Page 25 of Fortune Favors the Frivolous
Caroline shook her head, a warmth spreading through her chest at the thought of Henry that had nothing to do with embarrassment.
“I think it’s a fine thing when a grand gentleman will go to such lengths to be with the one he truly loves rather than break hearts—his own included—by doing his duty.” Mrs. Binns’s smile broadened. “Why, to think o’ the lengths you young ’uns have gone to. You, miss, a lady by your refined voice and manners, disguising yourself as one of them theater people so that you could escape your family and follow your heart. Why, it’s just like one of them lovely romances. Now, your young man, who has just arrived back, tells me you need to rest a few hours, so let me show you to your room. Yes, he has paid me handsomely for me trouble and so I have reserved the best room for your good selves. Up you get, miss, and come along with me. Ah, here’s your young man now.”
Caroline was too tired and overwhelmed to object. Or was she waiting for Henry to object as Mrs. Binns led them along the corridor? To a single room? The thought sent a flutter of anticipation through her that she wasn’t entirely prepared to examine.
Really, she told herself, she just wanted to rest her head on a soft pillow and sink into blessed oblivion. And she wanted Henry’s company. He’d always been her companion, and why should it be any different now? He’d just rescued her, and he’d shown the extent of his devotion. Why should that stop at the door to her bedchamber? Henry was a gentleman, and they were simply friends, after all.
And with everything she’d just gone through, she needed him. The thought of being alone, even in the safety of the inn, made her heart race with renewed anxiety.
Thank the Lord that Henry had arrived in time to save the day.
Wordlessly, the two of them followed Mrs. Binns up the creaking staircase to the “best” chamber she’d allocated them.Their shoulders brushed as they climbed, Henry’s presence beside her, solid and reassuring.
Stooping beneath the low door frame, they stepped into a charming bedchamber with windows open to a lovely view across the woodland that surrounded the village. The calmness of the outlook was soothing to the soul.
But a look at the comfortable double bed in its carved wooden frame made her throat dry. The quilt was patched but clean, turned down invitingly at one corner. She darted a look at Henry, who looked equally awkward but who nevertheless smiled as he said to the innkeeper’s wife, “My thanks for your good care of us. When we have rested for an hour or so, please have your best dinner ready for the lady and something for me to take on my journey.”
And when Mrs. Binns had quit the room, the door closing with a soft click behind her, he said apologetically to Caroline, “Forgive me for not correcting her but, truly, I am so exhausted having not slept since rescuing Venetia last night that I think I will quite literally expire if I don’t rest for an hour or two. Would you mind terribly if I lay on the bed with you, who must also be exhausted?” He put his hand to her cheek and murmured, “You have been so brave, Caro.”
His touch was gentle, his fingertips brushing her skin with a tenderness that made her heart skip.
“Oh, Henry, you have been so much the hero. Of course, I don’t mind!” Caroline cried, thinking what a blessed relief it would be to curl up next to her greatest friend and ally. Taking his hand, she led him to the bed.
Already she was yawning as she climbed up onto the mattress.
“And please, will you let me rest my head on your chest as I go to sleep? I have been so terribly frightened these last hours.”The request came without thought, borne of a need for comfort that went beyond propriety.
“Of course! That’s what I’m here for, Caroline!” he declared, smoothing her pillow and the mattress. “To make you feel you were not abandoned, as you must have felt when I carelessly tossed you a coin and told you to make your own way back to wherever you lived. You cannot imagine how I’ve tormented myself. First by not recognizing you and then by leaving you in the clutches of that terrible man who tried to abduct your best friend!”
“As long as Venetia is well… and unharmed,” Caroline said, snuggling against him, feeling the steady rhythm of his heart beneath her cheek, “that’s all that matters.”
He hesitated, his arm coming around her shoulders to hold her close. “As well as can be expected. Fortunately, she suffered no ill treatment beyond the denial of her liberties.”
“Dear God, that is a relief. But only because you, Henry, reached her in time. You did what you had to do. It was your most important duty because Lord Windermere was going to do all in his power to make her his bride.” She sat up suddenly, her hair falling in a tangled curtain around her face. “I overheard the stable boys talking about some business that concerned Venetia, which is why Lord Windermere wanted her. But I could glean nothing specific.”
“What did you hear?”
“A couple of stable boys repeated what they’d heard.”
“And where had they heard it? Tell me everything.”
Caroline forced her mind back, despite her weariness. “I couldn’t make out the name or the circumstances. I just heard part of it: ‘Bee.’ A name that ends in ‘Bee.’ They said this man had been blackmailed by Lord Windermere and to get out of his difficulties, he’d passed on the knowledge of what he’d learned. Something that made Lord Windermere want Venetia.”
Henry gave a low whistle and then, embarrassed, quickly put his hand over his mouth. “Hardly well mannered in the presence of a lady,” he murmured, causing Caroline to slap him playfully on the chest.
“It’s never stopped you before. And I dare say one could argue that it’s hardly gentlemanly to be in the same bed with a lady you have no plans to wed.” She grinned. “But needs must, as they say.” She sobered. “We have always been the very best of friends, have we not, Henry?”
He nodded, his expression grave, something unreadable flickering in his eyes.
“And there is nothing we wouldn’t do for each other, is there?” She made a gesture to encompass them and the room. “That’s why we’re here.”
Again, he nodded, his gaze never leaving her face.
She was about to snuggle back into the bed, satisfied with his answers, when she suddenly wrinkled her nose.
“I didn’t notice it in the midst of the drama of everything happening so fast, Henry, but do you not get the impression that this performer’s clothing has been bundled up at the bottom of a musty trunk for a good long while?”
Henry gave a delicate sniff. “I think you may be right, Caroline, though I would be too much of a gentleman to say it, and truly it was not at the top of my concerns when I brought you here. Besides, you have no alternative, do you?”
