Page 226 of Storm of Bells
Mr Ambrose was out of the bed and across theroom before I could blink. And, incidentally, before he could putany clothes on.
‘M-My Lord!’
‘Where is he?’ Mr Ambrose demanded.
The maid’s mouth opened and closed withoutmaking a sound. Slowly, her eyes travelled downward.
‘M-My Lord! You…you are…’
Slinging a blanket around my figure, Iclimbed out of bed and, taking pity on the poor girl, dumpedanother blanket on top of Mr Rikkard Ambrose.
‘Mmmph! What the—!’
My, my. My husband made quite a nice castleghost.
Smiling, I turned to the young maid. ‘Can youplease tell me where the man is right now?’
The girl curtsied so deeply she nearlytoppled over. ‘Yes, My Lady! Downstairs in the great hall, MyLady.’
‘Now, that’s not how we treat guests, is it?’I asked, patting my husband’s blanketed shoulder. In answer came amuffled cottony sound. ‘Lead the gentleman into the yellow drawingroom and serve him some tea and sandwiches while we get ready, willyou?’
‘Yes, My Lady! Straight away, My Lady!’Rushing out of the room, the maid made her way downstairs.
Closing the door behind her, I turned to myhusband with the sweetest of sweet smiles. ‘Mr Ambrose, Sir…I knowthat knowledge is power is time is money. But if you ever get outof bed before dressing while another female is in the room, youwon’t have any time on this earth left to earn money in.Understood?’
‘It was not my fault that servant did notturn around in ti—‘
‘Understood?’
‘Hm. I…suppose those are acceptableconditions.’
‘Excellent.’ Having resolved that problem, Iturned to the matter at hand, raising an eyebrow. ‘So…regardingthat messenger. Were you expecting someone?’
‘No.’ A muscle in Mr Rikkard Ambrose’s cheektwitched. Reaching for his clothes, he pulled his trousers on and,unfortunately, also his shirt. It was truly agonizing to bedeprived of such a view. ‘Definitely not.’
I also slipped into my clothes. Having had toswitch between Mr and Miss Linton frequently for the last fewyears, I had become quite proficient at dressing quickly. When Iwas finished, I turned and found him watching me.
‘Ready?’
‘Ready.’
Marching over to the door, he held out a handto me. ‘Then let’s see what our visitor wants, shall we?’
Honeymoon
We stepped out of thedoor and started towards the stairs—but we hadn’t even moved twosteps before we were ambushed.
‘Lilly, dear! What a coincidence meeting youhere!’
A beaming Lady Samantha stepped out of analcove, followed by Adaira and a butler who looked about to diefrom embarrassment.
‘Yes,’ Mr Ambrose said, his cool gaze zeroingin on his mother. ‘What a coincidence meeting us in front of ourown bedroom the morning after our wedding night.’
Adaira grinned shamelessly. ‘Coincidences areamazing things, aren’t they?’
‘So, tell me, Lilly dear…’ Her Ladyshipsidled closer, the desperate hope of a prospective grandmothergleaming in her eyes. ‘How…are things?’
Holy Mother of…! Is she actually asking ifthe two of us…?
