Page 29 of Her Duke at Midnight
Cecily wrapped her hands around the cool metal and pulled the lever toward her. A clicking metallic sound came from behind the bookcases and then a groaning slide as the bookshelf sank back farther into the wall.
“A secret passageway?”
Adam grinned. “A secret staircase.”
Just inside the passageway, an unlit lantern hung on the wall. Adam retrieved it, went and knelt before the fire, used a bit of kindling to light the candle within, and then returned to her side.
“Shall we go up?” Cecily asked him. Her curiosity was already brimming over.
He offered her the lantern and then slid his suit coat from his shoulders the moment she took it.
“Wear this. I suspect it will be cold.” He settled the garment, deliciously warm from his body, around her shoulders.
“This leads to the roof?” Cecily asked when they were midway up the narrow winding staircase.
“Clever woman.”
At the top of the staircase, Cecily already felt the bite in the air. The wooden door at the top did little to keep out the chill. But when they pushed on the weathered wood and she glimpsed the night sky, she forgot all about the cold.
The night was blessedly clear, and she spotted Orion as soon as they walked out onto Greenmere’s roof. For a long while, they both simply stared upward. Every once in a while, one of them would reach up and trace the shape of a constellation with their finger.
“Gemini,” Cecily said as she marked the constellation above Orion. “This is perfect,” she whispered.
“If it weren’t so cold,” Adam teased.
“Then keep me warm.”
He did, stepping behind her and wrapping her in his arms. She felt him press a kiss against her hair.
“You’re trembling,” he said softly. “Is it the cold or something else?”
Cecily placed a hand over Adam’s arm where he’d braced it around her waist. He felt strong and safe, and so she told him the truth.
“I spoke to Lord Whitlock.”
“What did he say? The man has already been quite rude to a few of the gentlemen guests.”
“He was drunk,” Cecily told him. “I don’t know why I thought he would listen to me. Archibald rarely did.”
“Did Bissenden drink a great deal?” Adam had lowered his voice and waited patiently for her answer.
“Yes, a great deal.”
“I’m sorry that marriage wasn’t a happy one. You deserve better.”
Cecily turned to face him, and he gathered her in his arms again. She smiled up at him, studying the way the moonlight lit and shadowed all the angles and planes of his handsome face. She realized she was saving up every moment with him as if she could tuck them away and look back on them fondly when they parted.
“You’re the last man with whom I expected to be discussing marriage.”
He looked almost affronted at that. “Am I?”
Cecily frowned. She hadn’t meant to offend him, only to tease. “Well, we did lay out the…limits of whatever this is between us.” She heard the tension in her tone and felt it in her chest. “Soon, we’ll part and—“
“What if we didn’t?”
“Didn’t?”
“Part from each other.”
