Pleasures of the Night by Heather Boyd

Chapter 7

When Eugenia had come to London to live with her cousins, she’d never imagined she might want to sneak out of the house they shared. She checked the hall for lurkers and then stepped out before shutting her bedchamber door as quietly as she could. The servants should have moved on to another floor by this hour. Her cousins’ doors were closed still, which she hoped meant they were still abed and sleeping. She might just be able to leave Wharton House today without them even knowing she was going.

Lord Wharton had already driven away in his carriage for an important meeting.

She was currently unsupervised, and Thaddeus Berringer was waiting for her.

She managed three steps down the carpeted rug before Aurora’s door burst open.

“Where are you going?” Aurora squawked, much too loudly for Eugenia’s liking.

Eugenia turned and quickly padded back down the hall to her cousin’s chamber door. “Shh, do you want to wake everyone able to sleep?”

Aurora winced and stepped back into the privacy of her bedchamber, ushering Eugenia in with her. Aurora was still in her nightgown. “Honestly, I forgot.”

Eugenia followed but remained close to the door. “Well, you should try to remember.”

Aurora climbed back into her bed. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. Where are you going at this hour?” And then her eyes widened as she stared at the clock on her mantel. Aurora threw herself back out of bed and rushed to her dressing screen. “Oh, no! I’m supposed to be at Lady Bisley’s in half an hour. You have to help me dress.”

“Call a maid or send a note round.”

“A maid will take too long, and Lady Bisley promised me a glimpse of her love letters, too.”

“What love letters?”

Aurora’s head appeared above the dressing screen. “Old ones. It seems the darling lady once had a string of beaus wrapped around her dainty finger after she was made a widow. Such a surprise.”

“She never remarried,” Eugenia murmured.

“With all the attention she hinted she received, Lady Bisley might never have found the time for another husband. Some of her lovers were quite important men.” Aurora disappeared behind the screen again.

Eugenia smiled. “Good for her. No one is too old or too young to take a lover.”

“Can you help me, please?” Aurora begged as she reappeared wearing a sheer chemise now. “If I wait for a maid to come up, I might never see them. Besides, at this hour, they’re all helping reposition the marchioness in her bed.”

Eugenia had hoped to slip away unnoticed, but since that was no longer possible, she agreed to assist her cousin for the sake of peace and no questions. “Of course.”

Eugenia set aside her reticule and reached for the stays that Aurora had tossed onto her bed. She helped Aurora into them, binding her breasts firmly the way she preferred. “Breathe out now.”

Eugenia tightened and tied off the strings of her stays and then found a petticoat to throw over her head. The gown Aurora chose was a sunny yellow muslin gown, heavily embroidered with green and white thread—a project that had occupied her time last winter and drew the notice of many whenever she wore it now.

Eugenia buttoned her up and then followed her to the dressing table when she sat. Aurora was definitely the beauty of the family, with lovely thick hair, flawless skin, a straight nose, and perfect rosebud lips. The number of times gentlemen had become mesmerized by her mouth when Aurora spoke could not be counted.

Eugenia was familiar with arranging Aurora’s hair, and twisted and pinned it into a pretty style for the daytime visit she was about to make. “How did you get her agreement to show you the letters? You were with her all of last winter, and she said nothing of them then, did she?”

“She hinted at their existence early on in our acquaintance, but I thought she was teasing me. I think it was also her way to keep me coming back to visit her for the next juicy tidbit. Visiting her was something I had intended to do anyway, though. But I let her play her little games. It amuses her.”

“As long as you still want to go,” Eugenia murmured.

“Of course I want to go. Molly is great fun. She knows all sorts of scandalous tidbits about the older ladies of the ton. I occasionally whisper some to the marchioness, with Molly’s permission, and it makes her laugh.”

Eugenia grinned. “Too much laughter is not good for the marchioness. Be careful what you tell her, so she doesn’t hurt herself. But that sort of knowledge could be useful one day when you marry your duke.”

Aurora rolled her eyes. “The last thing I will ever do is marry an English lord. I’ll marry the man, and it won’t matter what his status in society might be.”

“A title can come in handy,” Eugenia suggested.

“Not for my needs,” Aurora vowed as she fitted a simple chain and pendant around her throat. “Perfect. We make a great team as usual.”

Eugenia clucked her tongue. “You wouldn’t need me if you’d just remember to make your appointments later in the day.”

