It Happened One Autumn (Wallflowers #2)(17)

“My lord,” she whispered again, jerking her mouth from his. “For God’s sake—let go of me!”

“Yes…I’m sorry…just one more…” He sought her lips again, and she shoved at him as hard as she could. His chest was as hard as granite.

“Let go, you oaf!” Twisting wildly, Lillian managed to pry herself free of him. Her entire body tingled from the exquisite friction with his, even after they were separated.

As they stared at each other, she saw the haze of lust begin to dissipate from his expression, and his dark eyes widened with the dawning realization of what had just happened. “Holy hell,” he whispered.

Lillian did not appreciate the way he stared at her, like a man beholding the fatal head of Medusa. She scowled at him. “I can find my own way to my room,” she said curtly. “And don’t try to follow me—I’ve had quite enough help from you today.” Turning, she sped across the walkway, while he stared after with his jaw sagging.

By some miracle of God, Lillian managed to reach her room before her mother appeared to wake her daughters from their nap. Slipping through the partially open door, she closed it and hurriedly unfastened the front buttons of her gown. Daisy, who had already stripped down to her undergarments, went to the door and inserted a crimped pin beneath the knob to trick the lever and relock it.

“What took you so long?” Daisy asked, intent on her task. “I hope you’re not angry that I didn’t wait for you—I thought I should get back here and freshen up as quickly as possible.”

“No,” Lillian said distractedly, stepping out of her filthy gown. She deposited it at the bottom of the armoire and closed it out of sight. A sharp click signaled Daisy’s success in relocking the door. Rapidly Lillian strode to the washstand, emptied the dirty water into the slop jar below, and poured fresh water into the bowl. Washing her face and arms hastily, she blotted her skin with a length of clean toweling.

Suddenly a key turned in the lock, and both girls glanced at each other in alarm. They headed for their separate beds with running leaps, landing on the mattresses just as their mother entered the room. Fortunately the curtains were closed, making the light too ineffectual for Mercedes to detect any evidence of their activities. “Girls?” she asked suspiciously. “It is time for you to awaken now.”

Daisy stretched and yawned loudly. “Mmmm…we’ve had a lovely nap. I feel so refreshed.”

“As do I,” Lillian said thickly, her head buried in her pillow, her heart pounding hard against the mattress.

“Now you must bathe and change into your evening gowns. I’ll ring for the maids to draw a bath. Daisy, you will wear your yellow silk. Lillian, you must wear the green with the gold clips at the shoulders.”

“Yes, Mother,” they both said.

As Mercedes went back to the room next door, Daisy sat upright and stared at Lillian curiously. “Why were you so long in returning?”

Lillian rolled over and looked up at the ceiling, considering what had happened in the garden. She couldn’t quite believe that Westcliff, who had always exhibited such disapproval of her, would have behaved in such a way. It made no sense. The earl had never displayed any hint of attraction to her before. In fact, this afternoon was the first occasion when they had actually managed to be civil to each other. “Westcliff and I were obliged to keep out of sight for a few minutes,” Lillian heard herself say, while thoughts continued to click through her mind. “Father was among the group that came along the walkway.”

“Oh Lord!” Daisy swung her legs over the side of her bed and stared at Lillian with an aghast grimace. “But Father didn’t see you?”

“No.”

“Well, that’s a relief.” Daisy frowned slightly, seeming to sense that there was a great deal being left unsaid. “It was quite sporting of Lord Westcliff not to give us away, wasn’t it?”

“Sporting, yes.”

A sudden smile curved Daisy’s lips. “I think it was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen when he showed you how to swing the bat—I was certain that you were going to bash him with it!”

“I was tempted,” Lillian replied darkly, standing from her own bed and going to pull the curtains open. As she jerked the heavy folds of lined damask to the side, a burst of afternoon sunlight invaded the room, causing tiny floating dust motes to sparkle in the air. “Westcliff looks for any excuse to demonstrate his superiority, doesn’t he?”

“Was that what he was doing? It looked rather like he was trying to find an excuse to put his arms around you.”

Startled by the comment, Lillian looked at her with narrowed eyes. “Why would you say a thing like that?”

Daisy shrugged. “There was something in the way he looked at you…”

“What way?” Lillian demanded, while panic began to flutter through her body like a thousand tiny wings.

“Just a sort of, well…interested way.”

Lillian covered her turmoil with a scowl. “The earl and I despise each other,” she said tersely. “The only thing he is interested in is a potential business arrangement with Father.” She paused and approached the vanity table, where her vial of perfume glittered in the ample fall of sunlight. Closing her fingers around the pear-shaped crystal vessel, she picked it up and rubbed her thumb across the stopper repeatedly. “However,” she said hesitantly, “there is something I must tell you, Daisy. Something happened while Westcliff and I waited behind the hedgerow…”