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Gasping, she writhed under him, until a very few minutes later reaching her peak. His fingers still caressing her, he took her cries of ecstasy on his lips, then carried her, limp and pliant, to the sofa and cradled her on his lap.
‘Oh, my sweet Will, how I’ve missed you!’
‘And I you, ma douce.’
‘My love, I’ve been such a fool and you’ve been so patient with me! I am of a slowness quite remarkable, but finally, finally, I understand. Can you forgive me for being so stupid, clinging to my grief like a child with a broken toy, too stubborn to let it go? But I shall be stupid no longer.’
His heart leapt. Could she mean what he hoped she did? Trying to restrain the hope and excitement bubbling up within him, he said, ‘What are you trying to tell me, chérie?’
‘That no one has ever cared for or loved me like you. Why I have been so fortunate to have received this gift of wonder, I do not know, but my heart rejoices and I love you with everything in me. I want to belong to you for always, be your companion on your adventures and in your bed. I want to be your wife, and though I still believe it is most nonsensical of you to throw yourself away on so undeserving a woman, I shall accept quickly now, before you recover and change your mind. So, will you marry me, prince of my heart? Parce que je t’aime, Will. Avec tout mon coeur.’
He’d dreamed of hearing her say those words for so long, he could scarcely believe she really had. ‘Truly, mon ange? You love me with all your heart?’
‘Well, with my body, too, as soon as you’ll let me. And from this position …’ she wiggled on his lap, rubbing her soft bottom against his hardness ‘… I am thinking you are ready for me to do so immediately.’
He knew he was probably grinning like the imbecile she’d once called him, but he didn’t care. ‘Not just yet, in spite of my need. Perhaps tonight, though, if you’ll excuse me so I can collect the special licence I brought back from London with me and go to the village to find the rector. If he’s available, he can come back and marry us at once. That is, unless you’d like a new gown, or want to plan a ceremony with Max and Caro—’
She stopped his words with a fingertip. ‘They can give us a party later. By all means, find the vicar and bring him back at once. I want to be your wife by tonight.’
‘I’ll kidnap him, if necessary. We’ve much to discuss tomorrow, but tonight I want to be in your arms.’
Chapter Twenty-Two
The next morning, Will awoke in his bedchamber at Salmford House tired, well loved and with a euphoric sense of well-being that glowed all the brighter when he opened his eyes to see his wife’s silky head pillowed on his shoulder.
His wife. He grinned, loving the sound of the words. Fortunately, since he would rather not have had charges brought against him for kidnapping on the eve of his departure for an official mission to France, the vicar had thought his request to wed them immediately romantic rather than foolhardy. Gathering his prayer book, he’d hastened to accompany Will back to Salmford House, where the staff, along with the blushing French maid, witnessed the marriage and the signing of the parish register.
He wanted to wake up like this, with Elodie in his arms, for the rest of his days, Will thought, bending to give her a kiss.
Her eyes fluttering open, she smiled sleepily at him. ‘Can it be daylight already?’
‘It’s halfway through the morning, slug-a-bed.’
‘Well, when one has spent hours attending with much concentration to long-delayed and important work, one becomes exhausted.’
He chuckled. ‘I think I fell in love with you the moment “Uncle Fritz” limped on his cane into that inn, the night we left Vienna.’
She traced a finger from his shoulders to his chest. ‘I lusted after you from the moment you launched yourself from the balcony into my room. But I never appreciated in full measure how wonderful you are until after … after Paris. I thought my life over, that I would never experience joy again. Until with patience, care and tenderness, you taught me I was wrong. You say your cousin Max saved your life; you have given mine back.’
It was a good opening and he took it. ‘I’d like to do more. Are you ready to go travelling?’
She shifted up on the pillows to face him, looking so delectably mussed and seductive that only the gravity of what he must discuss with her kept him from pulling her back into his arms and making love to her all over again.
‘You have a trip arranged?’ she asked while he curbed his amorous appetites. ‘To investigate one of those investments you’ve been telling me about?’