“I will always need you,” Aurora promised, rising to hug her. “Now, I’d better go.” She kissed Eugenia’s cheek. “Enjoy your day.”

“And yours. Remember to take Mr. Bloom with you.”

“I will.” Aurora rushed out and down the hallway. By the time Eugenia reached the entrance hall, Aurora was just being driven off in the carriage Eugenia had called up for herself.

“Oh, curse her,” Eugenia cried softly. “That was my carriage!”

The butler winced. “Miss Aurora begs your forgiveness for taking your carriage and promises to send it back for you straight away.”

Lady Bisley did live too far away for a walking visit, so taking a carriage had been absolutely necessary. Eugenia’s professed errand was just as far away though. “Could you hail me a hack, please? I really must be on my way.”

The butler rushed outside to hail a hack, and once inside the hired conveyance, Eugenia gave the driver her old address. She tapped her finger on her knee, fighting impatience to reach her destination and then go on to the next.

Eugenia let herself into her old home and looked around with a sigh of relief for the privacy and familiar furnishings surrounding her. There were no servants here now, and the place was cold enough to make her shiver. But her few furnishings remained, pieces that had no right to be moved into Lord Wharton’s grand mansion. She placed her hand on her lovely desk, an item too large to move easily and now with no purpose at all. She left a handprint behind in the dust.

They would never sit around this desk again in conversation with nervous bachelors or reluctant widowers, about to embark on the trials of searching for a bride on the marriage mart.

She missed being needed, but at least today, she had a lot to look forward to.

Eugenia turned away from the desk and made her way downstairs to the servants’ quarters, toward the rear of the property, and stepped into the tiny yard. The small plot of garden she’d once cultivated had been taken over by neighbors, eager to use the fertile garden beds for themselves to feed their families. She strode past rows of beets and climbing beans, regretful that she couldn’t stay out in the sun and tend the plants herself.

She slipped out into the rear alleyway, looking left and right.

Despite the warmth of the sun, she pulled her hood over her hair and hurried north, passing no one as she went. This area was always well kept, and she’d considered it a safe means of egress when she was in a hurry and on foot. She rushed across Old Bond Street between the passing carriages and slipped along to Clifford Street without seeing anyone of her acquaintance. From there, it was a very short walk to where Thaddeus Berringer was waiting.

She approached number seven and the blue-painted door he’d described. Heart in her throat, she walked as calmly as she could up the short flight of stairs, grasped, and turned the handle.

As promised, the door had been left unlocked for her.

Eugenia slipped inside and closed the door behind her as if what she was doing was perfectly normal. She flicked the hood from her head and looked left and right.

The rooms nearest her were huge and empty. No rugs. No chairs at all. It reminded her of the home she’d just left, actually.

She reached back to turn the lock. “Mr. Berringer?”

Silence greeted her, but he had hinted he might be anywhere in the four-story dwelling when she arrived. She explored the lowers rooms, calling for him quietly and admiring the aspect of each room. It seemed a huge home, almost too big for a bachelor.

As she returned to the front door, where a beam of light shone from the fanlight window above the entrance, Eugenia noticed her footprints in the dust. She glanced ruefully at the hem of her dark green gown and grimaced. At least she had the excuse of a visit to Albemarle Street to explain the dust if it was noticed upon her return.

There was another set of footprints, much larger, going up the stair treads.

She looked up the staircase. “Thaddeus?”

She heard him before his head appeared over the highest-floor handrail. “You came.”

“I said I would.”

He smiled. “Come upstairs. No, wait, I’ll meet you halfway,” he urged as he started down, bounding down two steps at a time to reach her.

Eugenia met him on the first floor, her stomach tumbling with excitement as he smiled. That smile of his did things to her body that few men could match. However, she would do her best to curb her enthusiasm until she was sure of his intent today. Their conversation had been a little cryptic, after all. “Was I invited to receive a tour of the house?”

“If you’d like, I can show you all of it, but there’s not a lot to see.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “What do you think so far?”

Blushing, she peeked around him. “The place is larger than I imagined.”

“The property is actually three narrow homes merged together.” Thaddeus offered his arm. “Let me show you the rest.”

Eugenia placed her hand upon his sleeve, liking that he wanted to escort her about. “I would never have realized it so big from the outside.”

“Surprised me, too.” He looked about with a smile full of pride. “But it’s mine.”

“I’m glad.”

“I’ve been jotting down what I might need to purchase before I can even think of moving in.” He showed her a notebook with neat handwriting top to bottom on all pages.

