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Marilee sighed, but she understood her friend’s point. Only, now she would have to convince Nikolas to do this, and somehow, the thought of feigning an attachment sullied all of the sweetness of what had already passed between them. What if Marilee were the one who fell prey to the ploy? What if she were unable to keep her heart protected or if she found herself believing it just a little too much? Certainly, they were attracted to each other; there could be no doubt of that. And they were friends, of course. But there had never been any discussion of deeper feeling. How could there be? Still, there was the kiss. Her cheeks heated with the thought, but she blamed the rush of color on the heat of the room and applied herself to her work.
Marilee took her frustration out on the linens. She wrung them until her hands ached and threw them over the racks with such force that Peggy had to remind her that Lady Lydia’s bed sheets had not caused offense. This reminded Marilee of the chaise in the small parlor.
“I’m sorry,” she told Peggy, leaving her with the laundry. “There is something I must do.”
“What? Peggy said as Marilee gathered a brush and cleaning implements.
Marilee didn’t reply as she hurried to the small parlor and set to work cleaning the chaise with a vengeance. If Mrs. Cavendish asked her why she was here instead of the laundry, she would tell her that Lady Lydia had seen a spot on the furniture and she needed the stronger elements to get it out. Anyway, it seemed as if Lady Lydia had given her some measure of freedom within the house as long as she performed like some sort of puppet. She sighed, thinking it could be worse. It most certainly could be worse.
CHAPTER16
Nikolas was seated in the small parlor, casual and unsuspecting, on the very chaise that she had scrubbed earlier, when Marilee entered the room. He smiled and stood to greet her. “Is Lady Lydia busy?”
“Yes,” Marilee replied.
“I cannot say I am surprised, or disappointed,” he said softly.
Marilee had rehearsed what she had intended to say, how she would explain the matter to him in a calm and reasonable manner, but when she set eyes upon him her preparations were all for naught because she instead rushed across the room and flung herself into his arms, burying her face at his shoulder. The words came out in a rush. She was not even certain that she was making sense until he patiently drew her to the chaise and coaxed the full retelling with a series of patient questions.
“Peggy thinks that it can be worked in our favor, but…” she grimaced, “it is the principle of the matter.”
Nikolas offered an understanding tut and a soft smile. “Peggy is not wrong, as usual,” he said when she had finally seemed to calm down. “Still, you have no need to have such worry. Kate,” he grasped her hands, “nothing need happen save the appearance. We can simply sit here and enjoy one another’s company, as we have done, and with Lady Lydia’s approval.”
“But Lady Lydia…” she released a slow breath, “she wants us to… she wants me to… seduce you.” Her voice cracked at the end and she cursed herself for being so prim. “Obviously you are supposed to be unaware, but I had to tell you. And you need to be careful! She knows whatever it is that you have done, and it is close to their secrets.”
“I suspected she might be warned,” he replied with a laugh. “The magistrate thought that she might have ears among his men and so we laid a trap by letting slip that I had discovered the merchant house through which she was converting the funds. I never thought thatthiswould be her play, but I suppose it is rather humorous.”
“Humorous?” Marilee gaped. “It’s mortifying.”
Nikolas leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss to Marilee’s cheek and then softly upon her lips. She tipped her face up to him, and her eyes darkened with passion. Nikolas gave into the temptation to see her hair and began pulling pins from it, loosening the cap that covered her curling locks. Marilee’s hand went automatically to the top of her head, holding the cap against her skull.
“Stop!”
“Do you really want me to stop?” he asked.
“I cannot,” she choked wondering exactly what liberties he thought he could take even with Lady Lydia’s not so tacit permission.
“I know,” he said gently. He put his hands in his lap. “I only thought you should look properly mussed,” he said with a grin. “Besides, I have imagined the feel of your hair in my fingers since I first saw you.
She opened her mouth and shut it again.
“Unless, you would rather not,” he said. “We shall have to have some method of communicating your actual wishes against those of Lady Lydia.”
“No. It’s okay,” she said primly. “Proceed.”
He chuckled, tipped up her chin and spoke directly to her. “You know, the fact that Lady Lydia thought up this plan, means that she has no indication that we have been working together,” he explained, “or that we have any feelings for each other at all.”
“Do we?” she questioned. “Have feelings for one another?”
“I cannot speak for the lady,” he said of Marilee. “But for my part, I have not been able to get you out of my mind since I first laid eyes upon you.”
Marilee sighed and curled herself against his side, tucking her feet beneath her. She leaned her head onto his chest, and Nikolas took her actions to heart.
“I cannot tell you how much relief that it brings me,” Nikolas continued. “If Lady Lydia continues to think that you shall do her bidding then I can act with the assurance that you will not be punished for my actions.”
“I do not want you in danger either,” she murmured as he buried his face in her loosened tresses.
How quickly they had grown comfortable with one another, she realized with a stroke of pleasure. It was natural; as if they had already been at each other’s side for months or years.
