Page 26 of The Spy Who Loved Her
If Rafe had a key, he might come and go at his leisure. Did she want him to have such freedom of her house? A dangerous man, by his own admission? Then again, he had had his run of it evening last, and she had not noted anything out of the ordinary to mark his presence. Nor was he, she expected, possessed of a need for funds which might lend itself to thievery.
But thechildren—
No. If he had been the sort of man who was known to prey uponchildren, then surely either Neil or Dannyboy or one of the other children would have mentioned something of it. Street children, she had learned, had a rather remarkable instinct for making note of such men, and of staying well clear of them. They hadto have, for their safety often depended upon their good judgment. And the children were tucked away within the dormitory wing at night, anyway, guarded by a bevy of staff charged with their safety.
The terrace door, then. He would know it already, and it was the exterior door closest to where she resided within the house. It would avert any further potentially awkward conversations with Neil, and keep the whispering of the staff to a minimum. Though she had no reason to believe any of them were prone to gossiping about her—she paid commendable wages to her staff, even to the lowest scullery maid—still it would be best not to court trouble.
It meant nothing more than convenience, she assured herself as she scratched out a note and tucked the key she had retrieved from the housekeeper’s alcove within it, folding the paper neatly to form a secure pocket. Still the thought rang false even within her head.
The truth was something a bit wicked, she suspected: that she had found within the arms of a stranger something she had never experienced with her husband. That the lure of that connection could tempt a woman well past the bounds of reason.
She had gotten far more than she had expected from their association, however brief it had been. More than just to feel. Instead, for the first time in a decade or better, she feltaliveonce more.
∞∞∞
“Have you a pressing engagement elsewhere?” Diana inquired as she handed Emma a glass of ratafia, which she had retrieved from the refreshment table.
“What? Oh—no. No, nothing.” Emma said as she received the glass. “Whyever do you ask?”
“Besides the fact that you’ve refused every invitation to dance?” Diana asked, with a sort of wry amusement. “You’ve been staring at the ballroom door for at least twenty minutes. Either you’re expecting to see a familiar face appear within it, or you are calculating how many more minutes until it is acceptable to walk through it.”
Had she been so ill-mannered as that? “I’m sosorry,” Emma said. “It’s a lovely ball. Really, it is.” But it wasn’t where she wished to be this evening. She had let it slip her mind entirely, and had invited Rafe to pay a call this evening—but unless she hurried home, it was likely that he’d arrive well before she did. And there were so few hours left between dark and dawn.
In the weeks that had passed since they had met, his evening visits had become a regular occurrence, and the high point of her days. She had often found herself counting the hours until she could expect him to arrive.
It simply wasn’t the sort of thing to which one admitted in a crowded ballroom.
“It ought to be, with all the planning that Lydia and I have put into it,” Diana mused with a sigh. “I do wish Rafe had decided to attend, however. It does grow wearying, extending invitations he so rarely accepts.”
Yes; Emma knew well enough the inconstancy of brothers. “What is he like, your brother?” she asked.
Diana lifted her brows in surprise. “Oh,” she said. “I suppose you have never had the occasion to meet him, have you? He’s quite a lot of fun, really, when he is not intent upon being the most difficult of men. Hannah just adoreshim, naturally. Probably because he is always willing to carry her about upon his shoulders.” She heaved a sigh, rubbing her midsection absently. “It would have been nice to have his attendance this evening, considering he surely would have got her out from beneath the refreshment table without quite as much fuss.”
Emma hid a smile behind the rim of her glass. “And what was she doing beneath the refreshment table?”
“Sneaking bits of cake,” Diana said, rolling her eyes heavenward. “I’m still not certain how she made it down from the nursery unobserved. Did you not hear the commotion?”
“I’m afraid I was a touch distracted.”
“Phoebe found her, if you can believe it. Frightened her out of her wits, to see a hand creeping up behind the table to steal a bit of cake. She screamed like a banshee. I’m surprised you didn’t hear it.”
“But you and Lydia are to be congratulated for that,” Emma said. “It’s such a crush that I didn’t hear a scream.” And itwasa crush—enough of one that the exterior doors to the terrace had been left open to allow the air, which had grown quite thick and hot, to better circulate. Even the winter chill in the air was a welcome respite from it.
Practically everyone who was returned to town from their winter holidays, and who had been lucky enough to receive an invitation, had attended.Except, of course, for Diana’s middle brother.
Diana cast a shrewd glance at Emma. “It truly is a pity about Rafe, though,” she said. “Do you know, I think the two of you would suit each other quite well.”
Emma suppressed a patient sigh. “It is a known predilection of the newly-wedded to seek to guide others toward matrimony,” she said. “I assure you, I have had my fill of it already.”
“Yes, a decade ago, and not since,” Diana said. “But youwouldsuit,” she persisted. “You’re both clever, sly—”
“Sly!”
“Youare,” Diana charged. “You are a keeper of secrets, Emma, and don’t think I don’t know it. It is a little unfair of you, as I have told you all of mine.”
“And I have keptthem,” Emma said. “Really, Diana, I am not seeking another husband. I have only just resolved to clear out Ambrose’s things. I am not eager to put a new gentleman in his place.”
“Have you, then?” Diana asked. “Still, I suppose it is a step in a promising direction. I never knew him, but from what I have gleaned, I cannot imagine it an easy task for you.”
