9. A Dinner and Conversation

Seven o’clock

“Do you have an extra wrapper I might wear?” Marian asked when she was aware of footsteps coming down the corridor.

David blinked several times. “Wrapper?” he repeated.

“A dressing robe? A banyan?” she clarified.

“Oh,” he said as he was suddenly up and out of the bed, unaware Marian watched him. Although she had seen the front of him naked earlier that evening, she hadn’t seen his backside. From her vantage in the bed, she studied how his muscles moved beneath his skin, how his thighs and calves worked. A pleasant tremor passed beneath her skin, and she marveled at the thought she might experience such a sensation every time she saw him unclothed.

He disappeared through a door in the corner and emerged with a silk dressing robe. “Like this?”

A firm knock sounded at the main door to the bedchamber. “I’ll get it,” he said as he pulled the robe on and Marian dived under the covers.

“Your dinner, sir,” Glover said as he held a tray laden with two covered plates, various utensils, a bottle of wine and two glasses.

“Ah, right over here in front of the fireplace,” David said, waving to where the tea service was still set up. “You can take that, but leave the biscuits if you would.”

“Of course, sir. Will there be anything else?” The butler kept his attention on his master, deliberately ignoring the lump in the bed.

“Breakfast in the morning,” David stated. “Eight o’clock. Do bring a cup of chocolate and... make sure the driver is ready to depart by nine. We’ll be going shopping before we head back to the Soho Club.”

“About that, sir...” Glover started to say.

“What is it?” David asked, noting the servant’s curious expression.

“A footman arrived from there a few minutes ago. Something about Miss Copper having gone missing? I had him wait in the front salon.”

David blinked. “Miss Copper isn’t missing,” he replied. “Nor is she Miss Copper any longer,” he added, feeling emboldened. “She is Lady Engleston.”

“Yes, sir.” Glover looked uncertain for a moment. “Should I send the footman with any other message?”

Sighing, David considered how to respond. “If the Earl of Penhurst is interested in being a witness, we’ll have a formal wedding ceremony at the Soho Club at eleven in the morning. Then we’ll be off on our wedding trip the day after,” he said, deciding he rather liked the hastily made plan. It would allow him to take Marian to his house in the country.

“Have a footman sent to Penhurst Place with the message that Lady Engleston’s maid is to pack a trunk or two and be ready to join us for the trip,” he added, rather enjoying the growing look of shock Glover was displaying. “Oh, and have the Soho Club footman tell Lord Penhurst I expect Lady Engleston’s dowry to be deposited into my account at Barclay’s within the week. I need to set up a generous settlement for her and our children when I next see my solicitor.”

Glover listened intently before he gave a nod. “Yes, sir. Very good, sir.”

The butler took his leave and David shut the door. He turned to discover Marian sitting up in the bed, the linens pulled up to hide her nakedness. The knot atop her head, which had been smooth and in perfect condition upon their arrival earlier that afternoon, was now a messy bun that somehow made her even more beautiful than he remembered.

“Lady Engleston?” she said in a teasing voice. “I thought your butler was going to faint.”

“He’s your butler, too,” David said as he moved to the edge of the bed. “My baroness.”

Marian sat up straighter, one of her hands going to her hair before she winced. “I’m quite sure I must look a fright.”

“You’re gorgeous like that,” he said, smiling.

Marian displayed an expression of disbelief before she slowly grinned. “Says the man who has decided he likes making love and wishes to do it again?” she guessed.

He nodded. “I’ll not deny it, but I do require sustenance. I’m starving,” he claimed. “Will you join me for dinner?” he asked, waving to the tray of plates.

“Do you have an extra robe?”

His eyes widened. “Oh. Yes. Yes, I believe I do,” he said as he once again disappeared into the dressing room. He emerged with a heavy velvet banyan and helped her into it.

“What would you have done if I didn’t have an extra one?” he asked.

She gave him a quelling glance. “I suppose I would have had to eat dinner naked,” she replied, grinning when David’s expression faltered. “Oh, please don’t regret finding it,” she quickly added. “We would have had to eat dinner in bed.”

