Chapter 10
Ten
Nicoll had waited by the window as she watched Cecil slip through the shadows until he arrived at her back gate. Only then did she lock the window and close the curtains again and retire.
Her mind was at ease with the decisions they had made. It was not what she preferred, but it was for the best and the following morning, while she and her sisters strolled in the park, she advised them of the new plan and reasons, careful to make certain that there was nobody about to overhear.
That evening, they attended the theatre and enjoyed the box her father had purchased. Except, she did not pay as much attention to the performance on the stage as she did searching the faces below and other boxes for Cecil. He was not present.
Thankfully many of the theatregoers were doing the same as her, there to see and be seen, so if Retford were watching, her behavior was no different than anyone else.
Though she shouldn’t be disappointed, Nicoll was. Even if she could not speak to Lord Cecil, Nicoll had wanted to at least see him.
She had become accustomed to Cecil. He was handsome, charming, a rake, and she truly liked him.
It was more than simply like. There was a deep desire for him, and not just physical, but him, and there was no reason for it. They were barely friends and hardly more than acquaintances, yet something inside insisted that she had known him forever.
Had their souls known the other in a past life?
She shook her head and chuckled. Since when did her thoughts run to the fantastical. She was an intelligent woman who did not allow herself silly dreams or imaginations. She was grounded and realistic in all matters.
With a sigh, Nicoll crossed to the sideboard and poured herself a glass of brandy.
She remained awake, and properly dressed, long after her sisters had retired.
All curtains remained closed to the parlor, except for the one looking out the back, where she also had unlocked the window.
But, as the moments ticked by and the hour grew later, she had begun to give up the idea that Cecil might visit.
He would only do so if he had news for her. It wasn’t as if he were calling on her for any other purpose, which was rather disheartening.
But just as she was about to finish her brandy and snuff out the light, a shadow shifted. Still not trusting that her cousin wouldn’t have someone watch from the back, Nicoll stepped away from the window and out of sight of anyone who might think to glance in and waited.
Nicoll was not the only one being watched.
Retford had been at Whites where Cecil had joined his brothers. When Cecil finally left, so did Retford, who nodded to someone Cecil could not see then turned in the opposite direction.
It did not take long for Cecil to realize that he was now being followed.
It had been his intention to visit Nicoll this evening even though he had little news to share. He simply wanted…needed to see her, but he could not so long as someone was watching.
Therefore, Cecil returned to his set of rooms at the Albany, lit lamps in the living space and then went to his sleeping chamber, which remained in darkness and looked out.
A man had stopped at the entrance of the drive and waited.
Cecil then lit the lamp in his chamber and returned to the parlor where he poured a glass of brandy and waited. When he had drunk half of it, he extinguished the lights in the sitting room and then found a place in the darkness to watch the street again.
The man remained.
He then went to his sleeping chamber, and turned down the lamp, blanketing his set of rooms in darkness as if he had retired for the night and watched. It was nearly an hour before the man shrugged, turned and left.
And even though the hour grew late, and he was being watched, Cecil snuck away from the Albany, hiding in the shadows as if he were a thief then made his way once again to the back of Nicoll’s home, where he found the window unlocked.
He opened it silently and slipped inside only to find Nicoll waiting, glass of brandy in hand.
“May I have one of those?”
She smiled and crossed to the sideboard and poured.
“I am now being followed,” he informed her.
“All the more reason why we should not associate.”
“In public,” he added.
There was an unexpected thrill to sneaking into her home.
He hadn’t experienced such since he was much younger because everything he did now was acceptable.
But not even he could get away with sneaking into a home occupied only by misses without repercussions and maybe that was why he found this enjoyable. The hiding and sneaking about.
She pressed the glass of brandy into his hand. “Have you learned anything further or were you able to secure passage on a ship.”
“There is no new information, but cabins have been purchased on a ship leaving for Barbados in a fortnight. It was the first ship leaving for one of the destinations we discussed.”
A fortnight was not nearly long enough for him to learn everything he wanted to know about Nicoll, but he was also confident that the Court of Chancery would not even look at the documents filed by Retford before the ship had sailed.
“I suppose all we can do is wait and hope.” She sighed and sank down onto the settee.