‘Yes. This one will be to Paris.’
The excitement faded from her eyes. ‘No, Will, please. Anywhere but Paris. I don’t think I could bear it.’
‘Nor do I, Elodie. It isn’t right that your son was snatched from under your nose and you were prevented from reclaiming him. No, hear me out,’ he said, forestalling the protest he could see she was about to make. ‘Remember, you are no longer Elodie Lefevre, a woman with no home and no family. Elodie Ransleigh is wife to a man of considerable wealth, whose relations, I have it on respected authority, are rich, prominent and wield a good deal of power.’
Though she still looked troubled, he could tell she was cautiously weighing his words. ‘What do you intend to do?’
‘I’ve been given an official mission, sanctioned by the British Foreign Office and arranged and financed by my friend Hal Waterman, to approach the French government about the possibilities of constructing a railroad. So not only will you return to Paris as the wife of a wealthy, well-connected man, but one who will be entertained at the highest levels of government.’
‘And that will benefit me … how?’
‘While in Paris discharging the mission, we will call on the Comtesse de la Rocherie and propose a bargain. It is true, as you said before, that Philippe doesn’t remember you and considers the comtesse to be his maman. So we won’t demand that she give him up—yet. For the moment, we will insist only that you are allowed to become reacquainted with him. I expect this business regarding the railroad will take some time; if it should terminate more quickly than expected, I have other interests that can keep me in France.’
She pushed herself to sit upright against the pillows, joy and hope, anguish and doubt warring in her face. ‘Are you sure, mon amant? You really think it is possible?’
‘I do. Once Philippe knows you better and is comfortable in your company, he can come stay with us. When you think he’s old enough to understand, you can tell him that you, not the comtesse, are in fact his mother. And then he will be yours once more.’
‘Oh, that would be heaven! But what if the comtesse refuses? To be so close and be denied again.’
‘She won’t refuse. Elodie, I’ve been planning this for a long time. I didn’t want to say anything until every piece was in place. It will work, I absolutely guarantee it. Have I ever lied to you?’
‘No. Oh, Will, if you can truly reunite me with my son, I will be grateful to you for ever!’
He smiled at her tenderly. ‘You can show me how much, right now. And then we’ll get packing for Paris.’
After a flurry of shopping in London to equip Elodie for her role as Madame Ransleigh, wife to the economic envoy blessed by the Court of St James to engage in discussions with the Interior Ministry of His Majesty, King Louis XVIII, Will and Elodie sailed for France. Though Elodie remained calm—as she had been in every crisis they’d faced together, whether fleeing Vienna in the middle of the night disguised as a valet or while being held, a knife to her throat, by a British foreign agent—Will knew that beneath the surface, she was torn between anticipation and anxiety.
Knowing every hour of delay before they visited the Hôtel de la Rocherie would be an agony of suspense for her, Will made only the essential calls to present his credentials to the British Ambassador and King Louis’s chief advisors before returning to fetch Elodie from the luxurious hotel in which he’d installed her.
He found her pacing the room, from the gilded mantel to the door to the large windows with their view of the Place de la Republique, like a wild bird frantic to escape a jewelled cage.
As soon as she saw him, she rushed to her dressing table, jammed the stylish bonnet on her head and began dragging on her gloves. So nervous was she, she had difficulty pulling the tight kidskin over her trembling fingers.
He walked over to assist her.
‘Quite an improvement over our accommodations the last time we were in Paris,’ Will said, nodding towards the view of the Tuilerie Gardens in the distance as he coaxed the soft leather on to her hands. ‘Though if it would make you less fretful, I could try obtaining some chickens.’
She tried to smile, but her lips were trembling, too. ‘Will, I’m so frightened.’
He took her in his arms, wishing he could make this anxious process easier for her. ‘You needn’t be, my love! Don’t you believe I know how important this is to you? I would never have suggested we attempt it if I were not absolutely convinced we shall succeed.’ Even if Will the Rogue has to make a return engagement to guarantee it, he added silently to himself.
