Page 68 of The Smuggler’s Escape

“Yes, indeed, Lady Boltwood. I’m very grateful.”

“I hope the novel I loaned you is proving tolerably entertaining.”

Johnny offered her a lovely, lopsided smile. “Yes, thank you, my lady.”

“Excellent. Then I wish you good night.” She swept out, saying, “Don’t keep Noelle for long, Richard. She needs her beauty sleep.”

Richard approached the bed and clasped Johnny’s hand. “Still feel inclined to kill me?”

“Your mother is a darling. She tried her level best not to look astonished that I can read. You’d best get me out of here before I strangle that valet of yours, though.”

“A joy, isn’t he?” Richard hauled Noelle off the chair. Softly, but not softly enough, he said, “Dismiss the maid once she has helped you remove your gown. Unless, of course, you wish her to see your new nightclothes.”

Now it was Noelle’s turn to blush. Richard whacked her on the derriere.

“Whatever you ordain, oh master and commander.” She stormed away.

~ ~ ~

“Handling things badly, aren’t you, Dick?”

Richard pulled back the window curtains and stared into the night. “Regardless of what I do, she insists she won’t marry me.”

“Told you not to be thinking about bedding her,” Johnny said.

Richard growled, “I have no choice.” He turned long enough to glare at his friend. “The girl belongs in Bedlam. She offered to become my mistress.”

Johnny swore. “What’s wrong with the colleen?”

“How am I supposed to know? She won’t give me a reason. I think she’s planning to leave Sussex. I’m at my wits’ end.”

Johnny blew out a long breath. The candle by his bed flickered. “You young men have no finesse.”

“Noelle isn’t interested in finesse. She made a bargain with me, and by God, she’s going to keep it.”

“You’re never saying you agreed to take her as your mistress?”

As if he were the lowest of dastards. If the truth be told, he was carrying chivalry to ridiculous lengths. “She needs money. What if she had accepted a carte blanche from Harry Walsh instead?” He forced his fists to unclench, but by God, if Harry so much as laid a finger on Noelle, he’d run him through.

He was as bad as Noelle, letting absurdities upset him. Harry couldn’t afford the price she’d asked. “If the silly chit is determined to earn her money on her back, it had damned well better be with me.”

There was a long silence. Johnny shifted on his pillows, wincing. “The doctor says it’ll be a week before I get out of here. Who’s the other colleen?”

“Dot? Just a lady I know in London. How did you lure her into your bedchamber?”

Johnny chuckled. “Noelle brought her. Introduced us, said she thought we had a lot in common. She’s mighty prim, but eased up a bit when we started talking about books.”

Richard pondered this. “Dot’s mother won’t be too happy when she finds out her precious daughter is visiting a tinker in his bedchamber . . . Aha! Noelle’s giving her an opportunity to be scandalous.” He grinned. “Didn’t take my Noelle long, did it? She met Dot, learned about her matchmaking mama, and offered a solution. Knowing Dot, she won’t be able to resist coming back for more literature, well-seasoned with Irish charm.”

Johnny changed the subject. “Still planning on bedding Noelle tonight, are you?”

“Yes, damn you! It’s none of your business.” He narrowed his eyes at Johnny.

Johnny narrowed his eyes right back. “Here in the house, with your mother a few doors away? With your mother’s maid or that ghoulish valet finding the evidence in the morning? If you were married it wouldn’t matter. She’s used to servants sticking their noses into everything. I don’t know how you people put up with no privacy at all, but that’s beside the point. You’re setting her up for shame, poor thing.”

“Nonsense. They’ll merely think we anticipated our vows. It’s done all the time.”

“Except that she refuses to take those vows.”