Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Once back in their hotel room, Lucy retreated to her bedroom and paced for another hour, wondering how she could convince Reggie to stop courting her and accept what she wanted—a calm life without excesses of emotion. It was best for them both.
But there was also the plight of Miss Fournier. Reggie’s stubbornness was affecting her, too. Lucy was realizing it was a little more challenging to distance herself from Reggie, and yet at the same time influence his thoughts and decisions.
This would be the last time, she told herself. It was just to help Miss Fournier.
When she opened her bedroom door, she found Reggie seated at a writing desk near the window, head bent over the paper. He was concentrating so hard that he must not have heard her. She cleared her throat.
He glanced up, and his devastating smile was almost a physical caress. Part of her longed for that warmth like a flower lifting its petals to the sun. The other part of her wanted to shrink back into her room and forget how he could make her feel.
But she stiffened and held to her purpose. “Let us invite Miss Fournier to join us for supper. She’s been alone all day but for her maid.”
“Brilliant idea. Do you wish to pen a note or shall I?”
He was far too eager, but it didn’t raise her suspicions again. She knew he wanted another chance to persuade them both that his belief in his late commander’s wisdom was correct.
She glanced at the clock on the mantel. “You write to her. The hotel maid will be arriving shortly so I can change for dinner. You may have her take the note and then she can rejoin me.”
“You know I think you look just as beautiful in a day dress as an evening gown.”
She resisted rolling her eyes and retreated back into her room. She heard the outer door, then Reggie speaking. Only a few minutes later, the maid returned and was shown into her bedroom.
They met Miss Fournier in the hotel lobby an hour later.
She looked happy to see them both, perhaps particularly happy to see Lucy, as if Lucy had managed to work a miracle on her husband in one day.
When Reggie glanced away, Lucy gave a brief shake of her head to Miss Fournier, who nodded, but looked no less determined.
Reggie escorted them to a restaurant with a view overlooking the Royal Pavilion. Miss Fournier exclaimed about it, and Reggie explained to her what he’d told Lucy, about Queen Victoria’s wish to leave behind Brighton for the Isle of Wight.
“Who would want to leave such a beautiful place,” Miss Fournier exclaimed. “It reminds me of sketches I saw of the East—not that I traveled much. Father was loyal to his duties.”
“We picnicked there today,” Reggie said.
Miss Fournier glanced at Lucy with a smile. “How romantic.”
“And what did you do today, Miss Fournier?” Lucy asked, steering the conversation away.
“I wrote letters to my friends, read my book, went for a walk, and frankly, waited for the next part of my life to begin.” She looked from Lucy to Reggie.
When neither of them answered, she continued, “I met a lieutenant in the hotel lobby, and he tells me there is an Assembly tomorrow evening. Officers are invited, and so are we.”
Lucy took her cue as if Miss Fournier had told her in advance. “What a splendid idea, don’t you agree, Captain?” She knew it irritated him when she used his title. But what did he expect in public?
Reggie nodded. “I am sure we will have an enjoyable evening.”
“And do you know who will be there?” Miss Fournier continued. “The good Reverend Abernathy—or Lieutenant Abernathy, as he used to be known in the Army. I will be pleased to introduce you, Mrs. Lawton.”
“This is your friend, the one you write to?” Lucy asked, eyes wide with exaggerated innocence.
“Yes. Such a kind and godly man.”
Reggie cleared his throat. “Abernathy is a good man, no doubt. But he is young, and with a new position, barely able to support himself.”
Miss Fournier’s shoulders seemed to droop a bit.
“But surely he is provided a home with his parish?” Lucy asked.
“He is,” Miss Fournier agreed, beginning to smile again. “He tells me it is small but charming, right on the village square near the church. It sounds idyllic.”
“Quite removed from the excitement of London,” Reggie pointed out.
“Since I’ve been to Calcutta and Bombay, I don’t believe large cities hold an attraction for me.”
Reggie seemed grateful when the waiter came to take their order. Lucy wondered if he was feeling doubly harassed and thought it might be good for him. But she also didn’t want him to be so defensive that he set his mind against any change.
They spent the rest of their meal in awkward conversation that Reggie occasionally forced. Lucy was disappointed in him, though she tried not to show it. Miss Fournier seemed as if she were desperately trying to pretend that her sadness might yet be washed away.
Reggie felt as if he was gritting his teeth as he escorted the two women back to the hotel.
Darkness was falling, and the moon crept up from behind the buildings.
For a second evening, when he wanted to be alone with his wife and kiss her like he used to, Madeleine seemed to be in the way, whether in person or in their conversation.
Or maybe Madeleine was just a convenient excuse when there were deeper issues keeping Lucy away from him.
But he wasn’t about to give up. He took a deep breath as he looked up at the moon and let it out slowly, steadily, releasing his frustration, his tension. He looked down at his wife, whose gloved hand rested on his arm, then covered her hand with his.