Cecil took the one beside her. “Why me?” he then asked.
“You?” she returned, her grey eyes blinked in confusion.
“There are several barristers and solicitors in London, yet you came to me.”
“I know you.”
“No, you do not.” He chuckled. “Or, you had not. Two encounters in Jersey and a few in London hardly made us friends.”
“I trust you,” she answered simply.
And, he trusted her, and not simply because she had held the one secret for him. Cecil knew, deep down, that he would be able to trust Nicoll with all his secrets, which was rather unsettling because there was no one he would ever give such power to—not even his closest sibling.
“You have never dismissed me,” she added.
“Dismissed?”
“You could have attempted to intimidate me in Jersey, taken advantage when I asked for a kiss. You have listened and not once treated me any less because I am female.”
“I never would!” Yet, he knew many men who would.
“I also assume that you are very good at what you do.”
He raised his eyebrows at that statement because he could not understand why she would hold such a belief. It wasn’t as if he was revered as a brilliant jurist.
“You are the third son of a duke, who could do anything he wished, but you chose to be a barrister, which means this is what you want to do, and why you are likely very good at it. Further, you are a rake, thus support women who choose to make their own decisions, while remaining honorable, and likely are not shocked when a woman wants to manage their own affairs. Others might pat me on the head and send me home for a man to manage the difficulties without listening to what I believe is best.”
Cecil was both humbled and flattered, and without a response.
“However, there is one matter that we have not discussed, which we must.”
Cecil could not imagine what else might be on her mind.
“Your fees.” She introduced the difficult topic.
At any other time, Cecil would easily name his rates, but he did not want funds from Nicoll, especially since she had few, and she needed everything in her possession for her future.
However, there were other ways in which she could secure his representation and Cecil couldn’t help but smile.
“Not long ago I learned that a kiss was an excellent bargaining tool…payment for what was being asked.”
Nicoll arched an eyebrow. “A kiss?”
“Yes. That was presented to me as an offer for a secret in Jersey and it worked out quite well. Therefore, I shall ask the same.”
“That is hardly worth what I am asking of you.”
“I have often thought about the kiss we shared, and when I first saw you in London, hoped that it could be shared again.” He set his glass aside as he drew closer to Nicoll. “A kiss, that is all I ask.”
“And I am quite willing to give.”
She waited, turned toward him, lips parted, her silver eyes staring into his.
Bold!
But not in a manner of a woman who sought a lover or wished to become a mistress, but as an equal that it was her choice to give him a kiss. To share in an intimacy with him.
Cecil traced her soft jaw with the tips of his fingers then leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. Last time it had been passionate, overwhelming, this time he was determined to taste and learn.
It was not a sweet kiss by anyone’s imagination, but slow, deep, seductive, tasting, learning.
His blood heated as the rest of his body came alive with need for her.
Acting on their own accord, his arms lifted Nicoll onto his lap while he was barely aware of what he was doing, and deepened the kiss further. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on, meeting his kiss with her own, exploring, learning, tasting.
Only when his lips left her and trailed along her jaw and his hand slipped up her ribcage, moving toward one of her perfect breasts did Cecil pull away.
He had asked for a kiss in payment and had no right to take anything further.
She smiled at him, grey eyes dark and stormy, and her breaths were short.
“It was better than I remember.”
“Yes, it was,” she answered then slipped from his lap, stood, stepped away and shook out her skirts.
One would think that she was not at all affected by what they had just shared, just as she had appeared in the garden that first time.
Was he the only one who was moved by the melding of their mouths?
Uncertain what to think, or say, Cecil stood. “I will call on you tomorrow.”
“Do you expect to have news?”
“It is possible, but what if you have news to share with me and I have no way of knowing?” He grasped at a reason to keep returning and this was the only excuse that had occurred to him. “Therefore, I will call on you each night until you sail.”
He walked to the window, opened it and stepped out then placed his hands on the windowsill and leaned in. “It has also occurred to me that the more I become involved in the estate and what may be required of me, one simple kiss may not be enough.”
“That was a simple kiss?” Nicoll snorted. “Then I am quite curious as to what a more involved one might be like and therefore, am happy to pay your fees.”