Page 63 of A Single Obsession

He had to admit such looks had enticed him in the past—but not now.

The thought no longer surprised him, but when had he changed?

When had he decided the only smiles he was interested in were those of Eliza Merry?

Chapter 28

That night, Eliza could not sleep. She had shared another moment of intimacy with Beau—a connection that went beyond friendship—and again he had pulled away. She did not know whether to be encouraged by his preference for her company or not. Perhaps she was fooling herself and he only preferred her to Harriet, because she was less likely to trap him into marriage.

After tossing and turning for a while, as if in a fever, she cast the covers aside and walked across to the window. She opened the shutters a little and looked wistfully out into the darkness. It was a still night. The sky was cloudless, the moon almost full, and the stars appeared especially bright.

If she had been at home, she might have risked a walk, but as a visitor in her uncle’s house, she did not dare. It was a shame, for no doubt the cool air would have helped calm her thoughts and her fluttering heart and enable her to get some sleep.

A sound startled her. There it was again. Something was tapping against the wall on the far side of her bed. Oh no—did Lord Harting have rats? She had an aversion to rodents.

Aware of her bare feet and unable to gauge whether the noise was coming from inside or outside her room, she scurried back across the carpet and dived onto her mattress. She was about to pull the covers over her head to block out the tapping when she heard another sound—a voice at her door.

“Eliza? Are you awake?”

Beau? Why was he here? Was there bad news?

“Yes. What is it? Is someone ill?”

“Ill? No, of course not. Open the door.”

She grabbed her dressing gown and slipped her arms into it, pulling the cord tight around her waist. Without a thought for the proprieties, she opened the door, bursting with curiosity. Why was Beau visiting her room in the middle of the night?

He was standing there, fully dressed.

“What are you doing here?”

Heat rushed to her cheeks as his eyes lingered on her form, imperfectly concealed beneath the flimsy wrapper, distracted by what she was—or rather wasn’t—wearing. He seemed to forget temporarily why he had come.

“What is it, Beau?” she asked, all too aware of his masculinity, and feeling strangely vulnerable. “You said no one was ill, so why are you here?”

“Get dressed,” he said in a somewhat husky voice.

“Why? It’s the middle of the night?”

“Badgers!”

Eliza couldn’t believe her ears. All thought of romance vanished. Her eyes shone with excitement of a different kind. He had remembered her wish, and they were going to find the badgers.

“Wait outside. I won’t be long,” she said, closing the door in his face.

She stood for a moment, contemplating what to wear. It was typical of a man not to realise getting dressed in the middle of the night was not straightforward. All her gowns fastened up the back, and she dared not send for her maid to help her.

Although she supposed she could ask Beau to do up her dress, she was not so lost to propriety as to consider asking him. It made her blush just thinking about it.

What was she to do?

In a flash, the solution came to her. Shirt and breeches!

She retrieved William’s old clothes from where she’d hidden them at the bottom of her trunk and quickly put them on. After covering them with a full-length pelisse that buttoned up to the chin, she reckoned no one would guess what she wore underneath.

Eliza didn’t scruple about abandoning the idea of putting on a bonnet over her hair, which had been plaited for the night. It seemed rather out of place to be wearing a hat for propriety when the adventure itself was highly improper. She added a sturdy pair of half-boots to finish her ensemble and hurried back to the door.

Beau gave her a look of approval, impressed at the speed at which she’d dressed. He put a finger to his lips, cautioning her not to say a word. Not that she needed any warning. She was as anxious as he was not to be discovered.