Chapter 20

Alice held the note in her trembling hands as Colin bent over to pick up one of her scattered hairpins on the floor. She could barely stand up as it was and had to lean on the table—the same table that they had just… just…

She closed her eyes as a fierce blush crept up her cheeks.

Her dress was completely disheveled, her hair in disarray. Colin was picking up her hairpins off the floor, for goodness's sake! It would be clear to anyone with eyes that they had just been doing something highly inappropriate.

"Turn around."

She looked up at him in surprise, the mortification still staining her cheeks.

His lips curled into a slight smile. "I said turn around, little lamb."

His voice was soft, and yet it was infused with a subtle power. He was not commanding her or ordering her around, but she found herself compelled to obey him all the same.

"I am not going to bite you." He laughed softly. "I just need to help you put your stays back on."

She blinked at him. "You… know how to put them back on."

He looked slightly embarrassed at her question and coughed lightly. "If I know how to take them off you, then I can very well put them back on, yes?"

Alice did not understand how the mundaneness of their current exchange could possibly make her want to laugh, but it did. The mirth bubbled up her throat as she turned around and swept her hair to the side.

"All right, then," she teased him. "Let me see if you can do a finer job than my maid does."

"And if I do a finer job than your maid," he replied with an easy grin, "will you let me take these off more often?" He punctuated the end of his sentence by pulling on the laces, causing her to let out a little gasp.

It was not too loose and not too tight. It was just perfect.

But that does not mean I am going to let him take liberties with my body anytime he wants!Even though that is a rather tempting idea.

"So…" He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to where her neck and her shoulder met. "How did I do?"

She turned around and gave him a tremulous smile. "Not too bad."

The thought that he might have done this for a great many other women filled her with a simmering kind of anger. She turned back around and reached for the buttons on her dress. Even if she knew it was close to impossible, she was not going to ask him for his help and then have him smugly propose some other highly inappropriate activity.

If he did, she just might take him up on his offer, and would that not be the end of her dignity?

"Let me," he offered as she fumbled with the nasty, little things. "Do not be stubborn, little lamb."

She pursed her lips and stilled, allowing him to fix her dress. After he had done her buttons, he handed her back her hairpins.

Fortunately, her maid had done her hair in a rather simple style for the journey that morning, one that Alice was capable of managing on her own. With a deft hand, she twisted the heavy mass of dark locks and secured them in place with her jeweled pins. She caught her reflection in the polished silver decor and pursed her lips. It was not perfect, but it would do.

At least, she would not look as if she had just been mauled. Or pleasured to within an inch of her life.

"Well, we have found the treasure now." She grimaced, handing him the little note.

He smiled and closed his hand over hers. "Yes, we have."

She looked suspiciously at him. Somehow, she had the slight feeling that he was not talking about the treasure. With Colin, one really could not be sure.

He truly is a sly Wolf. And I am as foolish as Red Riding Hood for falling for his charms.

"Let us hurry back," she muttered, turning away from him as her cheeks flared with heat again.

"I thought the door was locked from the outside." He smirked at her.

She frowned and rattled the doorknob. To her surprise, it turned easily in her hand, and the door swung open. She heard Colin mutter something under his breath—a curse or two, perhaps.

"On the off chance that it was still locked, what would you have done?" he asked her as they walked down the empty corridor. Every once in a while, his arm would brush against hers and send tingles dancing down her spine.

"Oh." She smiled up at him. "I would have asked you—nicely, of course—to clamber out through the window and find someone to help me out."

His response was a sharp bark of laughter. "You would have me risking my life to help you out of the door."

"Naturally, since you are the gentleman," she said with a brilliant smile, feeling more at ease now that he was smiling and talking to her like a normal person.

"And if I refused?"

She pursed her lips and paused a little. "Well, I can assure you that I am most capable of clambering out of my own windows, and since I spotted a rather large tree with some sturdy branches by your window, it would have been a simple feat."

"And you would call for someone to help me?" he teased.

She looked at him as if that was the most insane question in the world. "Why, no, of course! If you had seen fit to let a lady climb out of a window on your behalf, then I do not see why I should be obliged to help you."

"Why, you naughty little minx!" he exclaimed, reaching out for her.

She danced out of his reach with a slight laugh. "I thought I was ‘little lamb'? Am I now a minx?"

