Page 30 of When the Duke Met His Match

Glancing over, Odette found his eyes closed, lashes sat heavily against his cheeks. With a small smile on her lips from how comfortable he looked, she dropped her head back onto the pillows and relaxed.

She pushed away the thoughts of their upcoming escape from London and focused on their interlocked hands, waiting for sleep to overtake her.

While things felt uncertain, she was relieved to have Theophilus by her side.

Chapter Eighteen

THEOPHILUS

Threads of sunlight entered the room as it peeked over the horizon—a signal that the time had arrived and there could be no more delaying. They needed to be swift and sure if they hoped to leave undetected.

Theophilus went around the room and gathered some of his clothes while leaving Odette to rest in bed for a few more minutes. She appeared to be comfortable and deeply asleep, which he didn’t want to interrupt until the very last moment.

He pulled the satchel out from beneath the bed to stuff another linen shirt inside, then he stood to see how far the sun had risen. Time was of the essence, and they needed to leave.

As he prepared to lean across the bed to wake the sleeping fugitive, a loud knock echoed through the room and froze him in his tracks.

Odette jolted awake at the sudden sound with alarm in her eyes. She looked toward him for answers, seemingly with her breath held.

He held a finger against his lips as a signal for her to keep quiet, and she swallowed hard.

“Are you awake, Theophilus?” his mother asked, voice grating against his nerves at that moment.

He sighed and pointed at the bottom of the bed for Odette to slide beneath. As he carefully moved across the room, she pulled herself from the blankets and wedged her way under the bedframe. She did so quietly enough not to raise any suspicions.

The doorknob shook and jangled as his mother tried to come in, but it didn’t budge.

“Why is the door locked?” she questioned.

His heart picked up at the realization, and he quickly unlocked it. Cracking the door open enough to reveal her face on the other side, Theophilus blocked her from seeing inside with his body. He chuckled nervously. “It’s a force of habit.”

As he remained in place, shielding the room from her, his mother narrowed her eyes at him, growing suspicious.

“What are you hiding?”

Unsure if he should let her in, he hesitated. But it was his mother, and if he denied her, then he would only seem more guilty. Instead, he opened the door further and gestured for her to come in.

“I’m not hiding anything.”

She gave him one last look before she entered the room with her hands folded neatly in front of herself. She scanned the room, walking over to the windows first. Humming to herself, she reached for the curtains.

Theophilus kept a close eye on her, remembering how the satchel had been on the other side of the bed. Taking a step forward, he looked around and found it was no longer there.

Odette must have pulled it under with her.

Good work, he silently praised her.

But the color drained from his face the moment he spotted her old dress on the floor next to the bed. His mother couldn’t find out.

As she yanked the first set of curtains open with a hiss, he hurried behind her back and snatched the dress up. He shoved it under the bed and heard Odette's low mumble of protest.

He wanted nothing more than to shush her, but the second set of curtains opening concealed the sound, to his relief.

Straightening his back once more, he returned to the center of the room and gave his mother a questioning look.

She turned from the window and gave him a satisfied hum. “Well, then. Your father and I are to visit your aunt, and we will be gone for most of the day. I assume you will be occupied with work.”

Theophilus nodded and put his arms behind his back. “I will.”