His Lordship's True Lady (True Gentlemen #4)(75)

Next, Lily opened the buttons at the top of Hessian’s shirt. “Uncle speaks well of those with ambition, until they’re wealthy. Then they become encroaching mushrooms.”

“Lily, if you persist…”

She kissed him. “One can’t be comfortable in a bed when fully clothed. Finish your story.”

Hessian held her so her face was pressed to his shoulder. “How am I to think logically when you are removing my clothing?”

He let her go, and Lily subsided against him. Had he kept his hands to himself in aid of self-restraint? That would be very like Hessian Kettering.

“Delmar and Walter had a spectacular falling-out,” he went on. “The shouting could be heard throughout the house, though such a disagreement was unprecedented in their relationship. Nobody knows if the subject was permission to court your sister, a financial matter, or something else entirely. The next morning, Delmar was gone, and your sister was missing as well. Nobody saw them leave, and Walter was soon putting it about that his niece was off to a fine finishing school in Switzerland.”

“And Uncle has never had a house steward or man of business since,” Lily said. “Not that I know of, nor has he permitted Oscar to learn much about the finances.”

“Your hair… Do you use French soap? I can’t place the fragrance.”

Hessian sniffed right above Lily’s ear, and beneath the cozy covers, she shivered. “I buy it from a shop in Chelsea. If my sister is kicking her heels in Scotland, Uncle is probably that much more desperate to get her money out of the trust accounts and into his own hands.”

Next came more of a nuzzle than a sniff.

“If Walter knows your sister is alive and well. Maybe she served him a portion of his own recipe and dissembled about her demise, the better to be left in peace.”

Quiet stretched, with only the crackling of the fire to mark the moment. Lily tried to think—tried to parse how Hessian’s discoveries would impact Walter’s behavior—and was foiled by a welter of sensations.

Hessian’s fingers, casually stroking her arm. The beat of his heart beneath her cheek. The sheer, shameless relief of being close to him.

“I should be packing for Scotland,” Lily said. “I don’t want to move.”

Hessian shifted to peer down at her. “You cannot in any way let your uncle know what you’ve learned, Lily. For the next two weeks, he controls the money, but it’s in trust for you, your sister, your ducal relations, somebody. If he has you followed to Scotland and learns that the real heiress is alive, what will he do? Look at the lengths he’s gone to with you. Two years in an exclusive finishing school, an elaborate charade, significant expense, this farcical notion of marrying you to Oscar.”

“You’re saying Uncle is desperate.”

Hessian brushed her hair back from her brow. “Only a desperate man would risk deceiving ducal in-laws for years on end, much less defrauding them of settlements that in all likelihood should have reverted to their hands.”

“But if my sister—”

He kissed her, barely a peck on the lips. “I will go to Scotland. I’ll investigate your sister’s circumstances, if indeed Mrs. Delmar is your sister. You must stay here and carry off one last deception, Lily. You have always done your uncle’s bidding, however much you might grumble. You must for two more weeks be that resentful but submissive niece and give me time to untangle this mess.”

They would be the longest two weeks of her life. “I’d rather go myself,” Lily said, winnowing her fingers through Hessian’s hair. “If my sister is alive, I want to hear her explanation. I want to see her. I want to know what she can tell me about who my father is.”

Hessian dropped his forehead to Lily’s. “If you attempted the journey to Scotland, the instant your uncle caught up to you—there being very few wellborn redheaded young ladies traveling the Great North Road at speed—he would claim you’ve taken leave of your senses and apply to become your guardian. I beg you, don’t give him that opportunity.”

Recent threats from Walter suggested he would enact even that plan.

“Be careful,” Lily said, holding Hessian tightly. “Please, be very, very careful.”

He wrapped his arms around her, Lily shifted, and as if the room had been shaken by thunder, she realized that despite all the information Hessian had conveyed, despite the clear thinking he was capable of, he had also convincingly dissembled for the second time in one day.

Hessian had been a dutiful reporter, he was prepared to gallop forth on his next assignment, and his affections thus far had been bestowed reluctantly.

And yet, he was aroused. He was utterly, absolutely, wonderfully aroused.





Chapter Seventeen





* * *



Hessian buried his face against Lily’s shoulder and buried a coach-load of self-reproach as well.

He’d had such worthy ambitions for his day: interview the former governess, speak with the duchess, report to Lily, and formulate the next step in a plan to see her freed from Walter Leggett’s schemes.

Items notably missing from that agenda had included:

Playacting to cozen confidential information from an unsuspecting innkeeper.

Peering into kitchen windows and climbing through same to inspect the governess’s personal abode.