She glanced up at him, frowning, and he just stared at her, letting his gaze soften as it swept her sweet face.
She blinked several times, her frown fading to confusion, then turning into something else.
Was she blushing? It was hard to tell in the twilight.
When he was in India, he’d thought often of sweeping Lucy into his arms, enjoying the feel of her lush body, the warmth of her embrace.
Their reunion wasn’t happening easily, but perhaps their first courtship had come too easy.
Perhaps he’d taken her love for granted, assumed the passion they shared would always burst into flame when they looked at each other.
The lobby was lit by gas lamps, and they followed them along the corridors to their respective rooms. Madeleine said a quiet good-night and seemed to look overly long at Lucy. To his surprise, Lucy smiled at her warmly.
Reggie followed Lucy to their room, feeling the need to ask what that was about. But someone knocked a moment later. Reggie allowed the hotel maid to enter and follow Lucy to her room.
He stared at the closed door, frowning. The gas lamps gave a faint hiss from their sconces on the walls, but otherwise all was quiet, as if they were still half a world apart.
They’d never slept in separate beds their entire marriage, unless he’d been with his regiment. Last night he’d felt the loss of her companionship, her rose-scented warmth, her eager passion. Knowing she was so close had kept him awake far too late into the night.
But not tonight.
Back in his own room, he removed his uniform but for his dark trousers and shirtsleeves. When he heard the maid leave, he walked barefoot through the suite and knocked softly on her door.
“Yes?” she called.
Not exactly welcoming.
He took a deep breath. “It’s me. I’d like to come in.”
There was a long pause.
“I’ll meet you in the sitting room,” she called.
“No, I’d like to come in.”
Would she really refuse him after the life they’d led together?
“Very well,” she said.
Tension unwound inside him, and he opened the door.
She’d turned down the wall sconces and had the simple lamp lit beside her bed. The window was open, and Lucy stood beside it, dressing gown closed clear to her throat. The sound of waves on the beach was a distant hum.
He inhaled deeply. “Even after a long journey, the smell of the sea is invigorating.”
She turned away from him and looked out. “I can just see the last pink of sunset.”
Reggie walked up behind her and did the most natural thing: put his arms around her from behind.
One would have thought him a stranger, the way she started and stiffened.
He pretended not to notice, burying his face against her neck and murmuring, “And here is another scent I find invigorating.”
She held her hands awkwardly, rather than settling them over his.
He knew better than to touch her as intimately as he used to.
Once he would have cupped her breasts, and she would have sighed her delight before turning to embrace him.
But the way she kept herself so reserved, so distant from him, made him feel like he was courting her all over again—not that she’d ever been reserved with him before.
The sadness of their broken marriage momentarily overwhelmed him.
But he was not a man who quit when he wanted something—he knew the love of his wife, and he definitely wanted it back.
He pressed a soft kiss beneath her ear.
“I’d like you to accompany me on an outing tomorrow,” Lucy said in a dispassionate voice.
She must expect him to be dissuaded from his lovemaking—he was not. He let his lips travel down the side of her neck. “Hmm?” he murmured.
“It’s a public festival supporting local charities, one of which is affiliated with the Female Aid Society. Lady Dundas told me about it when she revealed you’d been seen here.”
Ah, the woman who’d meddled in his marriage. But he knew not to say that out loud.
“I’d like to arrive early and help them set up,” she continued, her voice more tentative this time. “Perhaps, you would like to help, too, to see the work that’s important to me.”
He straightened to look over her head at the dark water with the faint glow on the horizon. “I would enjoy that,” he said.
He gave her waist a gentle squeeze, intending to retreat and try again in the morning, but something stopped him.
“Lucy, please kiss me,” he whispered, rubbing his cheek against her hair. “I’ve missed you so.”
For a long moment, she seemed frozen, and he thought he’d made things worse. He’d kissed her in public earlier, when she couldn’t run away without making a scene. But here, alone in the night, he was risking a complete rejection of his love.
Then suddenly she turned in his arms and lifted her face to his.
He bent his head and kissed her, a gentle kiss filled with the yearning he’d found no other way to express.
Her lips tasted of the sweetness that was only her, and his body, starved of passion for a long year, roared to life.
He slanted his mouth across hers and deepened the kiss.
He felt her breasts trembling against his chest and groaned at the knowledge that she wore no corset to hinder his exploration.
With all his restraint, he kept his hands on her waist, before sliding them up her back and bringing her even closer.
His thigh nudged between hers, and she gave a shiver that let him know she was just as affected as he was.
She broke the kiss. “Reggie—please. I—I’m not ready yet. So much has changed.”
“I love you,” he said hoarsely. “That hasn’t changed.”
She bent her head, resting her forehead against his chest. “Please, let me have time.”
It took everything he had to drop his hands and step away. He could not banish their problems with seduction; he would need to find another way.