fashion still.
“You shall have to sit across from me, I am afraid; my hoops will be more effective than a chaperone.”
Inside St James’s, they found Prinny in the Regent’s Closet. He was lounging in his chair, drinking from a glass of wine. The dark circles under his eyes suggested he had enjoyed another of his infamous late nights, and the near-empty bottle at his side suggested how he spent his day.
“Thank you for agreeing to see us, Your Highness,” Perry said after rising from his bow.
“You provided me with the perfect excuse to stay hidden a while longer. My mother expects me to dance attendance at her Drawing Rooms, and from there I must endure another dinner with the Grand Duchess complaining about my every choice.” The Regent sighed dramatically.
“Whatever it is you want, you may have it, if you can rid me of that woman’s eternal commentary. ”
“Your Highness, I have asked Her Grace to marry me, and she has agreed,” said Peregrine formally. “I wish your aid in procuring a special licence from the Archbishop.”
Prinny narrowed his gaze at the both of them and then frowned into his wine glass. When he looked up, he said the last thing Charity expected.
“Give us the room for a moment, Your Grace? I wish to speak with Lord Fitzroy on his own.”