Tessa did not have to wonder. She was well aware that Robin often made up excuses to be alone or away from the house, so he didn’t have to deal with his mother and sister. Tessa didn’t mind it so much when it was a task she could become involved in, too, like a futile search through old newssheets. There were days when Mrs. Cooper and Anna, even though Tessa loved the two women dearly, tried her patience, too.
Tessa nudged Anna’s shoulder. “You should get yourself to bed.”
“I know, but I don’t feel that I could possibly sleep a wink tonight.”
“Well, I have a longer journey than yours tomorrow. I need my rest.” She sighed. She would miss this house and the few happy memories she’d made here over the past two years. She would miss Robin’s company most of all. Sometimes when he looked upon her with his warm brown eyes and rueful smile, she thought she might just melt into a puddle at his feet. She had been foolish to hope those looks meant he might return her regard. Clearly, he did not. “Goodnight, my dear Anna.”
Anna embraced her, squeezing nearly all the air from Tessa’s lungs. They drew apart, both sniffing back a tear. “Sleep well, Tessa, and dream of good things.”
As Anna slipped from the room, a tear slipped down Tessa’s cheek. “I only ever dreamed that Robin might love me.”
Chapter Two
“Is everyone ready?” Robin asked of his butler as he donned his best waistcoat. He was giving away his sister today, and he couldn’t be happier that the moment had finally come. Three long months of watching Anna sigh and fret over her suitor’s intentions had grown wearying until William had asked for her hand.
“More or less, sir.”
In the act of doing up his buttons, Robin paused. “What do you mean, more or less?”
“Everyone but Miss Abbott seems ready for your guests to arrive.” The butler held out his coat. “Your mother and sister are in the morning room, waiting for the knock of your guests. But the young miss is still in her room. I know you do not appreciate tardiness.”
Robin frowned severely at the news that the one person he counted on to never let him down might disappoint him today, of all days. “Miss Abbott is never tardy without reason.”
“True. Perhaps it’s merely a case of nervous excitement about her appearance. It is an important day.”
“So it is,” Robin agreed, shrugging the garment into place. He would finally be rid of his sister today. At long last, the giggling distraction would have a husband to plague instead of him and Tessa Abbott.
Their bedchambers shared a wall, so he knew Tessa been awake since first light. He’d heard her moving around quietly, opening her bedchamber window as she always did, and then leaving the room later in a rush—all before he’d even brushed the sleep from his eyes. More than likely, his sister and mother had run Tessa ragged all morning. Tomorrow, that would stop.
“The guests will arrive at any moment. She must be there to greet them with me. Quickly return downstairs and do all you can to distract any guests should they arrive before we get there.”
“Very good, sir.”
Robin shooed the butler away and then slipped quietly along to Tessa’s bedchamber door. He tapped lightly. “It’s only me,” he whispered urgently.
Light footsteps rushed toward the door from inside. “What’s wrong?”
“That’s what I want to know. You’re running very late, Tessa,” he warned. “The guests could be here at any moment.”
“I know, and I am so sorry.”
The door opened a crack, revealing Tessa had at least changed into her best blue day dress. This particular one was Robin’s favorite of all. It enhanced her blue eyes and complimented her pale skin. Her dark hair seemed different today, more intricately arranged about her head. The style made her more beautiful.
She leaned her cheek against the door. “Anna needed the hem of her wedding gown mended,” she confessed.
Robin sighed, eager for this day, this wedding, to be over and done with. He leaned toward Tessa, drawn to her as he always was. “And I suppose Mama couldn’t do it, or one of the maids, so you might dress, too.”
A soft smile touched her lips. “I volunteered. I want everything perfect for Anna’s big day.”
“I am sure everything will be perfect because of your efforts,” he agreed. “But the day will not end well if you miss the beginning of the festivities.”
“Her happiness means the world to me.” Tessa let go of the door and twisted her arm behind her back awkwardly. “I’ll be down as soon as I can, I promise.”
He frowned at how she continued to twist and stretch. “What are you doing behind your back?”
She groaned softly. “I cannot reach the very last button on this gown. I should have asked a maid to come up and help me change, after all.”
Robin smiled. “If it’s just the one, I can do it for you.”
She looked surprised by his offer. “Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?”
“Not at all. I’m more than capable of buttoning you up in a pretty dress.” And would become adept at getting her out of them, once today was over, if he had his way.
“There really is just the one button.” She smiled hesitantly. “Thank you, Robin.”
“No thanks are ever needed between us,” he promised and gestured for her to turn around. The door widened as she turned slowly, still pointing awkwardly at the row of buttons on her back.
Robin almost laughed aloud at the mess she’d made of doing herself up. She must really have been rushing to change. He cleared his throat. “There’s a bit more of a problem here than you realize.”
She tried to peer over her shoulder. “There is?”
To fix Tessa’s gown, he’d have to unbutton her first and then start over. The thought of undressing her made him suddenly very hot. He wished his cravat had been tied much looser.
He glanced down the empty hall. If they were found while he was helping her, her reputation would be in tatters, and she would have no choice but to marry him. Robin wanted Tessa to choose him over anyone else of her own free will.
There simply wasn’t time to send for a maid. “Let me in, so I’m not seen doing this,” he whispered. “I’ll set you right again as quick as a wink.”
Tessa uttered a soft wail of despair but allowed him to slip into her room and close the door. Robin looked around the chamber quickly.
It had been a very long time since he’d been in this bedchamber, and it was prettier than he remembered. There were hatboxes and trunks still in the room, as there had been that first day she’d arrived, but there was also a gown of Tessa’s lying across the bed and, next to it, her warmest coat.
Before Tessa had come to live with them, this had been his own room. He’d chosen to move to his late father’s old bedchamber next door, against his mother’s wishes, just so Tessa could have a bedchamber of her own for the first time and not have to share it with talkative Anna. He inhaled deeply and sighed. The room smelled of Tessa’s perfume, a scent that had grown most dear to him.
“My gown?” Tessa queried, reminding him he was here to do good.