She peeked into another chamber. “I was at Albemarle Street before coming here today, and I must say a home needs people living in it.”

“Yes, I had come to that conclusion as well after an hour here.”

He led her around the chambers on this floor, making remarks on what he might use it for and the furniture he might like to purchase. Making more notes.

“Aurora would simply love this chamber. Perfect light for her embroidering and for playing music.”

An odd smile crossed his lips.

Eugenia chuckled. “When furnishing a home, one would be wise to consider all possible uses. The master’s and the future mistress’.”

He nodded. “I thought this room might be my study, actually.”

“Excellent light for reading and writing, too,” she promised him.

“I quite like the window seat. I could stretch out my legs and peek at the carriages that go by as well.”

“An excellent way to spend a rainy afternoon.” She could almost see him there, book in hand, children playing at his feet, and a wife going over the accounts at their desk.

Eugenia frowned. Where had that thought come from?

She turned away from the front windows and moved deeper into the house. A series of connected rooms were spread across the back. She stopped in the largest, considering its potential use and those nearest it.

“I thought this to be my bedchamber, and the next a sitting room.”

“And the third?”

“My future wife’s, I suppose, since you say I must consider all possible uses.”

Eugenia laughed nervously and poked about that chamber. There was a small connected closet that might do for a lady’s dressing room. “A lovely space for the woman of the house.”

“It will be once the plumbing I want is installed.”

She looked at him in surprise. “Will you install a bath, too? I’ve heard they’ve become all the rage, and especially so with the servants.”

He inclined his head. “I have grown used to the little luxuries of the duke’s household and would want my wife, family, and staff, to have them too.”

Eugenia nodded. “With an attitude like that, I’m sure you’ll make a wonderful husband one day.”

“But not this year,” he said quickly.

She was surprised by the insistence in his voice. “I take it you’ve been pestered about making a marriage before and too often.”

He nodded. “I’ve promised the duke I’ll take a wife in a few years. For now, it’s definitely my intent to remain a bachelor for this season.”

“You’ll have your pick of any lady, given the future ahead of you,” she murmured. “You are already one of the most well-considered gents about Town.”

“Who is my competition?”

“Your friends—Pinner, Wallingham, Scarsdale, and Brandestock.”

“Hurlston will be offended that you didn’t list him.”

She laughed. “Most likely he would be on the list, but he is engaged.”

“And I’m happy to let him marry first before me,” Thaddeus assured her.

There seemed nowhere to sit in the empty house besides the cold hearth. She turned to look at Thaddeus expectantly. He’d invited her to slip away to visit him here. He’d mentioned a picnic basket. Surely he had it stashed somewhere about…or perhaps it was for after whatever might happen between them took place.

Eugenia walked to him now and boldly placed her hands on his chest. “Lucky me that you are not yet spoken for.”

Thaddeus darted in to steal a kiss, then a longer proper one from her that curled her toes in her slippers and left her senses reeling.

Eugenia tangled her arms about his shoulders and head and rose up on her toes to be closer to him. The touch of his body against her breasts fanned the desire for him that never seemed to have subsided since their first flirtation. Thoughts of him making love to her tortured her.

She shamelessly brushed her mons against the hard cock hidden inside his trousers.

He cupped her head and drew back. “There’s more to see yet.”

He took her hand and pulled her onward and up to the highest floor. They went up as far as the attics, talking and making suggestions for furnishing the house. The attic space was large, but small windows had been set at regular intervals high up, allowing them to see where they were going. Their placement also afforded them a view of the sky above the city, rather than the nearby dreary townhouses.

“I thought this would be more private.”

He gestured for Eugenia to walk ahead of him. A pair of thick mattresses appeared to have been placed on the floor, with blankets and pillows strewn over them. The promised picnic basket rested alongside the mattress. It was a cozy lovers’ bower he’d made for them for the afternoon.

“Very comfortable.”

“Without furniture, even a bed in the house, it was the best I could do at short notice. It is also warmer up here than down below. There’s no wood to light the fires, I’m afraid.”

“And smoke from a usually dormant chimney might draw attention to the house.” She moved closer to the mattresses, removing her cloak as she went. “You know, at night, you would be able to lie up here and see the stars.”

Thaddeus took her cloak and hung it from a nail hammered into the doorframe. “I had thought of that, too.”

He came to stand behind her, his fingers slowly sliding around her waist, causing her breath to hitch. “Are you hungry?”

