The Princess and the Peer(24)

“We shall make a very merry trio,” Emma stated buoyantly.

“Indeed. I am sure we shall,” he said. “Well, good night, then, and sleep well.”

But as Emma watched him stride away, she had the suspicion she wouldn’t be getting much sleep again tonight, after all.

What in the world have I gotten myself into? Nick asked himself with a rueful shake of his head, as he walked into his study a couple of minutes later. Striding across to the small mahogany liquor cabinet in the far corner, he removed the stopper from the crystal brandy decanter and splashed an inch of the aromatic brew into a snifter. With the glass in hand, he went to his favorite armchair near the hearth and relaxed into the chair’s comfort.

If you’d asked him this morning if he’d have two women living under his roof by nightfall, he would have laughed and called the questioner mad. Yet here he sat playing host not only to his aunt but to a wayward young woman with an apparent penchant for trouble. What’s more, he had just agreed to squire her around Town, and if he hadn’t misread the hopeful glint in her earnest blue eyes, she wasn’t going to be satisfied with only a single outing.

Idiotic, his friends would call him to have willingly volunteered to disrupt his life and his household in such a manner. Then again, he couldn’t deny that having Emma White in his house for a week seemed likely to provide exactly the kind of diversion for which he’d been longing.

So where shall I escort her on the morrow? he mused.

Contemplating the possibilities, he swirled the rich golden liquor inside the snifter before tossing half of it back. The brandy burned like a small flame in his throat, the flavor lingering warmly on his tongue.

A museum?

No, too ordinary.

An art gallery?

Too tedious.

The Tower of London?

Too expected.

No, what he needed was somewhere exciting, unusual, something that would have her gasping aloud in amazement.

And suddenly he had the solution.

Smiling, he leaned his head against the back of the chair and imagined her delight, the way her hyacinth eyes would glow in wonder, the rosy color that would stain her cheeks and mouth as she took in the display unfolding before her eyes.

Anticipation surged through his veins, strong enough to surprise him. He hadn’t been genuinely excited about anything, he realized, not since he’d left the sea behind and returned to bury his brother. Not since he’d been forced to return to England and confront all the old loose ends, the confining expectations from which he’d once struggled to be free.

Over the past few months, he’d been learning to accept his new life, his new responsibilities, but he couldn’t say he was happy about either. Yet in less than a day, Emma White seemed to have managed the trick of truly amusing him, of making his life seem not such a very bad thing after all.

He would have to be careful this week. He liked Emma; she was the most fascinating woman he’d met in far too long to recall. It would be an easy matter, he suspected, to like her a great deal more, and that was a development he neither wanted nor could afford.

No, he would provide for her care this week, entertain her enough to keep her out of trouble, then send her on her way without regret or indecision.

Satisfied, he tossed back the rest of his brandy and reached for the book on ancient naval warfare that he was in the midst of reading. Opening the leather-bound volume, he located his place in the book and began to read. But to his consternation, a one-of-a-kind pair of blue eyes kept interfering with his concentration. Several tries later, he finally managed to put her from his mind.





Chapter 5





Emma dreamed of fog that night, deep gray and nearly impenetrable. She struggled through it, running, as she searched for something that was always just out of her grasp. Then slowly the smoke turned to eyes, the eyes coalescing into a face and finally a man. She reached for him, but he eluded her grasp, vanishing into mist beneath her fingers.

She awakened with a start, lying quietly for several long moments as the odd dream began to recede. Slowly, the previous day’s events seeped into her consciousness, incredible as they might seem. She gazed around the cheerful yellow bedchamber with its pretty bluebird wallpaper, and was relieved to discover that the town house was real and not some figment of her imagination.

I really am in London! she thought, flinging her arms over her head with a sudden exuberance. The sun is shining and the whole city awaits! What’s more, Nick is taking me on an outing.

With a beaming smile on her face, she tossed back the covers and leapt from the bed. Crossing to the armoire, she inspected the meager selection of gowns she had managed to pack. They were all plain and barely fashionable—the comfortable attire of a student. Once Rupert arrived, she was to be measured for an entirely new wardrobe for her presentation to London Society and her future fiancé. Until then, her old dresses had been judged adequate for her needs.