A Season for Scandal by Golden Angel
Chapter 12
Josie
Waking up to an otherwise empty bed was an unpleasant surprise.
Even more unpleasant was discovering the mess she had made. Making a face at the sticky, flaky residue from last night’s passion, she scooted across the mattress, away from the still damp spot.
“No one warned me about that,” she muttered balefully, blinking her eyes in the morning light just as there was a knock on her door.
Elijah?Her heart leapt with excitement and anticipation before falling back down.
No, the knock had come from the hall door.
“Yes?” Her voice sounded a bit croaky, so she cleared her throat as the door opened to reveal her lady’s maid, Debbie’s sweet, happy face. It was odd to see Debbie here, in this house rather than her parents, but Josie was relieved to be faced with someone familiar first thing in the morning.
Truthfully, she had been expecting to see someone else familiar in her bed with her… Perhaps it was for the best. She had no idea what to say to him when she next saw him. A faint frown furrowed her brow. Perhaps a scolding for leaving such a mess for her to sleep in. Had he slept on the soiled sheets as well? She had no idea when he had left her bed. They had fallen asleep together, which had been rather lovely. The entire evening had been lovely. Unexpectedly so.
“G’morning, miss, I mean, my lady.” Debbie’s apple cheeks turned pinker as she stumbled over Josie’s new honorific. She blushed even harder when she looked past Josie and saw the bed.
“Good morning,” Josie said, pretending she did not see the pink-tinged evidence of her defloration in the middle of the sheet for all to see. It would be far less embarrassing for both of them if they ignored it completely. Josie tucked the top sheet in more tightly around her body. Debbie had seen her nude before, but she was feeling particularly vulnerable at the moment.
Debbie seemed to be of the same mind. Bustling around the room, she opened the curtains, ignoring the bed for the moment. When she filled Josie’s washbasin, Josie used the cloth to clean herself of the sticky, flaky stuff between her legs, making a face as she did so. Really, why had no one told her about this part? She was a bit sore there as well, making the entire process rather uncomfortable.
Her mother had wanted to go into detail about pleasure but not mention this? To be fair, maybe her mother would have gotten around to it, but Josie had not been able to bear listening to her. Mary and Evie, though! They should have said something. Or Mary’s cousin, Arabella and her friend, the Countess of Spencer, when they had been advising Mary.
But no, they had talked about spankings, passion, and how pain could become pleasure—which had all been very fascinating but not practical.
Except… Josie frowned. It should be practical for her, should it not? Elijah was a member of the Society of Sin, and while much of last night’s physical revelations had felt sinful, he had not done many of the things the others had talked about. No spankings, certainly no whippings. Nothing to cause her discomfort or the painful pleasure that Mary had lauded.
Of course, she was not disappointed in the great pleasure she had felt, the things he had done to her, but what did it mean that he had not done the more perverse things?
Perhaps because it was your first night doing anything, you little tart.
“My lady? Did you want a different dress?” Debbie asked worriedly. Josie gave herself a shake, realizing she was frowning at the pretty apple-green day dress Debbie had picked out for her, one of Josie’s favorites. No wonder Debbie was concerned.
“No, no, I am sorry, Debbie, my mind was on other things.”
“Oh.” Debbie gave a little laugh, her cheeks pinking again. “Yes, I daresay it was.”
Blushing, Josie dressed, with Debbie’s help, then sat in front of the mirror, blinking and making a shocked noise when she realized a mess her hair was. She had forgotten to take it down last night, and the resulting bird’s nest was startling. Perhaps she should be glad Elijah had not been present this morning to see her like this.
Debbie did the delicate work of finding all the pins and brushing Josie’s hair into soft waves before plaiting it and pinning it in a much simpler style. Josie’s mind wandered, still wondering about Elijah’s absence and the lack of wickedness on their wedding night. Perhaps he had refrained because she was a virgin? Josie did not like the idea of him denying himself. And Elijah was certainly the type to sacrifice his own needs if he thought it necessary. Admittedly, she was nervous about engaging in such activities, but she was also very, very curious. With her newfound experience, that curiosity had doubled, becoming like an itch she could not scratch.
She needed Elijah to scratch it.
When Debbie finished, Josie made her way down to the dining room to break her fast, hoping she would find her husband there, but the only people in the room were Uncle Oliver and Joseph.
She had not thought of Joseph once all morning.
The revelation made her stomach swoop, and she was decidedly uncomfortable. Was her heart truly so fickle? Was she so inconstant? She did not have time to ponder the thought. Both men got to their feet with welcoming smiles. If Joseph’s was a trifle strained, she decided to ignore it.
“Good morning,” she said, smiling widely, her expression a bit strained as well. “Is Elijah about?” Perhaps it was only her imagination, but she thought Joseph might have relaxed at her words, making her feel a bit miffed. And hurt.
She would not have been such a bad prospect for marriage, would she? Except he was in love with Miss Bliss. It hurt less than it had, although she was not sure she liked that knowledge. Were her emotions so capricious, they could easily switch between brothers? She did not like that, even though it would make everything easier. More than one person in London had called her flighty, and this seemed to prove it. Josie did not like that at all. She did not consider herself a faithless person, yet that was exactly what this felt like.
“No, he had some things he had to do this morning,” Uncle Oliver said apologetically, though he did not sound particularly censorious toward Elijah, which meant he thought it was important. Josie pressed her lips together to keep from asking what could be so important the day after his wedding. She already knew the answer. He was off doing something about the traitor they were all hunting, the one responsible for said wedding.
Sitting, she hid her conflicted emotions and smiled graciously at the two men as they took their seats.
