“Are you serious? You think I should pension him off to Bath?”
“Why not?” Laura shrugged. “At least for some of the year. You would be happier. He would be happier. It’d satisfy your sense of responsibility for your family, and while it might cost you a little more than his living here, wouldn’t it be worth it?”
“It might at that.” James grinned and picked up her hand to kiss it. “Tell me how to be rid of the rest of them.”
“Well . . . I think your mother is growing bored. She may be tiring of Mr. Netherly’s attentions.”
“No surprise there. The man’s too saccharine for Mother. Too practiced. There’s something . . . off about him. I’ve wondered if he’s more interested in having a free roof over his head than in Mother’s charms.”
“Perhaps. But Patricia intimated Mr. Netherly was well-to-do; she said his family was in trade.”
“Ah. That could be what’s ‘off’ about him.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if your mother decides to go back to London after this party.”
“You’re probably right,” James agreed. “Planning the party will reinvigorate her love of socializing and at the same time remind her how much more the city has to offer.”
“Netherly will follow, so that will be two more gone.”
“Now if only I could persuade Salstone to leave.”
“I feel sorry for Patricia.”
“Why?” James quirked an eyebrow. “She’s not been kind to you.”
“No, but that doesn’t mean I relish her misery. Look at her life: She’s married to Archie. She has no children. She isn’t the mistress of her own home; Lady Salstone apparently is tightly in charge of that castle, and here Tessa is the lady of the house.”
“Actually, you are the lady of the house now.”
“That makes it even worse—an interloper who’s no older than she. She tries to make herself happy with clothes and parties and such, but those are fleeting pleasures. She’s tied for life to a foolish man who fritters away their money and is never faithful.”
“Patsy knows about that?” James’s eyebrows shot up.
“I would think so. Your mother is the one who told me.” Laura gave him a wry smile. “Just because you men try to hide information from women doesn’t mean we don’t hear about it. Some unkind soul in London is bound to have ‘accidentally’ let it slip to Patricia. Imagine if you were having to leave London because your husband’s so deeply in debt he’s in disgrace, and you know that he has been supporting a mistress.”
“Poor Patsy. I thought she had no idea about his women.”
“I’m sure she’s angry and humiliated, as well as heartbroken. Difficult as it is for me to conceive of it, Patricia must once have been taken with Archie.”
“I think Patricia was most taken with his title.”
“Still, she thought she had more and discovered that she had far less.”
“How fortunate for me that you knew you had very little to begin with.”
Laura laughed and put her hands on either side of his face. “How fortunate for me that I was mistaken.” She leaned forward and kissed him. James didn’t move, just savored the damp, sweet heat of her questing mouth and let her take the kiss where she would.
Her fingers slid back into his hair, slowly separating the strands and sending chills through him. His desire for her was an ache within him, but he held back, wanting to experience her tentative explorations. He wanted to know her inside and out—her pleasures, her needs, her responses. Not only to take but to give. To see her eyes flare with heat and hear her moan of satisfaction.
When she slid her searching hand beneath his jacket, he was quick to unbutton his waistcoat and shirt so that she could roam over his bare skin. Her trailing fingers left fire wherever they touched, and when Laura bent to press her lips against his chest, a shudder ran through him and his hands went to her hips, digging into the folds of her dressing gown.
Laura raised her head and gazed down at him, her blue eyes warm with passion but also thoughtful, even analytical. She was, he thought, gauging him, studying his reactions.
“Why do I feel as if I’m the subject of an experiment?”
“Not that.” She laid a light kiss on his lips. “But, perhaps, an education.” She bent to kiss his throat. “Do you mind?”
“Mind?” He let out a little laugh. “I find it arousing. Of course, I find almost everything about you arousing.”
Her throaty chuckle sent another sizzle of desire through him. “I like that.”