Page 22 of With Love in Sight
“I need to ask a favor of you,” she said in a low voice. “Will you meet me after dinner in the orangery?”
“Certainly,” he answered immediately.
She smiled up at him, and Caleb found himself struck dumb for the second time that evening. And as he watched her walk away to join her sister, he had a feeling it would not be the last.
• • •
Caleb watched with barely contained frustration at dinner as course after course was brought out for the guests’ enjoyment. Was it just him, he thought, or were people taking an inordinately long time in savoring their food this evening? By the time the women left the men to their port, he felt he would burst from his skin.
And then wouldn’t one gentleman begin telling a drawn-out story about some opera singer he’d bedded, which led to another revealing he’d bedded the same woman last Season, which prompted a lively discussion on her technique. When it then turned to a general discussion on opera singers versus actresses, Caleb could stand no more. Determining that the group’s attention was engaged, he slipped from the room.
When he reached the orangery, however, he found the glass-fronted room still quite empty. The warm, clean, tangy smell of citrus filled the air, and the glossy dark green leaves of the trees shimmered in the pale moonlight. He spotted a stone bench against one wall and sat to await Imogen’s arrival. Had she come and left already? Would she still come? And why in hell was he so damned nervous?
Mere moments later, however, the door opened silently and she slid into the room. He stood as she approached him. She was grinning.
“I have never done anything like this before,” she said a bit breathlessly, a small laugh escaping her.
“Not once?”
She shook her head. “It quickens the blood, doesn’t it? This sneaking about and all.”
He smiled. “Yes.”
She breathed in deeply, no doubt taking in the wonderful scents of the room. Her eyes roved over the moonlit plants with interest.
“How long have you worn spectacles?” he blurted.
She glanced up at him in surprise. “Since I was ten.”
“Why have I not seen you in them before?”
She shot him an ironic look. “My mother is not…partial to them.”
“Partial? That’s an interesting word.”
“If you must know, she believes I’ll be labeled a bluestocking and that the entire family’s reputation will be damaged.”
He laughed. “You’re kidding.”
“I wish I were.”
He studied her for a moment in disbelief. “So you wearing spectacles in public is akin to the greatest scandal that could befall your family.”
“Something like that.” Her lips quirked, but he could see he wasn’t too far off the mark.
She suddenly cleared her throat, all business. “But that brings me to the matter at hand. Thank you so much for agreeing to meet me, by the by. I realize it’s a shocking business, for us to be here alone.”
He fought the urge to laugh. With the utter earnestness on her face, he didn’t think she would welcome it at this time. “No problem at all,” he replied instead, attempting to adopt her serious mien.
“You’re probably wondering what prompted me to act in so forward a manner. The truth of the matter is, I need you for something.”
All manner of images flashed through his mind at that, not a one that he could possibly share with her. He cleared his throat. “Anything at all.”
She drew a deep breath. “I need you to help me have an adventure.”
“A what?”
“An adventure.” She saw his blank look and sighed, the pain he had noticed in her eyes earlier returning. “You see, Lord Willbridge, I know full well my situation. I am aware I will never marry, that I will forever live on my parents’ charity, and my siblings’ after that.”