“He did leave a note for you.” Joseph half-turned to signal one of the footmen who left the room. Returning as another footman scooped eggs onto Josie’s plate, he handed her a piece of paper. A flutter went through her stomach as she opened it, even though she knew it would hardly be a love note. There went her emotions again, wishing it would be.
Josie,
I am sorry I was unable to break your fast with you, but there are serious matters I must attend to. Hopefully, after the Season is over, we will be able to take some sort of honeymoon.
Yours,
Elijah
Yes, hardly a love note. She should not feel so let down, but she could not help inwardly sighing. They were married. Last night had been wildly passionate, and this morning, she had gone so far as to forget her feelings for Joseph—the only man she had wanted to see was Elijah. Was it too much to ask that he felt a bit of the same for her?
Elijah
The house on Jermyn Street Nathan and Anthony shared was a comfortable bachelor pad. Former military, both of them were tidy, and unlike some of the residences along the infamous street, there were hardly any signs of debauchery or licentiousness. As the houses on the street were entirely filled with single men, often that was not the case.
Settled into one of the large, leather wingback chairs in their study, Elijah gritted his teeth in frustration. He was hoping they would have better news for him. Though he had not expected to be able to hunt down the boy who delivered the note yesterday, he had hoped they would be further along in finding out who had set Josie up at the Sterlings’ ball.
“Every member of the French delegation’s whereabouts is confirmed,” Nathan said tiredly, rubbing his hand through his hair and ruffling it almost comically. “They were all at Richmond House the entire evening. Not one of them attended the Sterlings’ engagement.”
“That is not possible unless we have a random French lord wandering in and out of ballrooms.” Elijah banged his fist on the arm of his chair.
“Perhaps someone affecting a French accent?” Anthony suggested.
“They would still have had to gain entry to the ball or if they snuck in, manage to blend into the crowd.” Elijah shook his head. Despite the crush, an interloper would not have an easy time of it. The ton was large, but it was also full of busybodies and gossips, who knew every single person’s name, titles, and likely, their measurements as well.
“It is a puzzle,” Nathan allowed. He grimaced, shooting a glance at Elijah. There was an odd look in his dark eyes, and his hair was becoming increasingly rumpled from the number of times he had run his hands through it, emphasizing his disquiet. Normally he was the most ordered out of the three of them. “How much do you know of your new wife’s friends?”
That was certainly not the tack Elijah had expected Nathan to take. Tilting his head in question, he let curiosity trickle into his voice.
“I grew up with all of them as neighbors. Why?”
Nathan pressed his lips together, and Anthony averted his gaze when Elijah looked at him. Whatever was troubling Nathan, Anthony already knew and felt it would upset Elijah. As Anthony tended to be the more brash and outspoken of his two friends, that was particularly troubling.
“I do not wish to cast aspersions—” Nathan started to say carefully, and Elijah made a cutting motion with his hand.
“Out with it, man. I do not have the patience for this today.” With everything they had reported, he was not eager to get back to his father and relay the lack of new information, but he did want to check on Josie. See how she was this morning. How she felt about him after last night. If she had seen Joseph and how she felt about him this morning, though he could not actually ask her. Hopefully, she was not thinking of his brother at all. Elijah feared that might not be the case, but he could hardly question her without making her think of Joseph.
Yes, he needed to get home, which meant Nathan needed to stop prevaricating. He pinned his friend with a hard glance, one that he had learned from his father. To his pleasure, it had a similar effect.
“Remember you asked me to organize an effort to monitor the correspondence going to and from the delegations?” Nathan’s voice was still wary, but at least he was speaking. Elijah nodded. Nathan had a vast number of acquaintances from all walks of life and was particularly good at winning people over to helping him. “One of the members of the French delegation, the Vicomte de Gaul, received a letter about Miss Davies earlier this Season. A member of their Parliament wrote to him and requested he make her acquaintance and deliver a gift to her.”
Elijah frowned, torn by conflicting emotions. On the one hand, he wanted to defend Lily. She had been the easiest of his neighbors and Evie’s friends, a bookish bluestocking, the quietest of the four young ladies, and the least likely to be involved in any sort of trouble. On the other hand, because of her reticence, she was also the one he knew the least. If someone were to target those close to the Stuart household, she would be an ideal candidate…
No. He shook his head. He would not believe it. Unfortunately, he knew very well ‘would not’ and ‘could not’ were two entirely different things.
“Do we know what the gift is and if it has been delivered?” he asked, fixing on the one physical point he could.
“No. It was being sent soon, though the letter did not say what it is or why its delivery was delayed.” Nathan’s jaw clenched and unclenched. In the third chair, Anthony quietly sighed and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. He did not enjoy the behind-the-scenes machinations and scheming. They often joked Elijah was the commander, Nathan the advisor, and Anthony the gun they pointed once they knew where to aim.
“Keep an eye out. I do not believe Lily would knowingly be involved in anything nefarious, but I cannot discount she might be used unwittingly.” Elijah gave Nathan a stern look when he stirred as though he wanted to say something, and Nathan looked away first. Elijah truly did believe Lily would ever purposefully betray her country. Nathan clearly did not, but Nathan had not grown up next to her. “If that is all, I must be going.”
“Back to your bride?” Anthony asked, amused. “I am impressed you were able to sneak away the day after your wedding.”
Elijah shrugged. “We do not have the usual kind of marriage.”
Nathan and Anthony exchanged glances, which Elijah chose to ignore. He was surrounded by know-it-alls, so he had plenty of practice. It was far more important to return home to Josie than argue with them.
Especially since he had the unsettling feeling, they were far more aware of his emotions toward his new bride than he was comfortable with.
