Home > 'Twas the Night Before Scandal(6)

'Twas the Night Before Scandal(6)
Author: Merry Farmer

Harrison stood on the other side, his brow knit in concern, the clothes he’d worn that morning at the hall in Clerkenwell looking slightly rumpled and worse for wear. He had his hand raised to knock on the door, but at the first sight of Bea, his expression flashed to surprise and he lowered his hand. A moment later, the shock in his eyes was replaced by warmth.

“Bea.” He spoke her name as if it were a benediction. His gaze raked her from head to toe, and his smile widened. “You look lovely.” One blink, and he was back to being confused and concerned again. “Heavens, Bea. Why are you answering the door and not Pettigrew? Is everything all right?”

He stepped through the door into the hall, and Bea moved to shut the door behind him. Her heart thundered against her ribs, and her mind was scattered with contradictory thoughts. She was so bold and daring to invite Harrison over for a seduction. She was a ninny for thinking she could pull it off. He must think her a colossal fool. He thought she looked lovely.

“Papa and Evelyn are out,” she said, hovering near the door, not certain how to proceed. “I…I found myself all alone for supper, and….” She bit her lip, scrambling for a viable excuse for sending a note with the urgency of the one she’d sent. “And I thought I heard a strange noise in the house.”

“What kind of a noise?” Harrison’s back went straight and his expression grew protective. He looked every bit the knight she would have loved to have rescue her if there truly had been an emergency. “And where are the servants?”

“They have the night off,” she said, clasping her hands in front of her and trying not to be too obvious in her lies. Though that wasn’t truly a lie.

“On a Wednesday?” Harrison blinked. A moment later, his bafflement melted into a smile. That smile was amused at first, but quickly began to heat. “And you’re all alone at home?”

Part of Bea wanted to thank her lucky stars that Harrison had caught on to her ruse. The rest of her was terrified…because he’d caught on to her ruse.

“Supper is ready, but I have no one to dine with,” she said in a small voice, feeling as though she were moving a piece across a chessboard.

“Well,” Harrison said, removing his hat and placing it on a stand near the door, then unbuttoning his heavy, wool coat. “We wouldn’t want you to have to dine alone when there are strange noises in the house.”

It was all Bea could do not to giggle as she watched Harrison hang his coat, then beckoned for him to follow her into the dining room. He was as handsome in clothes worn from the day and in need of a shave as he was dressed to the nines for a society ball. And he had such an easy way with her, as though the two of them were meant to be alone together always. She only wished she felt the same ease. Unlike some of her friends, Bea had always considered herself a model of virtue and propriety. To upset that applecart now was as startling as it was thrilling.

“What took you so long to arrive?” she asked, instantly wanting to kick herself for sounding rude, as Harrison held her chair for her at the dining room table.

The smooth, almost conspiratorial look Harrison wore shuttered. “I…er…that is to say….” He cleared his throat and took the seat diagonally from her at the table—a seat that was usually reserved for her father. As soon as he’d pulled his chair into the table, Evan, the footman, stepped out of the butler’s pantry to serve them wine. “I was delayed at one of the orphanages,” Harrison finished his answer.

Bea blinked. “One of the orphanages?”

“Yes.” Harrison seemed extraordinarily cagey about the fact. He nodded his thanks to Evan as his wine was poured, then took a long draught once Evan stepped away. Bea itched with curiosity to know why something so simple and ordinary as volunteering at an orphanage—which they’d all been doing in advance of Bianca’s party on Christmas Eve—would cause him such discomfort.

Harrison was slow to answer, so Bea asked, “Which one?” simply to keep the conversation going. The evening was not turning into the seduction that she thought it would.

“Hope Orphanage,” Harrison answered. “It’s in Hackney.” He offered nothing else.

“I assume they are one of the establishments Bianca has invited to the party?” Bea fidgeted with one of the spoons at her place, desperate to swing the conversation back to something even remotely conducive to ending the evening with Harrison in her bed and a proposal between them.

“They are,” Harrison said. He cleared his throat and took another gulp of wine, glancing around the otherwise empty room. “John and I had, er, particular business there,” he went on.

“Oh. John.” Bea grinned, imagining what Diana would say about that. “He is a rascal,” she said, some of the tension leaving her shoulders as Evan came around with the soup course. “I suppose the two of you were up to something sneaky?”

“Sneaky?” Harrison laughed a little too suddenly and a little too loud. “Why would you say that? A gentleman is never sneaky.”

“No?” Bea’s smile grew. Harrison was uncomfortable for some reason. It was a rather delightful feeling to know that she had him on the back foot. It gave her a sense of power, a sense that she could take the evening in any direction she wanted.

The conversation halted until Evan had served the soup and moved back to a concealed position. Bea consumed a few spoonfuls of her soup before launching into things again.

“Your mission at Hope Orphanage must have been vital indeed to keep you and John away from your club for an afternoon,” she said.

Harrison’s face splashed with red, and he grinned at her. “Believe me, my dear. When the time comes, I will reveal all. Needless to say, what John and I were doing at Hope Orphanage is of vital importance.” A moment later, his brow furrowed. “Though I didn’t find was I was looking for.”

“No?” Bea asked.

“Not yet.” His smile returned. “But rest assured, I will find it eventually.”

“And what were you looking for?” she asked.

Again, Harrison’s expression snapped to wariness, and he didn’t seem to be able to meet her eyes. “It was, um, nothing of great importance.” As soon as he finished, he practically dove into his soup and ended the conversation.

His behavior puzzled Bea to the point of driving her to distraction. But being perplexed over Harrison’s odd behavior wasn’t what the evening was supposed to be about. She needed to find a way to steer his thoughts toward more forbidden topics. Not that she had the first idea how to do that.

“I’m so pleased that Bianca invited us all to help with her orphan cause,” she tried. “I’ve been so impressed with the work she’s done since marrying Jack Craig. Marriage seems to agree with all of our friends, don’t you think?” She finished her question by lifting a last spoonful of soup to her lips and gazing at Harrison with doe eyes.

She was certainly not an accomplished flirt, but the look seemed to do the trick. Harrison nearly dropped his spoon as he raised it to his lips. Instead of finishing his soup, he set his spoon aside and gazed longingly at Bea.

“You truly do look lovely this evening,” he said, heat in his eyes. “When I first saw you at the door, I thought I was seeing an angel.”

Hot Books
» House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1)
» A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
» From Blood and Ash (Blood And Ash #1)
» A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime
» Deviant King (Royal Elite #1)
» Den of Vipers
» House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City #2)
» The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #
» Sweet Temptation
» The Sweetest Oblivion (Made #1)
» Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6)
» Wreck & Ruin
» Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2)
» Twisted Hate (Twisted #3)
» The Play (Briar U Book 3)