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Chapter Twenty
“It makes a rather pleasant change to me not being the one at the center of such scandalous rumor.” Hudson lounged on the settee in the drawing-room, fiddling with a puzzle box from Vienna that he had been attempting to open for weeks now. “Although I am far more pleased that you took my advice.”
Dorian looked up from the note he was writing. “Are you quite finished? Will you drag this out for weeks, just so I have some idea as to how long I will have to endure your smug satisfaction?”
It had been a few days since Dorian’s moonlit walk with Rose, and he had not stopped thinking about her. Her lips and her eyes, and how close he had come to kissing her, were particularly difficult to forget. He did, however, realize that he might have made a rather extensive error by sending the gift to Rose, but, in his defense, he had asked his manservant, Gillies, to deliver it to her discreetly. Evidently, Gillies had misunderstood the request and placed it in her shared bed-chamber instead.
Hudson chuckled. “I am proud of you, Captain. If the stable fellows are to be believed, it was a terribly romantic stroll to the house.” He sat up and peered over the back of the settee like an owl. “But why do you insist on keeping the illicit details to yourself? I must know if you kissed her, at the very least.”
“It was not that sort of encounter, Hudson, as I have already told you countless times.” Dorian returned to his note. He had thought it best to avoid Rose until the gossipmill died down somewhat, but he was becoming antsy once more, after denying himself so much as a glimpse of her.
I must see her. I must be near to her. I know it is foolish, but I cannot help it.The more he tried to suppress his growing feelings for her, the more insistent they became until he could not get through a single day without almost striding out to the courtyard where the laundry was, with the notion of declaring his affections. And he did not know how much longer his restraint could hold out.
“Did you embrace?” Hudson pestered.
“No.”
Hudson waggled his eyebrows. “Did you take her by the hand?”
“Perhaps.”
“You old dog!” Hudson clapped his hands together. “Did you kiss her goodnight?”
Dorian shot him a wary look. “No.”
“I do not understand why you do not simply shave your head and join a monastery.” Hudson flopped back down onto the settee. “A handsome, strapping fellow like you, and all you can do is hold a lady’s hand? It is tragic, Captain. Utterly tragic.”
Dorian chuckled. “I am happy to disappoint you.”
“Will you indulge in another clandestine walk with her, do you think?” Hudson shook the wooden puzzle box in frustration. It would not be long before he smashed it open, for he had never been a patient man.
“It was not clandestine. Must you make everything so sordid? I have told you, and she has told everyone—I was seeing her safely back to the house after a cruel jest was played upon her.” Dorian smiled secretly to himself, remembering how she had looked in the meadow, twirling with glee. He even had the bouquet of wildflowers in his chambers, which she had given to him as a parting gift. It was partially why he had been inspired to give her the sketchbook, and the sewing kit, and the fabrics, as a return for the gift she had given to him.
Hudson snorted. “They might believe that, but I know you better. Admit it, you are so enamored with her that you asked her to walk with you, and you enjoyed every moment.”
“I will neither confirm nor deny that,” Dorian replied, putting the finishing touches to his note. He planned to have Hudson deliver it to Rose personally later this afternoon when he knew she would be taking her customary turn about the gardens in search of Bluebelle.
Or perhaps she is searching for me…He did not like to assume, but it filled him with hope to think that she might be as eager to see him again as he was to see her, especially after the somewhat tense last words he had said to her on the woodland path. It had made him wonder if he had ruined any chance of being near to her again, but he prayed the wildflowers were a sign that he was mistaken.
Hudson popped up again. “I knew it! Well, I am thrilled. I wish you a long and happy life together.” He lay back down, only to pop up a second later. “Unless this means you will no longer accompany me to the gambling dens of London?”
Dorian laughed. “I know I must fulfill my duties to you, Hudson, regardless of whoever has stolen my heart. I will enable you for as long as we both shall live.”
“Gratitude.” He grinned and nodded to the note that Dorian was folding up. “And what might that be? An explicit letter for Miss Parker, perhaps?”
“No, but it is for Miss Parker, and you are going to deliver it to her while she is out walking.” He sealed it with wax, using a plain seal instead of his own. “Discretion is paramount. Do not let anyone else see you give it to her, and do not look inside it for the sake of your own curiosity, or I shall force you to fence with me all summer long.”
Hudson rolled his eyes. “Must you sap all the exhilaration out of my underhanded pastimes?” He sighed dramatically. “Very well, I shall be your diligent messenger, as you have promised not to deny me my London excursions.”
“Thank you, Hudson.”
He winked. “It will be my pleasure. Or yours, if all goes well.”
“That was much too easy, even for you,” Dorian smirked and got up to hand the letter to Hudson. “I know I can trust you, Hudson. That is why you are the only person who can do this for me.”
Hudson’s expression softened. “I shan’t let you down, Captain.”
* * *
