Chapter Twenty-Two #2
He took her hand in his, glad she had removed her gloves.
Nothing impeded the pleasure of feeling her bare hand in his.
Her skin was soft and warm, and her fingers twined with his.
He raised her hand and pressed it to his lips.
“Not a word. He is a man of many secrets, and I’ve long ago learned not to press him for details until a plan has come together.
When it is complete in his mind, he will share it. ”
“Well, since we can do nothing until we know what he has planned, let’s eat. If Rufus’s cook has packed anything like what she prepared the night the Chinese pagoda burned down, I promise you won’t rise from the blanket still hungry.”
He had no idea what she referred to, nor did he care. That was something she had shared with Rufus and though he now realized his friend had no intention of stealing her away, he couldn’t fight the jealousy that rose about time they’d spent together while he’d been in France.
Shaking off feelings he would not allow to color their precious stolen time, he said, “Oh, I’ll still be hungry.” He grinned. “I will always be hungry for you.”
A delicate blush colored her cheeks as she replied, “And I for you, my love.”
By the time the carriage rolled into the coaching post yard, with Will’s horse tied to the back so he could travel inside with Clem, they were in disarray.
In the privacy of the coach, keeping their hands off one another had proven impossible.
Discarded jackets and hats lay tossed on the other seat, and when the coach drew to a halt and the coachman announced they had arrived, they were caught unaware.
Clem lay across Will’s lap, her arms tight around his neck. She was plastered to his chest, as lost in a haze of joy as he was.
“Clem, darling, we’re here.”
She blinked in confusion as he lifted her gently off his lap and set her on the other seat. Quickly, he handed her jacket to her and grabbed his. “I’m so sorry—”
“Don’t you dare be sorry, Will.” Thrusting first one arm and then the other into her jacket, she hurried to tidy her clothing while Will attempted to find a position that concealed the bulge straining in his trousers while offering a modicum of relief.
Not that they had done anything wrong—or rather, Will had done nothing more incendiary—than sitting Clem on his lap and caressing her breast through her dress and kissing her senseless.
When she had removed her jacket, his fingers had trailed over her soft skin. His lips, when he could pull himself away from hers, trailed across the swell of her breasts above the neckline of her dress. Kissing her was Heaven, and nowhere near enough. But in the eyes of Society, he had ruined her.
If he lived to be as old as Methuselah, he would never have enough of Clem.
Fortunately, Rufus was not outside to greet them, and in that courtesy, Will believed their friend probably understood their desperate need for one another.
Through a gap in the curtained window, Will saw him strolling across the yard, deliberately creating time and space for them to make themselves respectable.
There was further delay as he directed his coachman to be careful stowing a box of claret he had purchased.
Clem smoothed her skirt and edged closer to the far window. Will tugged his coat and set his hat over his thighs. He would have to find other ways to conceal his physical response from Clem until they were married.
At last, Rufus called out a hearty, “Ho there!” before finally opening the door. His gaze slid across both of them before he settled beside Clem. He glanced at Will’s hat placed just so on his lap, but did nothing more inflammatory than raise an eyebrow.
“How was Cook’s picnic? I trust it was satisfactory?”
For the life of him, Will couldn’t recall what they had eaten, but he uttered thanks for the meal. “I trust your pie and claret met with your approval. They must be good for you to pass up a picnic with us.”
“Indeed, and I do hope you will forgive the change of plan.”
Clem fiddled with her gloves. To Will’s consternation, he saw she had misbuttoned her short jacket in her haste to dress.
Certain Rufus had noted it as soon as he climbed into the carriage—because his friend missed nothing—Will had no way to tell her that would not place her in the most embarrassing situation.
He carried on with the conversation while stealing frequent glances at her, hoping to catch her eye and communicate the mishap without words.
As they passed Chelsea Old Church, Rufus turned away, leaning towards the window as his attention was seemingly caught and held. “Ah, I see the church is now open for services. We must visit again one day and admire the renovations.”
Through hurried pointing and mouthing the word “Buttons!”, Will took the brief opportunity to alert Clem to the state of her jacket.
Her cheeks flamed and her fingers fumbled, fixing her buttons while Rufus commented on their visit to the More Chapel in more detail than such an expedition warranted.
Grateful for his tact, Will noted when Clem finished buttoning her jacket. “I trust, Clem, that you learned much from Rufus’s knowledge of the architecture.”
Rufus returned his attention to them. “I simply hope I did not allow my interest in the building to run away with my mouth. It was a blistering cold day as I recall.”
Clem nodded. Color still sat high in her cheeks, but she appeared otherwise to be calm.
“We encountered an injured soldier as we were leaving, Will. Seeing him, I realized how poorly returning soldiers are treated, especially those who have been wounded. It is the reason for Lavinia’s ball, and why I am involved in raising funds for the Chelsea Hospital. ”
“And right there is proof of the angelic nature of the woman I wish to marry. Speaking of which—”
Rufus shook his head and sat back, his expression giving nothing away. “It is still little more than an idea at present, but I promise both of you, by the end of Lavinia’s ball, one way or another, you will be engaged to each other.”
“I pray your plan succeeds.” Will’s gaze was drawn back to meet Clem’s like a compass pointing to true north. In her eyes, love and trust shone in equal measure.
“Rufus is my dearest, most faithful friend, and he knows me well enough by now to be certain I am true to my word, for if we cannot unpick our engagement by the end of the ball, I will defy everyone, including the Prince Regent himself, to be with Will.”
“She will, you know,” Rufus added, unnecessarily in Will’s view. He had learned early on that his beloved had a strong will.
“I suppose if things don’t go to plan, we could always elope from the ball.”
“And marry over the anvil at Gretna Green? Oh, I would be happy with that, my love.” Clem leaned forward and touched Will’s hand. “I do not care what ceremony is used so long as I am Mrs. William Ravenshoe by the end of it.”
“In that case, I should ask a friend of mine who is an explorer in Africa to bring a witch doctor to perform the marriage rites.”
Aware Rufus’s ridiculous nonsense was intended to draw a smile from her, because Clem liked to believe she knew almost as much about Rufus as he knew about her, she laughed, her sense of humor overcoming her embarrassment over her jacket.
“I look forward to being introduced to him. Anyone who can take the focus away from our broken engagement will be a godsend. Besides, an African witch doctor would become all the rage amongst members of the Ton seeking to make their nuptials the talk of the Season, don’t you agree?”
And so the silly conversation continued until they dropped Will off at his cousin’s home.
Unable to kiss Clem with Rufus sitting beside her, he took solace in the look in her eyes.
It promised a continuation of the afternoon’s delights at the next opportunity.
Will found himself longing for the sun to speed up and for the weeks to pass in the blink of an eye until it could be so.