The Problem with Seduction - By Emma Locke Page 0,25
happened if you hadn’t come.”
He shifted uncomfortably. He hadn’t meant to be a hero, even if he did rather like the way she was looking at him. “’Twas nothing.”
A portly fellow who must be the proprietor exhaled loudly and turned toward him. “Well, I’m glad we resolved that. Can’t be having brawls in my private rooms. Now, do you want to take number five, my lord, or do you prefer larger accommodations? The other gent paid up, so you may as well make use of the bed. I think the poor nurse could use a lie-down.”
If he meant the slight-looking young woman in the corner whose face hadn’t recovered its color, he had a point. She looked ready to swoon. Elizabeth wasn’t faring much better. She collapsed into a chair and hugged her baby to her shoulder. “We won’t be moving on tonight.”
Con had a feeling his pound of flesh was in for far more than the devil’s bargain he’d initially signed. How the hell had he become embroiled in such a mess? “There you have it, then. We’ll take another room for the nurse and a place for the servants. Have the trunks been fetched from the carriages?”
The proprietor smiled, revealing empty spaces where teeth had once been. “We’ll be right on it, my lord, and a stall for your horse, too. I’ll start a bill.”
A mistress and her massive entourage required money. Of course.
He would worry about it later. After the proprietor and his wife left with pound notes dancing in their eyes, Con went to Elizabeth. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. Her gaze fell to the baby drooling onto her shoulder. “We’re fine.”
The nursemaid approached shyly. “Let me take him, madam. Else I fear you won’t have the strength to rise.”
Elizabeth appeared to consider resisting before giving into exhaustion. “He needs to be freshened up,” she said, holding him out. “I’m sorry.”
Con reflexively stepped back. The nursemaid’s eyes slid sideways at him, and she smiled puckishly. “Babies always do.”
Con supposed he must grow used to it, then.
When she, too, had gone, he dropped to his knees beside Elizabeth. She’d been towered over enough today. “How can I help?”
Her hands fidgeted in her lap. “It’s always so odd not to have him in my arms. Who would have thought I would take to being a mother this quickly?”
Con hesitated a fraction of a second before he took her delicate hands in his own. He honestly had no notion what to say to that, but it was clear she needed comfort. He ran his thumb soothingly over her bare knuckles. “You seem to be doing an admirable job of it. I’m not an authority by any means, but surely there are worse ways to parent a child.”
She cracked a smile. “You’re in danger of turning my head with your left-handed compliments, my lord.”
“Is that so? I’ll work on it.” His heart gave a kick when she smiled at that. “There’s plenty for us to talk about, but a good night’s rest should come first. Do you feel up to moving to your room? I’d be honored to play the gallant and escort you.”
She withdrew her hands and looked away. “I don’t see how I can sleep tonight.”
He stood but he didn’t back away. She craned her neck to see him and lifted her hand inches from her lap, almost as if to reach for him, but when she realized he wasn’t leaving her, it dropped suddenly. A pale blush brought some color into her face. “How did you find me?”
“That?” He chuckled softly as he recalled just how easy it had been to follow her here. “Two resplendent carriages trundling in the direction of Shropshire and then Ellesmere are enough to draw even the most oblivious villager’s attention, my dear. I don’t doubt that’s how Finn tracked you, too.”
She pressed her lips together as if silently berating herself. He didn’t see the point in dwelling on what she might have done differently, not when the threat was already passed. “I was going to kick my heels in the common room until I felt like sleeping,” he said, returning to his offer to take her upstairs. “Why don’t we both retire to my room instead? I’d enjoy the company.”
Her eyes met his levelly. Indignation lifted her chin a fraction. Despite her exhaustion, she’d found one last drop of strength. “I am very grateful for what you did just now, but I’m not interested in an—”