Page 33

“Do not worry, it has nothing to do with you. I have had this vision in front of me, even better than my imagination, and there was not a flicker of life down below. I cannot even tease you about playing with fire.”

Elizabeth slipped out of bed and went to the window. She peeked through the curtains to check no one could see and then flung them wide apart. She spun round and curtseyed at him, the warm morning sunlight playing over her body.

“Come here a second Elizabeth my dear.”

She slipped back into bed.

“My body is failing me we know that, but my mind is as sharp as it ever was. Your body may be safe from me in this bed, but in my imagination?”

Rather than blush Elizabeth Napier just laughed her head off.

“What you are telling me is that you are going to be a legend in your own mind?”

Peter Napier groaned and pulled her close. What had been a business arrangement was now something so much more.

Between early November and early March was only four months. But Elizabeth thought it would take a lifetime to get over the deep seated dread, that overwhelming sense of panic, of that time. And yet all it had taken was the love of a good man.

And it was not one-sided, it was mutual.

Chapter 12

“Do you wish to visit Bristol?”

“Bristol, not Bath?”

Peter took Elizabeth’s hand.

“I am not able to travel anymore, I wish it was not so but there is no hiding from that fact. Just thinking about the prospect of the three miles into Bath, I know it is beyond me. And even if I endured it, when I got down from the carriage, I would have to immediately find a tea room so that I could recuperate. But I do not want you to feel like you are stuck out here.”

“I feel nothing of the sort.”

“You are kind to an old man, but I do want you to have some freedom from the estate. As for the Bristol versus Bath choice, the latter is second only to Mayfair when it comes to people ready to cast instant judgement. I am sure there are some nice people that reside there but my experience, limited though it has been for the last decade, is that there are too many widows with far too much time on their hands. Creating a scandal out of nothing is what they live for.”

“Is it really that bad?”

“I think that Caroline Bingley went there for lessons.”

“Ouch.”

Elizabeth had a thought.

“Will the fact I am Lady Napier not make a difference?”

“Yes, it should. However, all they will see is the age difference. Everyone is ready to wreak vengeance on a gold-digger. And no, do not even think it. We both know you are nothing of the sort. Yet at the same time we have to be cognisant of how it will appear. And if the gossips hate a possible gold-digger, then they loathe with a biblical intensity one that has been successful.”

He waited for her to ponder this.

“I am stuck with the label, am I not?”

“Yes. Not for eternity but it will cast a shadow over you for a long time.”

“Bristol is better?”

“Bath is sufficient close that it siphons off the worst of society. Bristol is the second biggest city in the kingdom, but it has far fewer obnoxious people due to the proximity of Bath. You can get everything you need in Bristol, while dealing with a lot less prurient stares.”

“I understand what you are saying but I am not going to Bristol without you. And as even Bath is too much for you, I am happy to stay here. I do not want to talk of your death but you have been candid about the possibility it could happen at any time. I will deal with Bath and Bristol in due course.”

Meaning after his funeral.