Chapter Forty-Two
Eve was hungry when she returned home from a long afternoon of shopping with Caroline, but her need was not for food.Having given herself to Freddie, the hunger to lay with him again burned constant.
It was Thursday, and the evensong usually ran late.Freddie wouldn’t be home until close to midnight.He hadn’t sent word, but she couldn’t deny her need for him any longer.
She would visit him and discuss plans to move their relationship to a more socially acceptable state.Her thoughts ran to the obvious conclusion that once Viscount Rosemount discovered Freddie had openly declared himself as being her future husband, he would restore his son to favor and funds.She would let Freddie govern when he felt the time was right for him to inform their parents of the impending wedding.
She spent a pleasant evening with Caroline and Adelaide discussing family plans for Christmas at Strathmore Castle in Scotland.With the three oldest Radley cousins all recently married, the castle would be even more full of noise and merriment than it had been in previous years.
A little after eleven, Eve bade her sister and mother good night and headed to her room.
She changed into a dark, woolen gown and waited until she heard the other members of the family turn in for bed.After throwing on a heavy cloak, she silently stole downstairs and out through the rear garden.
She hailed a hack around the corner in Old Bond Street and was soon on her way to Grosvenor Square.After searching through various flower pots, she found the key to the rear door of Rosemount House.
“So much for keeping your house safe from wicked men,” she muttered.
Inside the kitchen, she lit a candle and made her way upstairs.
“Zeus,” she called out.
The dog was nowhere to be seen.
“That’s odd,” she murmured.Freddie was sometimes able to keep Zeus bailed up in the kitchen, but most times the dog had the run of the house.The silence was eerie.
She shrugged it off.Perhaps Freddie had decided Zeus needed the exercise and had taken him to St John’s for the day.She chuckled at the thought of the mess the giant Irish wolfhound would make of Hattie’s soup kitchen.
The clock in the downstairs hall chimed half past the hour of eleven.Taking the tinderbox and some of the kindling from the kitchen, she hurried upstairs to Freddie’s bedroom.If she lit the fire now, it would take the chill off the room before he arrived home.Tonight, she intended to share his bed.
She placed a handful of coins on the top of the mantelpiece.“There.That should cover the cost of the wood,” she said.
Taking the tinderbox, she struck at it a couple of times before succeeding in getting a spark.The dry kindling in the fireplace caught alight and soon a fire had taken hold.She shifted a few small logs into place and sat back on her haunches, watching with satisfied pride as the fire began to build.
She had just put the tinderbox back on the shelf when she heard noises downstairs.With a smile on her lips, she headed to the bedroom door.Freddie’s early arrival home meant they would have more time together.Stepping out onto the landing, she heard unfamiliar voices.
“Where did you say he kept the gold?”
“I don’t bloody know.Anyway, we didn’t come here for that; we came for young Rosemount.He is about to get a nasty lesson in not crossing powerful people,” replied a second man.
Eve stilled.Her heart began to thump loudly in her chest.She hadn’t taken Freddie’s warnings about not being in the house alone seriously.No one knew she was there; no one could help her.Think, Eve, think.
She crept back into Freddie’s bedroom and softly closed the door.“Oh no,” she whispered, noting the lack of a key in the lock.
She had just decided his bedroom might not be the best place to hide after all when she heard the sound of heavy boots on the stairs.Her heart was racing, her mouth dry.Fear of the strangers and what they would do if they discovered her, had Eve trembling.
What am I to do?
Voices outside the bedroom door told her she had little time.Racing across the floor, she grabbed her cloak, and dropped to her knees.She slid under the bed and did her best to throw the cloak over her head.
As the door opened, she silently rued the fact she had managed to light the fire.
“Looks like someone is at home.Nice of them to have lit the fire for us.Pity we won’t be here long enough to enjoy the comforts of home.”
The other intruder gave a guttural laugh.
Eve lay under the bed and listened as the intruders went through all the cupboards.Drawers and clothes were tossed about onto the floor.
Her hands began to shake uncontrollably and her bottom lip quivered.If those men had been sent by the Bachelor Board she would be in grave danger if they discovered her.
