Page 27 of One Night of Temptation
“Just fine. One of the boys decided he should go to the kitchen and spill milk all over himself when he ought to be asleep.”
Hugh nodded. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”
“Good night, Mr. Tarleton!”
“Good night, Mrs. Boyle.” He waited a moment, then moved to where Penelope stood, hidden from Mrs. Boyle’s perspective. “My apologies,” Hugh said. “Mrs. Boyle runs an orphanage and occasionally has trouble with some of her boys. It’s a rather late hour to be yelling for someone to get in the tub, so I just wanted to make sure everything was all right.” He took her hand, and they started walking once more.
“You’re very kind to look after them.” But then he looked after everyone, it seemed.
“Not as kind as Mrs. Boyle. She doesn’t have any children of her own, and when her husband died a couple of years ago, she began to take in orphans.”
“How many live there?”
“Close to two dozen, I think. A few are older and help her care for the younger ones. She keeps them clean, fed, and out of trouble. She even teaches them numbers and how to read. I help her as much as I can with food, money, and clothing. You see why I want books.”
Penelope absolutely did, and while she’d wanted to contribute before, now she was entirely committed to doing so. Furthermore, she wished she could deliver the books personally and maybe even help teach the children. What a far cry this was from the life she led! “I’d love to help more. I will do what I can to get books and writing materials.”
He looked down at her, his gaze tender yet passionate, and repeated what he’d said before they’d gone to sleep. “You are not what I expected.”
Warmth spread through her. “Neither are you. Neither isthis.” She held her hand up to indicate their surroundings.
“It can be a difficult place, but there are good people here. They live. They love. They need.”
It all came down to that, didn’t it? Penelope lived. She needed. And she loved. Or she wanted to anyway. She’d never realized how much until that moment.
“Come,” he said with an urgency that surprised her. “We’re nearly there.”
They crossed Broad Street and walked along the pavement until they turned the corner to the church gate.
They slipped into the churchyard. Headstones stood like dark sentinels watching over the church as they made their way to the back. “There’s a rear entrance.”
A small set of stairs led up to a door, and Hugh withdrew a key, which he used to let them inside.
He gestured for her to precede him into a small room. There was a window high on the wall, which provided a scant amount of light from the moon above and the distant streetlamps. Still, it was enough for Penelope to see the furnishings were quite Spartan. A cupboard, a small table, a wooden chair, and a rather narrow bed.
She looked toward the door on the left side of the room. “What’s through there?”
“The vestry. Let me get a candle from there.”
“We don’t need one, do we?” she asked.
“I suppose not.”
She took off the great coat, and he stepped forward to help her. “What else is in the vestry?” she asked.
He hung the coat on a hook in the corner. “Chairs, a small settee. I’ll sleep there, and you can take the bed.”
Penelope moved past him and opened the door to the vestry. This room was much larger, with a hearth and the seating he’d mentioned. The settee, as he’d said, was small. Too small for his frame. She turned to face him where he stood in the doorway to the room with the bed, which was clearly where he slept when he stayed here. “You can’t sleep on the settee.”
“I can. It’s probably more comfortable than the chair at the Craven Cock.” His tone held a note of humor.
He was right. And she should let him sleep on the settee. But she had only this one night. And the temptation to make the most of it was more than she could bear.
She went to him, her boots moving across the carpet until she reached the wood floor at the edge of the room. Until she stood close enough to touch him.
Tipping her head back, she looked into his eyes and surrendered to the sweet need—live, love, need—inside her. “Youcouldsleep on the settee, but I would prefer you slept in the bed.”
“No, I insist you take it.”
