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“Muriel...”
She jolted, smiled boldly, and scooped the chemise up. “In the trunk, I know.”
Ivy shook her head. If she had ever seen anyone in more of a haze of love, she could not recall. It seemed perhaps it was catching. If they weren’t careful Mrs. Baxter and the butler would fall for each other and no one would get anything done, though the butler was still as stern-faced as ever even if Mrs. Baxter almost liked Ivy now and many of the servants had defrosted since the incident with Marshall.
Talk of her husband’s innocence and the truth of Mary’s fate had circulated thetonand Bath society thanks to the scandal sheets. There would be those who were not convinced a mere dress could kill someone, despite the maid who had nursed Mary through the last of her days coming forward with her tale. It seemed Mary did not wish to be a burden to her family or the man she loved or even her closest friend—Cillian. Arsenic poisoning was a painful, ugly death and she had decided to go as peacefully as she could tucked away in the Cumbrian countryside.
It was not a fate Ivy wished on anyone but at least Mary’s family knew what had happened now.
A faint rap at the door made Charlie bark and lift his head from his nap on the bed but it didn’t even jolt Muriel from her haze as she moved clothing about the room but never quite in the right direction.
Ivy opened the door to find Cillian in the hallway. Without his eye patch, he appeared relaxed and far too handsome for his own good. If he was not careful, she would be the one delaying their second honeymoon so she could steal some time with him this very moment.
“Are you ready? The carriage is all set.”
She glanced at Muriel who had taken to dancing about the room with one of Ivy’s gowns, slipped out the door, then closed it gently behind her. “We may be some time. Your steward is distracting my maid.”
Cillian’s brows furrowed. “I saw Shah only moments ago.”
“I think we shall be having to house them in one of the estate cottages before long.”
“Shah is quite content where he is.”
“No, Cillian, I do not think he is.” She gestured to the door. “Not without Muriel...”
His eye widened. “Shah and...Muriel?”
“You knew there had been a flirtation between them.”
“I did not realize it was so serious.”
Ivy didn’t blame her husband for not noticing. Between the new housing being built in Campden for the workers and the rest of his work on the estate farms, he did not have much time for listening to gossip about the servants.
He always had time for her, though. And this week, they would have even more time together.
She could not wait.
“I suspect we shall have a wedding to organize by the time we return from our honeymoon.”
“A honeymoon that needs to start sooner rather than later.” Cillian latched his arms about her, drawing her close and giving her the opportunity to inhale the spicy scent of his cologne.
She fingered his lapel. “I agree. We have a lot of making up to do.”
“There will be long walks on the beach again,” he warned. “Long,longwalks.”
“With me,” she reminded him, looking up to spy teasing crinkles about his eyes.
“I found many a secret cove on my walks there. I cannot tell you how many times I pictured lying you down in the sand and stripping you of all your clothes and making love to you in the sand.”
She shivered as the promise whispered over her ear. “Well you shall have to picture no longer.”
Muriel’s humming increased in volume and Cillian glanced around her at the door. “If your maid ever finishes packing.”
“I should return and aid her, or we shall never leave. She has probably already unpacked everything we’ve managed to put in the trunk already.”
“Let me distract you for one more second,” he murmured before kissing her so deeply her legs turned to blancmange, and everything went hazy for a moment even after he released her. He shook his head when Muriel’s tune crested, reaching a piercing volume that Ivy was certain might threaten anything crystal in the vicinity.
“I hope Shah isn’t singing too. I never expected he might fall for a woman.” He rubbed a hand across his face and chuckled. “I suppose he just needed the right woman.”
“And do you have the right woman?”
He looked down at her with an expression so adoring and Ivy never felt so loved or wonderful. Here was a man willing to do anything for her, to be her true partner in life. She never would have looked for a man like him and he likely would never have considered a wife like her had their situation not been forced yet they were forging the promise of a wonderful life together.
“More than right,” he said firmly then pressed his lips to hers, bundled her close and swept her up in the warmth and love of his embrace.
THE END
