Page 61 of The Music of Love

“Mmmm.”

He turned when the door opened. “Please put her to bed directly and make sure she drinks a glass of warm milk before going to sleep.”

Daisy grinned. “Aye, Mr. Harrington, I’ll see to it.”

A stack of mail awaited him in the library. He’d been spending so much time with his new bride that his business had gone wanting. Tonight he would work through as much of it as he could while she slept.

He’d gone through a good half of the pile when he came across a letter franked by a very spidery old hand—was that the Earl of Broughton? Stacy’s brow wrinkled as he studied the name. Now where had he heard that name before?

The letter was brief and signed by Viscount Pendleton, not an earl. The viscount said he would be in the area on Thursday and asked if he might call on Stacy. The letter had arrived several days ago and tomorrow was Thursday. Perhaps the man would not come since Stacy had not answered? He shrugged. Either way, he had no objections to receiving him, indeed, he was even a little intrigued.

It was almost three by the time he went up to bed. He undressed himself, having sent Powell off earlier. When he went into Portia’s room it was to find her reading.

“Stacy.” She smiled up at him and set aside her book, tossing back the covers to welcome him. Her open joy at seeing him made his entire body throb. He leaned toward the candle to extinguish it but her voice stopped him.

“No, leave it, please. I want to watch you undress.”

He looked down at her eager, waiting face and his breathing became something of an effort. As he slid out of his robe her eyes dropped lower, her lips parted, and he heard the sudden intake of breath that always made him hard—or harder, in this case. He climbed in beside her and her warm arms slid around him.

“I couldn’t sleep without you,” she murmured into his neck.

“Oh? I make you sleepy, do I?” He cupped her jaw and brought her closer for a lingering kiss. “Odd how you have the opposite effect on me.” Her hand slipped between his legs and he sucked in a breath. “What did I tell you earlier, Mrs. Harrington?” he chided, even as his hips began to move.

“That a slate roof was the most durable kind of roof for this climate?” Her voice was muffled as she ducked beneath the covers.

He laughed and then gasped. “You are very naughty, Mrs. Harrington.”

“Yes, I know.”

And then she proceeded to show him just how naughty.

They’d just finished breakfast the following morning and Portia was gathering her things to take the gig into town.

“Please take Daisy with you, my dear,” Stacy murmured absently as he looked up from the paper.

She laughed. “I don’t need an escort to go to town.”

“Yesterday I realized how quickly you become fatigued. I would like you to have somebody with you when you go out, just in case you need help.”

“I’m not a piece of glass.”

He nodded, amused. “Even so, bring Daisy with you.”

Her face settled into mulish lines. “Is that an order, Stacy?”

“Does it need to be, Portia?” He immediately regretted the tinge of annoyance in his voice. But he was annoyed, annoyed she couldn’t see he was only doing this for her own safety. He suppressed his annoyance and tried again. “It would make me less anxious if you allowed her to accompany you.”

Her jaw moved back and forth, as if she was chewing on gristle. She finally nodded. “Very well.”

Stacy was more than a little relieved. While he had no wish to argue with her, he would not live under the cat’s paw, scared to say anything that might make her angry. “Thank you for understanding, Portia.”

She kissed him on the cheek and whispered in his ear, “Thank you for caring so much about my well-being, Mr. Harrington.”

Stacy put aside his paper after she left. He would need to work on the way he delivered his requests or they would bicker constantly. She required more careful handling than he’d realized. The thought surprised him; handling? Was that how he dealt with people—by managing them? He shrugged the question away. If he was managing her it was for her own good.

Portia and Daisy returned from town to find a large, elegant traveling coach waiting in the courtyard.

Soames opened the front door before they reached the top of the steps.