Page 89 of The Last Chance
“I would invite you to stay,” Aaron said, glancing at Joanna, “But my attention is needed elsewhere.”
That’s when Delphine reappeared, grinning at Miss Lovelace before returning to the drawing room. Daventry and Rothleyleft. The slam of the front door was Aaron’s cue to berate Sigmund.
“You vowed to protect her,” he said, glaring.
“Hehasprotected me,” Joanna countered.
Sigmund raised his hands in mock surrender. “I didn’t think you’d want me restraining her or giving her a hefty dose of laudanum. But she ran like the clappers, then attacked me in the yard.”
“She attacked you?” Aaron gazed at his slender lover and then at his burly friend. “Is this a joke to rile my temper?”
Joanna straightened her spine. “I hit him in the face and stamped on his foot. There was a brief tussle.”
“And that crippled the best pugilist I know?”
“She threatened to climb into a rakehell’s carriage,” came the next excuse in Sigmund’s ludicrous defence.
“Do rakehells frequent Southend in November?” Aaron suppressed a grin as he imagined poor Sigmund trying to tame a vixen. “Did you suffer more distress at Miss Lovelace’s hands? Is there anything else to confess?”
Sigmund averted his gaze. “I had to grab her bottom as I pushed her over the wall. Happen I caught sight of her ripped stockings, too.”
“You didn’t think to knock on the door and summon me?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Joanna barged in front of Sigmund and braced her hands on her hips. “Sigmund is not to blame. Shout at me if it makes you feel better. I insisted on returning home because I love you.” She prodded him in the chest. “I’m so in love with you, I would rather face the noose than let you fight this battle alone.”
The hum of conversation in the drawing room died.
Aaron tried to breathe because it felt like his heart might burst through his chest. He’d been afraid to say what he’d uttered silently for so long. Yet here was the woman he adored, voicing her feelings proudly.
“We’ll continue this conversation elsewhere,” he said, pointing to the staircase.
Their eyes met, and she read his thoughts.
She raised her skirts and marched upstairs.
“Go pour yourself a brandy,” he said, patting Sigmund’s chest before mounting the stairs behind Joanna, and following her into his bedchamber.
“Of all the foolish things,” he said, slamming the door.
“Is it foolish to love someone?”
Aaron tore off his coat and threw it on the chair. “Are you trying to kill me? Do you want me to die of apoplexy?”
She began unbuttoning her pelisse. “I don’t want you to die at all. That’s why I came home. To be with you.”
He closed his eyes as a wave of love for her washed over him. “Against my strict orders?” he said, desire for her cooling his temper.
“You don’t own me.”
“I will as soon as we’re out of these clothes.”
The hitch in her breath said she wanted him just as badly. “Then perhaps we might hasten the process.”
He watched her fiddle with the buttons on her dress. “Just rip the damn things. That dress is fit for the bonfire.” His waistcoat and shirt hit the floor. “I’ll buy you a wardrobe of new clothes.”
Longing burned in her eyes as she gazed at his bare chest. “Have you been sparring in the basement?”
“Sparring? I’ve been running around town like a hapless fool, trying to prove you’re innocent.” With a quick yank, his shoes were off and they landed somewhere near the bed. “Lucia is Venus.” He would explain everything later. “She’s disappeared, though I couldn’t tell the magistrate because he already thinks you’re in cahoots with her.”
