Chapter 21

A lthough Crispin would have thought it impossible, the young maidservant looked even more enchanting than she had on the staircase.

Her short, buttery curls were tousled and her dusky blue eyes heavy lidded from sleep. Moonlight sifted through the folds of her nightdress, rendering them translucent and hinting at the svelte curves beneath.

For a moment, Crispin could only stare, struck mute once again by her radiant beauty. He still couldn't shake the sensation that they'd stood gazing at each other in just such a way at some other time, in some other place.

She folded her arms over her chest, giving him a sleepy scowl. "I asked you what you were doing here."

"I came to see you," he said, blurting out the first words that popped into his head.

"Me?"

He nodded, regaining both the use of his tongue and his ability to improvise. "When I saw your mistress at the soiree tonight, I realized you'd be here all alone."

Her face brightened. "You were at the soiree? Oh, tell me all about it, won't you? I was positively sick with disappointment because I didn't get to go. Was there dancing? And French champagne? And little iced cakes shaped like hearts?"

Crispin was puzzled by her reaction. It would have been odd for even the most devoted of maidservants to accompany her mistress to such an event.

He drew nearer to her, unable to resist the temptation. "Had I known you fancied French champagne and iced cakes, I would have smuggled some out of the party for you." He held out a hand to her. "I'm afraid all I have to offer you is a dance."

She warily eyed his extended hand. "How are we to dance when there's no music?"

He cocked his head to the side. "There's always music. Can't you hear it? Why, I hear it every time I look into your eyes."

"Perhaps your ears are still ringing from when we bumped heads on the stairs."

Crispin grinned and withdrew his hand, curiously relieved that she wasn't to be so easily charmed by his flattery. But her next words sobered him abruptly.

"I know why you really came here tonight."

"You do?"

"You came here to seduce me. You thought, ‘Oh, the pretty little maid is all alone. Think I'll sneak into her room while her mistress is gone and give her a tumble.'" She arched one silky eyebrow, challenging him to call her a liar. "Am I wrong?"

He slanted her a glance from beneath his lashes, struggling to look abashed. "I'm afraid not. I'm an incorrigible scoundrel and you've no choice but to send me on my way with a scathing rebuke and a hearty slap."

"What about a kiss?"

He jerked up his head, believing he'd heard her wrong. "A…a…a what ?"

"A kiss. I've no intention of letting you seduce me, but I might be persuaded to send you on your way with a scathing rebuke and a kiss."

He drew closer to her, his nostrils flaring at her sleepy, feminine scent. "And how might I best persuade you?"

"Well, first I'd have to deliver the rebuke."

He waved a hand at her. "Be my guest."

She rested her hands on her slender hips, glaring daggers at him. "How dare you sneak into my room at such an indecent hour? Just because you're a handsome, wealthy gentleman with women throwing themselves at your feet, that doesn't give you the right to force your attentions on a helpless servant. I may be only a maid, but that doesn't mean I'm not a lady as well and don't deserve to be treated as one!"

"Very impressive," Crispin murmured, still beset by the eerie sense of having played this scene before. "I've never received such a brutal set-down. My ears will be stinging for days!"

"As well they should," she agreed with a feline little smirk.

The wariness returned to her gaze as he reached to cup her cheek in his hand, stroking its downy softness with his thumb. "Perhaps you'll allow me to make amends by proving I can treat you like a lady. By convincing you that I would be satisfied with nothing more than a chaste kiss from your lips."

Crispin was lying through his teeth. He knew such a kiss would only whet his appetite for more. He leaned forward and touched his lips to hers—the broadsheet forgotten, his cousin forgotten, everything forgotten but that tender rose of a mouth blooming so sweetly beneath his.

That chaste kiss soon turned into a lingering caress. By the time Crispin lifted his head, they were both breathing hard.

She backed away from him, an enchanting blush coloring her cheeks. "You'd best go now. If my mistress returns, I can promise you she won't be very happy to find you here. I wouldn't want her to…send me packing."

"Nor would I," he confessed, pressing a palm to his chest. "I believe it would break my heart."

She grabbed his elbow and steered him firmly toward the door. "You should be ashamed of yourself! You're doing it again!"

"What?"

"Trying to seduce me! Those flowery words may charm the weak-willed women of your acquaintance, but I should warn you that they have no effect on me."

"Are you so sure about that?" he asked, daring a devilish grin.

Her answer was to throw open the door and shove him backward into the corridor. "Don't bother coming back…" She cast a guilty glance over her shoulder, then whispered, "…unless you know my mistress is out of the house."

She flashed him a brief, dazzling smile before closing the door in his face. Crispin rested his brow against it, chuckling when he realized he had failed once again to acquire the maddening creature's name.

"What have you done, Crispin?"

His heart lurched as he wheeled around to find his mother standing at the end of the hall like some ghostly white lady from one of his nightmares.

She glided toward him, the hem of her dressing gown rippling behind her. Holding out her hand, she said, "I know why you came here. Did you find what you were looking for?"

The sweet face of Miss Darby's maidservant rose up in his vision. He gazed at his mother's outstretched hand, remembering only too clearly what had happened the last time he had trusted his fate to her hands.

"Nothing. I found nothing."

His mother's hand whipped across his face, de livering a vicious slap. "You're my son," she hissed. "Do you think I don't know when you're lying?"

Something in his eyes made her take a nervous step backward. Her hand darted upward to flutter around her throat like a pale dove. "Forgive me, son. You know I need to keep a better rein on my temper." She blinked a sheen of tears from her dark blue eyes. "It's just when I think about all I've endured to protect you and ensure your future…all I've sacrificed…"

Crispin slowly drew the broadsheet from his waistcoat and handed it to her.

She unfolded it and scanned it quickly, her hands beginning to tremble with excitement. When she lifted her head, her eyes were glowing with pride. "Oh, my darling boy, you've done well this time, haven't you? Archibald won't be able to ignore this—or you. He'll have to admit to the world that he's made a terrible mistake and that you are his only true heir. Everything we've ever wanted will finally be within our grasp."

"Everything we've wanted, Mother? Or everything you've wanted?"

Before she could answer, Crispin sketched her a curt bow and went striding back into the shadows.