Page 9 of An Accidental Elopement

“He enjoys a smooth-running estate that allows him to focus a large quantity of his energy on the House of Lords, instead of trying to salvage the duchy from ruin.”

Cecilia nodded. She did not really want to talk about his ancestors but then what would be a safe topic for the two of them to talk about?

Apparently, Lord Archibald was one step ahead of her.

“What are you reading?” he asked and flicked through the fashion magazines.

“I would not exactly call it reading, but I have looked at these.” She did not want him to think her a simpering miss who could only talk about dresses and balls. She did want to look her best and dress according to the latest fashion, but it was not something that she spent all her time on.

“You do not enjoy reading?” Lord Archibald asked.

Cecilia bit her lip, uncertain how to answer. The duchess had offered to retrieve books from the library for her, but Cecilia had been too self-conscious to ask for romance novels which were the only books that she enjoyed reading. She did not like the duchess to think that she had an appalling taste in books.

“Do you read, sir?” She deflected the question tartly because Lord Archibald certainly did not seem the sort to read.

“Half an hour before I go to bed,” he surprised her by saying with an easy smile. “Mainly philosophy. It has to be a bit dry for me to fall asleep. My mother prefers to read gothic novels, but if I read them, I end up being up the entire night, because I need to know how it ends.”

“You like gothic novels?” Cecilia asked doubtfully and then before he had time to answer: “The duchess likes gothic novels?”

Lord Archibald laughed. Wrinkles formed at the corners of his eyes, highlighting that he was close to thirty if he had not already celebrated that birthday. She liked the lines though; they somehow made him more human.

“I can assure you that she reads many other things, but yes, she enjoys gothic novels. Do you?”

“No, I can’t sleep if I read them... and not because I need to know what is going to happen. When I read them, suddenly all the creaks and cracks of our house become a ghost or a killer heading straight for my room,” she confided in him with a sideways glance to make certain that he was not laughing at her.

“You’ll need someone to protect you from them then,” he said.

The statement was quite innocent in itself, but the way he raised his eyebrows just a fraction told her that he would very much like to be that person. Cecilia felt herself blushing, because yes, if she was lying next to Lord Archibald, she would definitely feel safe. She would with Flint too, she supposed, but for some reason, she could not shake the image of Flint sleeping with his back turned to her as she was livid with fear that someone was hiding in the dark.

Thankfully Lord Archibald did not expand further on the subject.

“You did not answer my question. What do you enjoy reading?”

“Romance novels, mainly,” she admitted, not looking at him.

“You should have told my mother then. I’m sure there are some in the library. Lady Winterbottom and her daughters have probably left some over the years as they visited.”

Cecilia nodded but did not comment. She would explain her reasons for not asking his mother to retrieve romance novels for her. She knew Lady Winterbottom to be a close friend of the family but found it a bit peculiar that none of the women of the Montagu family read romance novels. From what she knew of Lady Hester though, she doubted that it would be of any interest to her.

“I’ll find some for you. What do you like? Austen? Walter Scott?” Lord Archibald said as he rose.

“There’s really no need...” Cecilia began and moved to sit up for a moment forgetting that her foot was injured and wincing in pain as a result.

Lord Archibald immediately stepped forward, placing his hands on her shoulders and gently pushing her down again. Cecilia could feel the heat from his hands through her dress and his scent of bergamot, leather, and male wafted towards her. She felt her cheeks grow warm instantly and did not dare to meet his eyes, but instead focused on his chest that was right in front of her.

It would be so easy for him to descend his mouth towards hers. Or for her to arch her back to meet it. The thought made her breath quicken which did strange things to her brain because she was certain that his chest seemed to move quicker too. She focused on the wall that was visible between his arm and the right side of his torso as she tried to breathe as evenly as possible.

Time seemed to stretch and afterward, she was not exactly certain for how long he had been standing over her with his hands on her shoulders. Surely it could not have been more than a second even though it had felt so at the time.

“Right,” he said as he straightened and hurried to the door. “I’ll see what’s in the library.”

Cecilia nodded but doubted that he noticed it since all she saw when she looked at the door was his back.

Five

“Lord Archibald, now that’s it just the two of us... what really happened with the actress? I have heard the rumors from London...” Francis Drummond inquired as Archie did his best not to outright scowl at him. They were sharing a decanter of brandy in the drawing room after the rest of the house party had retired.

Apparently, Archie did not do a very good job of hiding his scowl as Francis Drummond lifted his hands as if surrendering.