Page 47 of Temptress in Disguise
“For which I have the only key.”
“I had Gibbs unlock them. The thought of keeping you imprisoned in my bedchamber will warm my blood for the next five hours.”
She glanced at his mouth. “Five hours is a long time to wait.”
“I guarantee it will be worth every second.”
They parted on that promise.
As Naomi closed the dining room door behind her, she heard Theodore taunting her husband. “Who the hell are you? And what have you done with my brother?”
“The man you know is alive and well. My wife is an angel able to temper hell’s flames.”
Naomi was still smiling at his reply when she entered Delphine’s boudoir on the upper floor. The lady had gowns in every shade of blue and was determined to find something to fit Naomi.
“I’m two inches too short.” Naomi held one dress against her and gazed at her reflection in the looking glass. “It’s been a long time since I’ve worn anything so pretty.” She’d left her clothes at Hartford Hall the night she fled. It’s why she couldn’t blame Lydia for squandering money on new gowns.
“Midnight blue works splendidly with your golden hair.” Delphine found a velvet choker sporting a teardrop pearl. “Something about the colour reminds me of the sea on a stormy night.”
Naomi hardly recognised herself. “Have you always loved blue? With your exotic features, you would look spectacular in red.”
Delphine stared absently at the gown. “Blue reminds me of the sea. On the surface, it looks serene, so easily discernible. It’s nothing but a disguise to hide its unknowable depths.” She glanced at the locked door and lowered her voice. “What has Aramis told you about me?”
As Aramis had not sworn her to secrecy, she returned the dress to the armoire and explained what she knew. “They found you crying in an alley with no memory of who you were. They’ve taken care of you since you were ten.”
Delphine suddenly reached for Naomi’s hand and gripped it tightly. “Might I speak to you in confidence? I cannot burden Mrs Maloney, but I have a dilemma and don’t dare mention it to my brothers.”
“Of course.” She knew what it was like to mull over problems for days. “Let’s sit on the bed, and you can tell me what troubles you.”
They sat. It took a moment for Delphine to decide where to begin. “Have you ever had a recurring dream that felt so real it’s like you were there? A crone at the fair said dreams are a doorway to one’s destiny.”
Naomi thought to say that crones spouted nonsense, but since meeting Aramis, perhaps one’s destiny was written in the stars.
“Not a recurring one, no.” She’d had nightmares. The theme was the same—a case of being plagued by an invisible entity—but the setting was always different. “Do you wish to tell me about the dream?”
Delphine worried her bottom lip and shuffled closer. “I’m walking along a riverbank amid beautiful fields. On the other side is an elegant man. I cannot see his face, but every cell in my body urges me to follow him.”
It was normal for an unmarried woman to fantasise about men.
“I know he’s important to me, but when I call to him, the wind drowns out my words. Out of sheer desperation, I jump into the river, determined to swim to the other side. That’s when he disappears, and I realise I’m out of my depth, about to drown.”
The dream sounded more like a nightmare, a deep-rooted anxiety. “And it’s the same dream every time? The same man?”
“The same dream. The same man. The same location.” Delphine pressed her palm to her chest to calm her ragged breathing. “In my heart, I know him. I belong with him. What if it’s my father? Worse still, what if I have another brother? A blood brother?”
The lady’s fear was as palpable as the violent entity of Naomi’s nightmares. “Can you recall anything from your past?”
“No. Aaron said I had a lump on my head when they found me. Delphine was the name sewn into my dress.” Tears slipped down her cheeks. “No one came forward to claim me. What if my parents were visiting from abroad? What if they’d spent a lifetime searching for me and died broken-hearted?”
What if she was an orphan left to wander the streets?
A waif no one wanted?
Naomi gathered Delphine close and let the lady cry on her shoulder. “And you’ve not told your brothers because you fear they’ll be hurt?”
“I love them and owe them my life. How can I tell them they’re not enough?”
“I’m sure they would understand.” Though when a man had lost everything, could he suffer another blow?