“I wouldn’t have minded,” David remarked.

Marian saw to removing the covers from their plates while David poured the wine. “I’ve never eaten a meal like this,” she said as she pulled one of the plates to her lap. “But I’ve always wanted to.”

He grinned as he set a glass on the table for her. “Sort of an indoor picnic,” he murmured, helping himself to the other plate. Instead of sitting in the upholstered chair opposite her, he lowered himself to the floor, his back against the chair. “To us,” he said, lifting his wine glass from the table.

“To us,” she replied, copying his move. She regarded the manner in which he lounged as he held his plate in one hand and his fork in the other. One leg was crossed over the other, his bare feet poking out from beneath the hem of his robe. “You’ve done this before,” she accused.

He grinned. “Not in this house, I haven’t,” he claimed. “But I admit to having eaten whilst sitting on the floor of my study in Engleston Park.”

She regarded him with a look of surprise. “Is the floor especially comfortable there?”

Chuckling, he said, “Not particularly. But it’s warm by the hearth, and if my dog is there to lay on my feet...” He shrugged.

“You have a dog? One you allow indoors?” she asked, her forkful of peas stopped in mid-air.

For a moment, David wondered if he had erred in mentioning the sheepdog. “I do. Mr. Scot is very well behaved and quite the master of keeping my feet warm whilst I sit at my desk,” he explained.

“Mr. Scot?” she repeated with a grin. “You named your dog Mr. Scot? Is there a Mrs. Scot?”

“There is not, and I wasn’t the one who named him. One of the servants did. When he showed up at the back door carrying a half-dead pheasant and acting like he owned the place. He just walked in, dropped the bird at her feet, and made himself comfortable under my desk.”

“He sounds delightful,” Marian remarked.

“I hope you like him. He’ll love you.”

Marian finished a bite of roast beef. “I’m sure I will,” she murmured.

“God, I hope you don’t regret this,” David blurted, setting aside his plate as his brows furrowed in worry.

Lowering her plate to the table and then joining him on the floor, Marian sat next to him and placed her head against his shoulder. “I know you don’t believe me now, but... I won’t,” she whispered. “I will admit... I wondered if you will regret it?”

His eyes widened. “Never,” he said, running one of his hands over his head, his fingers spearing his hair so it was left with furrows.

Marian lifted a hand and smoothed his hair, watching as he closed his eyes and sighed.

“I’ve never met anyone like you.” He turned his head to regard her with a wan grin. “I’ve always been too shy. Too afraid of meeting new people,” he claimed. “I think we’re good together,” he added, although the sound of a question was apparent in his voice.

“Oh, we are,” she assured him. “I could not have asked for a better lover.”

“Ah, I think you could have,” he argued. “But I’m glad you didn’t.” He dipped his head, a look of sadness crossing his face. “Do you really intend to sleep in the mistress suite?”

Marian furrowed a brow. “Not if I’m welcome in here.”

David’s eyes widened. “Then why did you ask for the mistress suite to be prepared?”

She grinned but didn’t answer, allowing him to come to his own conclusion.

“You needn’t wait for an invitation from me,” he said. “I adore having you in bed with me. I don’t think I’ve slept so well in all my life. All warm and... warm,” he murmured. “And you make an excellent pillow.”

“I am happy to hear it,” she whispered. “I shall endeavor to be the best pillow I can be every night.” After a pause, she added, “As for the mistress suite?—”

“I understand you would want a place for your clothes. For your things,” he reasoned.

Marian leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “I can already tell you are going to make the very best husband.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her onto his lap. Kissing her for several minutes, he finally pulled away to regard her with a look of uncertainty. “Is there a chance you might like to return to the bed?”

She tittered. “So we can continue our conversation there?”

David screwed up his face in a grimace. “I had something else in mind...” Before he could even finish his response, Marian was up and headed toward the bed, the banyan landing on the end of the mattress before she paused to slip under the covers.

“Are you coming?”

Chuckling, David said, “In more ways than one.” He was up and off the floor and onto the bed in only a few seconds as Marian giggled in delight.