Chapter Seven
The following morning, Lord Thomas who had arrived early to call in on the duke, along with Adelaide, the Dowager Duchess, Helena, and Edith entered the Pump Room.
The women had chosen cotton purple, blue, and gray bathing gowns, respectively, while Adelaide’s was green linen.
The skirts of their bathing gowns trailed behind them like delicate clouds, giving them the illusion of floating.
However, Adelaide felt anything but light.
While the bathhouse was beautiful, with its exquisite marble floors and ornate Corinthian columns, Adelaide could not forget the event of the previous day.
She had been in Bath for less than three days, and she had given its citizens more of a reason to gossip than her peers in London had received.
She was sure that if anyone recognized her while they were there, the gossip would start anew and ruin the day for everyone.
The classical frescoes adorning the ceiling were aglow with the sunlight streaming through the grand windows.
Yet, it did little to alleviate her unease.
Edith linked her arm with Adelaide’s, giving her a gentle pat.
“You look beautiful, Adelaide,” she said, smiling warmly at her. “It is a pity to see such a solemn expression on the face of someone who is about to bask in Bath’s finest luxury.”
Adelaide shrugged sheepishly, regretting that her distress was affecting others in their party.
“I suppose I worry too much,” she said.
Edith nodded, giving her a small wink.
“I should say so,” she replied. “You must endeavour to relax. You experienced a most dreadful fright yesterday. This day is intended for your repose, to help you quiet your mind and dismiss all your cares. Do not trouble yourself with anxieties that may never come to pass.”
Adelaide nodded with another smile. She was sure the troubles she feared would find her. But she desperately needed the comfort that Edith’s advice offered. She forced her shoulders and expression to relax, offering a genuine smile.
“You are quite correct,” she replied. “And this is such a delightful establishment. I have never encountered a bathhouse so exquisite.”
Edith nodded, tugging on her arm.
“And this is only part of it,” she said, stopping a smartly dressed waiter carrying a tray of drinks and taking two glasses of wine. “Come. Let me give you a tour.”
Edith was right. The bathhouse was lovelier with each corner they explored.
Crystal chandeliers cast rainbow prisms across the floors while the uniformed pump attendant dispensed the mineral waters from the elaborate fountain.
Adelaide wrinkled her nose at the sulfurous taste.
She turned her face away reflexively, despite the inability to escape the pungent fragrance.
In doing so, she realized that the duke was watching her with surprising tenderness.
He noticed her looking at him at once, correcting his features to its usual stern expression.
But the brief instant of softness she had seen in his eyes aroused her even more than the feel of his body against hers had.
“Strange,” Edith said thoughtfully beside Adelaide.
Adelaide looked at her friend, confused.
“What?” she asked.
Edith turned to face her with a sad smile and shook her head.
“It is just that, for a second, I thought I saw my brother smile,” she said. “That is something I have not seen in years.”
Adelaide looked up at the duke, who was looking at her again.
His glass of mineral water remained untouched as he seemingly followed her movement through the crowd of bathers with intense attentiveness.
Many people surrounding them stopped to stare and whisper, even beside him.
But he seemed unbothered as he looked at Adelaide with that same burning intensity he had had since she happened upon him in the library.
If she did not know better, she might have believed that he meant to devour her.
Strangely, that idea appealed to her in a rather inappropriate way.
***
Edith smiled shyly as Thomas approached the two women.
She had been so involved in helping Adelaide feel comfortable and giving her a tour of the bathhouse that she had almost forgotten that the handsome gentleman was also in attendance.
He looked striking in his dark blue wool bathing clothing, which even dry clung to the lines of his physique.
Through the long, modest breeches of the suit, the muscles in his legs were prominent, and the sight gave Edith a thrill of prohibited delight.
“Good morning, my ladies,” Thomas said, dipping into an elegant bow before smiling warmly at Adelaide. “This is a lovely bathhouse, is it not?”
Adelaide returned his smile and nodded.
“It is so beautiful,” she said. “I feel as though I could stay here forever.”
Thomas chuckled and nodded.
“I believe everyone who partakes in its waters feels the same,” he said. Then, he turned to Edith. “You have been here before, have you not?”
