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“Hush now. I wouldn’t think that. I know you’ll be a good wife. This is all my fault. I pushed myself in here.” He took her hands gently away from her face and turned her around to him. “Forgive me for distressing you. I really did have good intentions. I—I wouldn’t expect you to—” He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and stroked over her hair and down her neck. “Georgina. When we are together, in that way, we will be bound by the vows of matrimony.”
“But that will be in the morning,” she reminded him, wanting to dive under the bedcovers and hide.
“Yes. In the morning. But not right now. I just want to be near you and see you through the night.” He took the two halves of her dressing gown and overlapped them. “As much as I love the luscious view of you in your pretty nightdress, we’ll just wrap you back up so the carnal beast in me won’t be too sorely tempted.”
He tied her belt closed with purposeful fingers. And Georgina’s heart melted anew at his chivalry. She wiped the tears off her cheeks, thinking she must look frightful.
“A beast? Really, Jeremy? I never think of you like that. And I never will.” She shook her head at him.
“Give it some time, sweetheart. I’ve no doubt you’ll see my beast. It’ll come ’round eventually,” he shot back with plenty of sarcasm.
He still held her loosely, his hands resting at her waist. Georg
ina sensed that he needed to touch her, and did not mind in the slightest.
“I truly doubt it. Others may be beastly, but not you.”
He looked at her in puzzlement and cocked his head. “You are the only person, Georgina, who holds me in such lofty esteem, and I can’t for the life of me know the reason. I figure your opinion of me can only go down in direct proportion to the amount of time you spend in my company.” He winked. “All the more reason to wed you quickly, before you discover these things on your own.”
Georgina couldn’t help the roll of her eyes. “Didn’t you gain entry into my room tonight by begging to help me pack up the last of my things?” She diverted their conversation to a safer topic and ignored his last comment.
“I did indeed, my lady.” He bowed his head. “What did you have left?”
“Just my books and drawing supplies.”
“Show me.”
They spent the next half hour wrapping up the few books and sketches she wanted to bring. Georgina observed him while he packed her things. She saw how he handled each item with awareness, considering the placement in the cases with thoughtful care and respect. He didn’t just cram the things in carelessly in order to finish the job.
There was so much more to Jeremy than she had any inkling of, and she wondered what it would be like to truly know him. To learn his secrets. To know his likes and dislikes, his habits and his strengths. To discover his faults. Everyone had them. She sighed, thinking he would learn hers soon enough, and hoped he wouldn’t be too regretful in choosing her.
It was strange to think about how they were pledging themselves to a lifetime partnership in the morning, with still so much unknown about one another.
Georgina was glad for the simple task of packing up the last of her things. It diffused the awkwardness of before and helped put her embarrassing misstep behind them.
“Ah. I’m glad you’re bringing this one.” He held up a small volume. “I actually wish to read it.”
“Which one is that?”
“The Works of Robert Herrick.”
“Why Herrick, Jeremy?”
“Well, for one, I think you like his poems, and I feel I should make an effort to share in something of interest to you. It seems like the husbandly thing to do. I don’t know, am I wrong? Is that not what a husband does to be agreeable? I have no experience.” He smirked in his charming way that made her heart catch.
“For myself, I know I’d find it agreeable if my husband read poems to me.” A sudden vision of her father reading to her mother flashed in her head. “My parents used to. You said ‘for one reason,’ Jeremy. What’s the other reason?”
“I think Herrick’s prose is good. I liked what I read before.”
“When did you read him?”
“The day I came upon you in the library. I picked up your book after you left it behind when Pellton drove you out.”
“You did?”
He nodded once. “I brought it to my room and read some pages that night. I put it back the next morning where you could find it.”
“I hope you’ll read to me sometime. I like listening to your voice.”
