Page 39 of A Body, A Baron, and Miss Mifford
There was no need for Eudora to form a reply to this wildly thrilling statement, for her lips became otherwise occupied.
Lord Delaney closed the gap between them, drew her into his arms, and captured her mouth with a searing kiss.
Eudora—who had long been lectured that she should protect her modesty at all costs—did not put up any fight to the baron’s advances. On the contrary, she rather encouraged him, melting into his kiss with a dreamy sigh.
To her surprise, her sigh was met with a low groan from the baron, who pressed her back against the wall, pinning her against the mahogany panelling with strong arms.
His kiss, which had been gentle and firm before, was now something else entirely. It was deep and passionate, rendering Eudora’s knees weak and her every sense heightened.
If given the choice, Eudora would have stayed in their embrace forever, but the baron drew away suddenly, his breath ragged.
“Forgive me,” he said, sounding somewhat pained to her ear.
Eudora, who had just experienced the most thrilling event of her life, could not understand why he sought her forgiveness.
“I should not have taken such liberties,” Robert continued, running a hand nervously through his thick dark hair, “I pray your good opinion of me is not altered in any way.”
“I find my opinion of you has only increased, my lord,” Eudora answered, unable to help herself from teasing him.
To her surprise, he gave another pained groan, glancing up and down the dim corridor. “Please,” he insisted, closing his eyes against a struggle Eudora could not understand, “Don’tencourage me—or Mrs Canards and Mrs Wickling will have something real to gossip about in the morning.”
Though she felt a stab of pity for Robert, Eudora could not help but be thrilled at the power she held over him. It was a marvel to think that such a large man would need to plead to her for clemency.
“I will return to my room, in that case,” Eudora decided, earning herself a glance of regret from the baron.
“You told me not to encourage you,” Eudora huffed, placing her hands on her hips.
“Yes, but I didn’t mean for you to abandon me instantly,” he answered, brows raised in amusement.
He reached out to take one of her hands, frowning in annoyance at finding it gloved.
“I didn’t take you as the rakish sort, Miss Mifford,” he continued, idly removing the offending glove from Eudora’s hand, “To discard a man so quickly after the act of love-making.”
“I wasn’t…” Eudora protested before trailing off as she realised the baron was teasing her.
“Please don’t tease me just now, my lord,” she replied as he threaded his fingers through hers, “I’m already somewhat discombobulated.”
“In a good way?”
“In the best possible way,” Eudora confirmed.
It was true. She felt utterly askew; her blood was heady as it coursed through her veins, her mind whirring as she wondered what would happen if she encouraged the baron further.
“The last night that we met, I ended up in this corridor by mistake,” Eudora blurted, nervous now of her own control over her desire. “And I happened across Lady Albermay and Captain Ledger.”
In a rushed whisper, Eudora described word for word the conversation she had heard between the viscountess and her paramour.
As she finished, Rob squeezed her hand in an act of consolation.
“Between this and the blood-stains on the dress,” he summarised softly, “I’m afraid it rather sounds as though Lady Albermay played some sort of role in her husband’s demise.”
“But what about the son?” Eudora questioned, grappling for any other suspect.
“Now that you mention him, I did overhear Lord Albermay arguing with a woman earlier. Something about him needing to pay her more if he wished for her to confess.”
“Surely that means something,” Eudora gasped, but the baron looked unconvinced.
“I also learned that Lord Albermay was suffering from an illness which was expected to kill him soon enough,” Robert continued, his tone grave. “His son was aware of it, while his wife was deliberately not told. Our Lord Albermay had no reason to kill his father--not when he merely needed to wait a month or two to inherit.”
