the following night. Tilly should care about the details, but she didn’t. All of this felt like a farce, a charade, and hardly something to celebrate.
She couldn’t stop thinking about this new life of hers. She was a wife, which meant tonight he’d come to her bed. She swallowed, wishing she’d paid closer attention to her mother’s words when she’d explained the union between a man and a woman. But her mother had used so many floral analogies and, frankly, Tilly had gotten lost in the garden. She knew the basics, she supposed. That alarmingly large part of him—the one she’d naïvely grabbed onto at the inn—somehow went inside of her. Perhaps she should have asked her friends a few questions; that might have alleviated some of her nerves.
A knock came to the door and then it opened. Sullivan stepped inside.
Already? Her gaze flickered to the window where dusk hadn’t even fallen yet. He wasn’t even going to wait until it was dark outside? Until after they’d had their dinner?
Her heart hammered inside her chest. Unwillingly, her hand flew to her throat.
“I hope you find the room satisfactory,” he said.
“It’s lovely.” She glanced around, noticing it for the first time. It was a very nice room with a view of the gardens behind the home.
“Excellent. My room is next door.” He pointed behind her to the right. “There’s a door that adjoins them should you need anything. Or you can ring the bell, of course.”
She nodded. She needed something to break the tension. Then she remembered Lady Somersby’s words and her own decision to be forthcoming. It would be prudent for her to tell him about her activities with the Ladies of Virtue.
“Could we speak about something?” she asked.
He nodded, moving to the sitting area near the fireplace.
She joined him, lowering herself into the chair adjacent his. “Now that we’re married, I suppose I need to share with you yet another of my secrets.” She gathered some of the fabric from her skirts into her hands and balled it up.
His brows rose above those liquid chocolate eyes of his. So soulful, so full of emotion she hadn’t yet been able to identify. “You have a habit of collecting secrets?”
“Something like that.” She paused a moment to consider how to continue. Then she licked her lips and just began. “Are you familiar with a group called the Ladies of Virtue?”
He stilled, his expression suddenly guarded. “I have heard of them. Do-gooders?”
“Yes, well I am a member of their group.”
“I have no issue with you participating in charity groups and servitude, Tilly.”
It was a statement, not a question, but there was something in his tone, something that made her think he might know more than he was saying. That he was waiting to see what she would reveal.
“No, there is more.” She paused, wondering briefly if she should continue. Could she trust him with this secret? It wasn’t merely hers to keep. Lady Somersby had suggested they share this with their husbands. She decided that if he revealed her secret, it would gain him nothing. Yes, she would tell him everything. “You see, that is merely the charade we hide beside. The group does so much more.” She found herself sitting on the edge of her seat, eager to tell him, hopeful he’d be enthralled and impressed with her skills.
She had no great beauty. No grace. No wiles with which to beguile men. But she did have this. She was good at this. And Sullivan had been a soldier. Maybe, just maybe, this might be common ground for them. After all, Lord Somersby supported Lady Somersby. Sometimes he even helped train the Ladies of Virtue. Their passion for justice and the betterment of society was something they shared.
She had no illusions that Sullivan would ever love her, but perhaps they could be partners in this one way.
“We have all been specially trained and we are skilled in capturing thieves and whatnot from the streets of London. There are even some members who have been able to do much more in terms of saving servants from lords who abuse them.”
His eyelids fluttered closed and for the briefest instant, she got the feeling this was not the answer he had wanted.
When he looked at her again it was with a clenched jaw and stern frown. “You have fought thieves? On the streets of London? You, personally?”
“Well, not precisely fought. You’d be surprised how quickly they’ll drop a bauble they’ve just swiped when you aim