Edith blushed as he looked at her with a different interest than that in which he looked at Adelaide.
His eyes flickered from hers to her torso, as if he could not help glancing down at her beautiful cotton bathing gown.
The way his gaze lingered on her with his lips parted gave her another shiver, and she struggled to find proper words.
“Indeed, I have,” she said. “Grandmother and I come here often.”
Thomas nodded, grinning.
“I suspected as much,” he said. “Do you know of any of its history?”
Edith shook her head, thinking.
“I do not believe that I do,” she said.
Thomas nodded, still smiling as he offered her his arm.
“Well, would you like a tour through a fresh perspective?” he asked.
It took Edith a moment to understand what he was asking. When it dawned on her, she turned to Adelaide with a sheepish expression.
Adelaide giggled, waving her away with her hand.
“Pray, go and amuse yourself,” she said with a playful wink. “I would prefer to remain seated and enjoy my refreshment for a spell in tranquility, if you please.”
Edith giggled, blushing at the idea of being alone with Thomas.
“Well, I suppose since Adelaide is ready to be rid of me, I would be delighted,” she said.
Thomas smiled, looking at Adelaide as though he had won a great prize.
“You will regret losing such excellent company, then,” he said.
The three of them laughed and Adelaide waved to them as they walked arm in arm toward the lobby. Thomas gazed up at the ceiling, his expression of awe and wonder.
“Did you know this bathhouse was first built in 1706?” he asked.
Edith’s heart fluttered, surprised at the subject. She enjoyed discussing the history of buildings. While she understood little of architectural intricacies, she also enjoyed admiring beautifully constructed buildings. The Pump Room was one of her favorites, in fact.
“Yes,” she said. “The first was designed by John Wood, I believe.”
Thomas turned to her, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
“I am impressed, my good lady,” he said with a smile that indicated a challenge. “Do you know when construction on the building in which we now stand began?”
Edith thought for a moment, trying to recall what she had read.
“It was in the late 1700s, I am certain of it,” she said. Then, her expression brightened. “Construction was complete in 1795.” She paused, giving her companion a playfully smug smile. “And the main block was built from Bath stone.”
Thomas laughed heartily, bowing to her with amazement in his eyes.
“Fair lady, you are refreshingly delightful,” he said. “And you are correct. However, do you know what was discovered during the excavation for this place?”
Edith frowned, shaking her head and looking at Thomas with curiosity.
“I suppose I do not,” she said.
Thomas grinned, seeming pleased that he could give her new information.
“The foundations of the Roman Temple of Sulis Minerva,” he announced proudly, his eyes bright with excitement.
Understanding dawned on Edith and she smiled.
“She was the Roman goddess associated with healing waters,” she said. She had enjoyed reading about Roman mythology during her years receiving education from her governess, so she knew who Thomas meant at once.
Thomas looked at Edith again, letting his gaze linger before he spoke again. There was admiration and appreciation in his eyes. But there was something else, too, which reminded her of a hungry man observing a feast of freshly baked treats and savory wine.
“Correct again, my lady,” he said, his voice low and husky.
The trance broke when he reached for a passing waiter, taking two glasses of water from the waiter’s tray.
He handed one to Edith, his fingers brushing hers.
The contact flooded Edith’s cheeks with color, and butterflies flew into a frenzy in her stomach.
However, it was nothing compared to the way she felt when he offered his free arm again, leaving his hand on her arm far longer than propriety allowed.
Edith’s breath caught, suddenly aware of how close he stood to her.
Her entire body was alight with a tingling heat, and she found it impossible to look away.
His light brown eyes suddenly looked like molten gold, smoldering as he looked at her in a way that no other man ever had before.
She shivered, the intense heat slowly making its way down to her lower stomach.
Why was she having such a reaction to a man she had known for much of her life?
She scolded herself, keeping her smile as she tried to compose herself.
He was handsome, and she was perfectly aware of the bond that seemed to be forming between them.
But her duty to Marcus would forever prevent her from marrying Thomas.
He was a good, wealthy man, but she was expected to marry a man with a higher noble title.
Thomas might be Marcus’s best friend, but that would not be enough for Marcus to ever consider a man like him as a match for Edith.