cigars.”
“Smoking is a filthy habit.”
Reyn ran a tongue over his teeth. Tobacco, like leather, whiskey, and horse, was a perfectly acceptable male odor. But he could give up smoking if it bothered the countess. There would be enough vice for him without it.
“Most everyone enjoys a pipe now and then. It’s a huge cash crop all over the Americas. It’s even grown in Canada now. Tobacco financed the American Revolution, you know.”
“All the more reason to avoid it. We want no more wars.”
“Amen to that,” Reyn said, although his heart wasn’t quite in it. War had been the making of him. “You are much too young to remember King George’s War.”
“My husband is a historian, Captain.”
Reyn was not used to discussing history and revolutions with lovely women in the dark. The night was designed for better things. “Come sit with me for a few moments, Lady Kelby.”
A silence hung between them before she said, “I should get back.”
“Are you in the habit of walking in the garden at night?”
Lady Kelby—Maris—sighed. “If I tell you I am, will you seek me out and rob me of my peace?”
“I don’t want to do anything to upset you further,” Reyn said quietly.
“I am upset! I’ve never been in such a state! I can’t think. I can’t eat. I can’t rest.”
Her words were as quiet as his, but he heard the tremor in her voice. Reyn placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “You should talk to your husband. He cares for you. If this is all too much for you, I’m sure he’d understand. I know I do.”
“I must do it,” Maris whispered. “I promised him. I owe him everything, you know.”
“You don’t owe him—or anyone—your soul, Maris. Walk away from it. Walk away from me.”
She took a ragged breath. “I-I cannot.”
“Well, then. Think of all this as bad medicine you must swallow to be well again.”
She shook his hand away and leaned against the marble obelisk. “How can you j-joke?”
“It’s what I do, I’m afraid. It’s meant to boost your morale. Is it working?”
There was no hint of a smile on her moonlit face, but at least she wasn’t in tears again. “No, not really.”
“I’ll do better tomorrow. I’ll leave you to your second thoughts. Good night, Lady Kelby.”
“Wait! Don’t go.”
Reyn paused. He really ought to go to the earl straightaway and tell him he was leaving in the morning. The man was still up. The lights from the library windows cast pale rectangles on the grass beyond the garden hedges. Reyn was beginning to feel like a fish that was reeled in, only to discover the line had gone slack.
“I think you were right.”
He quirked an eyebrow, a dependably devilish expression, which was wasted in the dark. “About what?”
“We . . . we should be friends. It will make it easier.”
“All right.” He held his hand out. “Let’s shake on it.”
Her hand was ice cold. Reyn brought it to his lips and blew a warm breath across her knuckles. She trembled and took a step forward.
Another kiss was a much nicer way to cement their new friendship. He covered her lips and eased into a tender tangle. No wildness, no wanton pressure, just a soft brush of skin and tongue which brought its own innocent pleasure. He could get used to kissing Maris Kelby. She’d improved by miles since their first encounter at the Reining Monarchs Society a few short days ago. Who knew how expert she’d be once they were done with each other?
The obelisk in the center of the hedges shielded them from prying eyes, so he was in no rush to end their friendly kiss. Neither, it seemed, was Maris. She had not pulled away from his embrace in with any sort of revulsion. If anything, he thought she was remarkably relaxed, her fingertips delicate upon on his jaw, her breathing just shy of steady. Reyn’s groin tightened in response to the very unexpected turn of events.
And then he felt a little push. With the greatest reluctance, he withdrew from the kiss and stared down into her pale face.
Her eyes were huge and fathoms dark, her lips still parted. She licked them, causing Reyn to clamp his own mouth shut.
Her words were even more unexpected than her kiss. “I can’t wait until tomorrow. I’ll never sleep anyway, worrying over it. Will it be all right if I come to you tonight?”
Reyn loosened his tongue from its knot. “Is that wise, Lady Kelby?”
“None of this is wise. I want