Page 77 of Drowned in the Pleasure of a Devilish Baron
Felix grinned and began to climb the tree up to her room. Leonard had wanted to stay another night at his London home, but he had missed Juliet as desperately as Felix had wanted to make a nighttime visit to Sarah and had been only too happy to return home. They would await news from Cast here, difficult as it was. They had done all they could in London until he sent word to them, hopefully soon.
He slipped into her room, drinking her in as he saw her. She had lit a small candle, and he noticed the blanket was back at the door, the lock turned.
“My love,” he whispered, as she walked into his arms. He smiled against her sweet smelling hair, but when she continued to squeeze him tightly without a word, he frowned. “Are you all right?”
She did not answer, only squeezed him all the tighter.
“Sarah? Sarah, what’s happened?” He pulled away, looking down at her with concern. Her face was deadly white, her eyes large and blinking rapidly. “What is it?”
She took a shuddering breath. “There was a dinner party this evening, at Lord Ashton’s. It was terrible.”
“Why? Did he hurt you?” His anxious eyes scanned her, though there was not much skin to see beneath her robe.
“No, no, he did not hurt me.” She rubbed a hand across her eyes. “But Felix, I despise him.” She blinked up at him with her clear blue eyes and he knew he was lost. No matter what, he would never be able to disappoint those eyes. “They are all so certain the wedding will go forward, but I cannot do it!” Her voice rose close to a cry, and he quickly put his finger to her lips.
“Hush, my love.” He looked nervously at the door, and they both waited with bated breath for footsteps, but none came. He let out a breath. “You are right, you cannot marry him. And for now, it does not look as if there is anything we can do to change the minds of your mother and brother.”
He saw tears fill her eyes at that, but he knew her courage pushed her to swallow them back, and he loved her for both her softness and her strength.
“So I have a proposal for you, though it is extreme.” He dropped to his knees in front of her, watching her eyes widen in surprise. “Sarah, let’s run away together. Let us not wait until it is too late and you are lost to a life you do not want to lead. We can go, anywhere, everywhere. We will get married on our own, wait until the gossip dies down, and come back here.”
As he spoke, he could feel the rightness in this option. He would appoint Dubois to oversee the land, the planting, the mead and beer, and even the cottage itself. There would be no more waiting, no more hoping in vain that John and Lady Marlow would come around and allow their union to happen. Maybe, in time, they would be able to forgive and come to terms with their marriage.
Sarah seemed to be answering the same questions in her own mind. She gripped his hands tightly in hers, and the tears she had tried so hard to dam burst through, spilling down her cheeks.
“Yes,” she whispered, pulling him up onto his feet. “Yes, let’s run away together.” She leaned up on her toes to kiss him, one hand on the back of his neck. He lifted her into his arms and swung her around once, sending her bed jacket flying behind her like a cape.
As he set her back on the ground, kissing her once more for good measure, she put her hands over her mouth to muffle the sound of her laugh.
“Truly?” he asked. “Are you certain? Maybe you should take a few days to think about it. Because you realize that your family could cast you out forever and never speak with you again. I do not want you to give that up for me.”
“But it wouldn’t be just for you, not really. It would be for me, too, and for us. Though I love my family, they have shown an extraordinary lack of care for my happiness, so why should I sacrifice everything I have wanted for their happiness? I am sure,” she said, nodding sharply. “I do not need to take even a moment more to think about it.”
“All right…” he said, thinking quickly. “All right. I will need a few days, to wrap up what Leonard and I are working on now, to appoint someone to take care of everything in my absence. I am sure that Leonard and Juliet will help me with both.”
“And in the meantime, I will pack what I can and remain perfectly obedient and normal here,” she said with a smile.
“You are always perfect though happily, normal and obedient are not words I would use to describe you,” he laughed.
She laughed with him and leaned back into his arms. He held her close, aching to stay like this for the rest of the night. For forever. But he had to go. There were a great many things to do before they could do that, and he needed a few hours of sleep before it could get done.
He kissed the top of her head once more, not trusting himself to leave if he kissed her sweet lips, and pulled away.
“I wish you the sweetest dreams, and I will see you a few days from now,” he said as he swung one leg over the windowsill.
“What day shall we say?” she asked.
“If it’s Tuesday now, give me three days to handle everything that must be taken care of before I can go. I will be back here at midnight on Friday, ready to whisk you away into a new life.”
“Three days,” she nodded slowly. “Friday.” A slow smile spread across her face, and she kissed him again, more forcefully, bringing one hand and tangling it into his hair, making his body heat with longing. But the kiss had to come to an end eventually, and with her eyes on him, he dropped down to the ground and loped quickly for Acorn, for home.
* * *
Sarah awoke the next morning, stretching her arms wide with a grin on her face in the soft early light. Dreams filled her head of their exodus as she imagined how they might escape, and how they might slip out of town without being seen or noticed by anyone in theton.
Perhaps she could dress like a man, and so ride astride down the long dusty roads to wherever they would go, a freedom beyond imagining. In her chest, a chasm opened wide, and she could taste a new life, so close and so sweet. These were the happy thoughts in her head when the doorknob rattled once, and then again, harder.
She shot up in bed, her heart jumping into her throat. The key! She flew from bed, throwing her counterpane aside. She had put away the extra blanket that had been on the floor but had been so wrapped in her other thoughts that she had forgotten to unlock her door. Forcing herself to take a deep breath and slow her pace, she unlocked the door and pulled it open, her face carefully blank.
