Page 27 of The Secret Love of a Gentleman
‘They are doing it!’ Caro cried. ‘I see them! Look they are in the rigging!’ She pointed as though she really could see them.
‘The Navy have their cannons ready to fire. The hatches are open, the fools. The water will come in the hold. They will go down.’ Robbie stirred the water more vigorously. ‘Tell the men to come down from the rigging, George. The sea is too wild. Oh no. I see Uncle Bahbah up there. Tell him to come down.’
‘Come down, Uncle Bahbah!’
‘He is down,’ Caro reassured him.
‘The storm is hitting the Navy full force, waves are sweeping into the gun decks. They are sinking. They are going down. Shout hurrah, the pirates have won!’
‘Hu’ah!’ George shouted, thrusting a fist into the air.
‘Hurrah!’ Robbie called. Then he looked at Caro. ‘Are you not pleased, Auntie Caro? Why are you not cheering?’ It was said with satire, and as she looked at his expression, sensations clutched in her middle. Yes, she would say she liked him well enough to call him a friend.
‘Because I think your papa ought to teach you to favour the Navy, George, and I shall tell him so. I would have put those pirates in gaol.’
Robbie laughed.
‘Tumble me, Uncle Bobbie.’ George’s interest in the boat sailed away.
‘Bend over, then.’ Robbie stood up.
George bent over, folding himself in half, and reaching his hands through his legs. Robbie held his hands and pulled him up. George spun a somersault, giggling. It was a well-practised manoeuvre, which Robbie must have taught him.
Robbie lowered George to the ground.
‘You have to rescue George’s boat,’ she reminded him.
‘You just want me to get my boots wet, and I cannot afford to ruin them.’
‘Then you must take them off.’ Gosh, she could not remember teasing anyone since she and Drew were children.
He grinned. ‘A perfect solution. George, you may be the bearer of my coat, while I valiantly climb into the pond to rescue your boat from the storm.’
George grinned as Robbie took off his morning coat and lay it across George’s raised arms, then he sat on the rim of the pond and pulled off his boots. ‘Do not let my coat fall. I do not want grass stains upon it. Conquering heroes should not be green with grass stains.’
George looked at him with eyes full of worship.
In his waistcoat and shirt, she could see that Robbie’s waist was leaner than Albert’s had been. He turned back the cuffs of his shirt, revealing the dark hair across his skin.
A sensual twist spiralled through the lower part of her tummy, a reaction to his masculinity. She often remembered how it felt to lie in a bed with Albert, and to be touched by a man’s hands, she always enjoyed those times with Albert.
‘I do not suppose you would help me with these?’ He lifted a booted foot.
She shook her head. She may feel more comfortable with him, but she did not feel comfortable enough to lean over and yank at his boot. He did not have a valet so he must take his own boots off every night and it did not take him long.
George stood proudly still, watching him. She knew Robbie had given George a task so he would not run around. It was a wise trick.
‘And these are for you, Caro.’ He held out his boots with a wry smile, as if to say,these are to keep you here.
She poked her tongue out at him.When did I last do a thing like that?
George laughed. He had seen a difference in her today too.
‘The hero is rising to the challenge, George!’ Robbie said as he stepped into the water, soaking his stockings and trousers. He waded dramatically through the shallow pool.
Oh, good Lord!She laughed so much she had to clutch her side as a stitch pulled in the muscle there.
The water came up above his knees, but he walked as though it were up to his neck, and he raised one hand as though he held a sword, or a Union Jack flag that he was about to plant in the ground to claim the territory of the pond for Royal Britannia.