He shook his head at her silly antics and fell into step with her once more. "Can you really climb out of a window?" he asked her in an incredulous tone.

"Of course," she replied with full confidence. She shot him a cheeky smile. "How did you think I got into Blackthorn Estate, anyway?"

His laughter followed them all the way back to the parlor, where the Dowager Countess had instructed them to meet once they had found their respective "treasures."

They had been gone for a considerable amount of time, and Alice began to worry that perhaps somebody had an inkling of what had transpired in the study. If anyone ever saw it, she would be ruined, and Colin would be forced to marry her.

Strangely enough, she did not hate the idea of marrying him, but deep within her, she knew that he would not take kindly to having such a union forced upon him.

She felt a steadying hand on her back, and she looked up at him in surprise. He simply smiled slightly at her as he steered her towards where the Dowager Countess was seated.

"Took you both long enough," Lady Wellington remarked, shooting them a knowing look.

Alice simply ducked her head to avoid the older lady's sharp eyes, but Colin looked completely unperturbed.

"It was your fault for making it so difficult to find, Grandmother," he replied, smoothly passing the blame to his grandmother.

Alice looked around them and found that Phoebe and Ethan had already returned as well as Scarlett and the Duke of Wolverton. "Are we the last ones, then?"

"Oh, not quite." Phoebe smiled at her. "Lady Evelyn and the Duke of Ashton have yet to return."

"In that case, we had better send out a search party," Colin muttered wryly.

Phoebe looked confused and turned towards Ethan. "Why would we need a search party?"

"Because," Ethan chuckled, "they might have already killed each other. Evelyn and Daniel have been at odds with each other for as long as he and Colin have been friends," he explained to her.

Both Phoebe and Alice laughed kind-heartedly at that.

"It is getting extremely late," Lady Wellington remarked, worry creasing her brow. "Even if they have not found the treasure yet, they should already be back by now."

Colin raised an eyebrow at his grandmother. "Evie is still probably burying the body. I would not want to disturb her when she is in a murderous mood."

"Colin," Alice chastised him softly, "that is not a nice thing to say about your sister."

Colin merely smiled at her, and she looked up at him, smiling back. He had a really nice smile, she realized. It simply lit up his features, making him look rather boyish and incredibly sensual at the same time.

A study in contrasts. He truly is a study in contrasts.

Then, just as suddenly, his smile dropped, and Alice was left a little dazed. It was almost like the sun coming out at the cusp of spring, only to be suddenly plunged back into winter. It was most disconcerting.

"Grandmother is right," he said, shaking his head. "I should go look for them."

Without another word, or even a glance her way, he strode out of the room, leaving her gaping after him.

"We… should help him," Ethan muttered with a sheepish grin. "In case we do need to make sure Evie and Daniel do not hurt each other."

With that, he and the Duke of Wolverton both stood up to follow after Colin. Their sudden departure had all three remaining young ladies looking at each other in confusion.

"What was all that about?" Scarlett asked, raising an eyebrow as she glanced from Phoebe to Alice.

"Heaven only knows." Phoebe shrugged. "Gentlemen are rather odd creatures if I may say so."

"Indeed," Alice agreed with a nod of her head. "One lives on tenterhooks, wondering what they will do next."

"Ha! That is nothing more than a retreat if I do say so myself!" the Dowager Countess exclaimed, thumping her cane on the carpeted floor with a sly glint in her eyes. "The first thing you need to know about men is that, unlike us women, they tend to run away from their emotions."

Phoebe leaned in, eyes wide with curiosity. "They do?"

"Why, of course, my dear. You can take my word for it!"

Alice glanced back at the door that Colin had just walked through. Was Lady Wellington correct in her assumptions? Was he actually running away from his emotions?

And if so, what sort of emotions was he fleeing from?

She felt a gentle hand rest on her own, and she turned to find the Dowager Countess regarding her with a kindly smile.

"Do not worry too much about that display, my dear," she reassured her. "He will be back—if he possesses half the intelligence a barnacle does."

Alice let out a nervous laugh. "I suppose so, Lady Wellington."

Still, she could not help but glance back and wish he would walk through that door again. Why must men be such exasperatingly confusing creatures?

And then, they had the audacity to accuse women of the same!