She saw no point in hiding what she’d come for. “I am, for your touch.”

His hands rose to her breasts, and he cupped them.

Eugenia moaned, leaning back against his chest as he flicked her hardening nipples with his thumbs. And then his lips were on her neck, kissing and nipping her skin the way he’d begun to on a shadowed balcony half a week ago. She stretched back to touch any part of Thaddeus she could reach, though it wasn’t easy. He definitely had lovely firm thighs.

Thaddeus’ grip tightened on her, and he lifted her up to walk the few remaining steps to his soft bower.

Eugenia kicked off her slippers along the way, her enthusiasm sending them flying far. Thaddeus laughed, and at his urging, she knelt down, shuffling to make room for him to join her. “This reminds me of mornings with my cousins.”

He sat cross-legged at her side. “You’re close to your cousins.”

“Inseparable, at times.”

He dug into the basket, producing two glasses and a bottle of dark wine, much to her delight. He poured two glasses and then set the bottle on the floorboards nearby.

He studied her as she sipped. “How did I not see you so clearly before?”

“I did not see you, either.”

“Oh, I know you saw me. You and your cousin are always whispering about us men, I hear.”

She laughed and didn’t deny his suggestion. “A lady must do something to pass the time at all these dull events I’m forced to endure alongside my cousins. London is full of marvels. Some come in the form of a handsome face, broad shoulders, and well-formed rear.”

He spluttered and set his glass aside quickly. But he reached over to stroke his fingers along her cheek. “Am I the only one to realize you’re not the proper spinster you’re pretending to be?”

“This season, yes.”

He frowned. “Are you saying you’ve met with a lover in the past?”

Eugenia sipped her wine, aware that it was almost a criticism from him. “Would you be cross to learn that I have?”

Thaddeus took a moment to answer, then his expression softened. “Did you love him?”

“Heavens, what a question,” Eugenia whispered. Yes, she’d loved and lost, but it was none of his business. “I love what a man might do to my senses.”

Eugenia had been discreet and satisfied with her brief trysts since coming to London. But her flirtation with Thaddeus was already different from those that had come before him. Thaddeus wasn’t so much a stranger as likely a short-term lover she’d see forever. And that was not without potential difficulties down the road when it ended. They could be around each other for years. She would hate there to be awkwardness between them.

“Was that all it was to you?”

She finished her wine and held out her glass to be refilled. “It was a physical release, nothing more.”

“I’ll not be like them,” Thaddeus promised, refilling her glass, then hurrying to catch up by taking a gulp of his. “I’ll not use you and cast you aside.”

He was sweet to suggest she was special to him already, but it was very unnecessary. “Of course you will.”

“Why would I?”

“One, I refuse to become a mistress and I’m not the sort of lady a future duke should pursue to marry. I’ve no dowry to make me anyone’s perfect bride.” She swallowed. “Two, I had assumed you were pursing my cousin, but you are in pursuit of pleasure, like me. And three…you don’t love me.”

“Not yet.”

Eugenia laughed softly, amused by him. “For a man determined not to marry this season, you appear to be trying to talk yourself into it.”

Thaddeus fell onto his back. “I admit, I admired your cousin, but I was not in love with her. When I learned of her engagement, I wasn’t the least bit disappointed.”

“I am relieved to hear it.”

“My cousin settled money on me right before he married, so that I may live a comfortable life with or without a wife for years. I could marry for love instead of a dowry if I wanted to.”

“I’m glad to hear you may choose with your heart and not your pocketbook.”

“As am I.” He sighed. “There is nothing worse in life than to have no choice.”

Eugenia reached out to clasp his hand. “Why did you really bring me here?”

He turned to look at her. “Just for this.”

“To talk?”

He nodded. “And to find more moments to steal a kiss from you.” He took her glass, set it aside, and pulled her down to rest against his chest. His grin was teasing as he urged her lips toward his. “We went from acquaintances to nearly something more overnight, didn’t we? I need the romance, even if you do not care for the notion.”

“I didn’t say I don’t need a little romance in my life, along with your kisses, Thaddeus,” she whispered, taking a leap to use his given name.

His lips brushed hers lightly. “Be warned then, Eugenia Hillcrest. I plan to romance kisses from you every chance I get, but I swear I will not marry you.”

Any other lady would be hurt by his admission, but she only laughed. “Well, that is a relief. Come here, sir, and kiss me as much as you need.”