Page 46 of Let Me Be Your Hero
“I have a fair idea,” he muttered.
Izzie laughed at his discomfiture. “I didn’t think I would shock you. After all, was that not an unnatural act you performed upon me yesterday in my parents’ drawing room?”
His ears had gone red. “Do not mistake me—we are going to perform… perhaps noteveryact in that book. Some of those books are a bit, um…”
“I know what you mean,” Izzie said quickly. “For example, the page my brother has dog-eared shows—”
He cut her off with a strangled sound. “I don’t need to know that about your brother.”
“But your point is well taken,” Izzie continued. “Although I would be extremely eager for us to try most of the plates together, there are a few where I fail to grasp the appeal.”
Archibald buried his head in his hands. “Oh, my God. We need to stop talking about this.”
Izzie frowned. “But you just said that you are eager to participate in many of the acts depicted on those plates.”
“That’s the problem, all right. In three hours, I have to stand up in front of the vicar, my parents, and everyone I know.” He gestured vaguely to the front of his trousers. “I don’t need to be picturing you snooping through your brother’s book of naughty prints or us performing unnatural acts when I do it.”
Izzie giggled. “I’m causing you all sorts of trouble, aren’t I?”
“The very best kind of trouble.” He pressed a kiss against her temple, then put his hands on his knees and pushed himself to his feet. “Now, breakfast.”
“Are yousureyou don’t want to stay here a little longer?” Izzie asked, voice teasing.
Archibald groaned. “I do. But we both know that as soon as things get interesting, your mother will walk in on us.Again.”
They were both laughing as they headed, arm-in-arm, to breakfast.
CHAPTER 23
Three hours later, Archibald stood in the foyer, helping his parents greet their guests. As threatened, Bastian had been by earlier and had insisted upon giving Archibald’s hair a fresh trim before wedging him into a skintight coat of dark blue superfine, along with a cream waistcoat and breeches.
The clerk from Rundell and Bridge had arrived as Bastian was finishing up with him, which was probably for the best. Archibald didn’t know much about jewelry, and so Bastian had helped him select a ring. In spite of his grumbling, Jack had done an excellent job, even borrowing one of Izzie’s rings from her lady’s maid so that every ring the clerk had brought over was sized perfectly for her hand.
Coincidentally, the ring Bastian had insisted Izzie would like best was the one Archibald had been drawn to from the start.
“The Duke and Duchess of Trevissick,” Giddings announced, recalling Archibald to the foyer. “Lady Griselda Saxe-Mecklenburg, and Lady Diana Latimer.”
Archibald hurried over and bowed over Ceci’s hand, whispering, “Should my parents ask, strong floral scents give you headaches.”
Comprehension flared in her eyes, which was unsurprising. They were friends, so she knew what his parents were like. Plus, the smell of the two remaining vases of gardenias was discernable even from three rooms away. “They absolutely do, and how thoughtful of you to have remembered it,” Ceci replied.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
She squeezed his arm and leaned up to whisper in his ear, “I amsohappy for you.”
Archibald gave her a sheepish smile. Ceci had picked up on his infatuation with Izzie after she caught him staring at her at a ball. It had been an embarrassing turn of events, especially as Archibald had ostensibly been courting Ceci at the time.
“Thank you. I’m happy for you, too,” he said, nodding toward Ceci’s new husband, the duke, who was speaking to Izzie’s brother, Edward.
Ceci’s brown eyes sparkled as she said, “I think everything has worked out for the best.”
Archibald nodded, and Ceci drifted off to join her husband. The Trevissick party was the final group to arrive, so Archibald went over to instruct one of his men to lock the door and admit no one without consulting him first.
He glanced around the foyer. His mother was beside herself with glee as she welcomed the Duke and Duchess of Trevissick intoherhome. Lord and Lady Thetford were laughingly admiring the Arse of Anubis, which was apropos, as they had been the ones to saddle him with it.
Perhaps he would give it back to them. It would make a lovely Christmas present.
Archibald’s father crept up behind him. “This is the best thing you’ve ever done, Archie.”
