Henry jumped to her feet and clapped her hands. "Marius, I could hug you!" she cried, her eyes glowing at him. "I have wanted all my life to hear someone give Peter a set-down like that."
"Could you, my love?" Eversleigh asked, also standing, so that he was very close to her.
Henry stood spellbound, a strange churning feeling low in her stomach- Her eyes locked with her husband's. "Marius," she said at last, almost in a whisper, "are we a terrible burden to you? We always get into such scrapes, you know, and I think Peter was right-I am not really a lady. "
"Ah, but you said yourself that you do not really wish to be," he said.
"But I do not want to be an embarrassment to you, Marius," she said wistfully.
"You would have to try very hard to be that, my dear," he said, the familiar gleam in his eyes. He reached up a hand and stroked her cheek lightly with one knuckle.
"Why do you put up with us, Marius?" she asked.
"For the reason I mentioned before our marriage," he replied. "You amuse me." He continued to stroke her cheek.
Henry was confused. She wanted to move away from him; she did not like being within his aura of power and masculinity. And yet she found herself involuntarily leaning her cheek into his knuckle. She wanted him to have no binding claim on her, and yet she felt a sinking of her spirits at his last words. What did she want? She did not know. She only felt overwhelmingly grateful that he had taken her part against her brother and won a victory for her. Yet, even this feeling annoyed her. She did not want to appear weak and in need of protection.
Henry's confusion was suddenly multiplied tenfold when Eversleigh quite unexpectedly drew her into his arms and covered her lips with his own. She was so surprised, in fact, that it was several seconds before she realized that she had put her arms up around his neck and arched her hips and thighs against his. She felt the heat rise in him and the kiss deepen before she began to push furiously at his chest.
"Don't do that!" she demanded breathlessly as they drew apart. "You know I dislike it."-
He stood, seemingly relaxed, a laugh in his eyes. "Poor little Henry!" he said. "When will you realize that you are a woman?"
"Oh!" she said crossly. "First my brother says I am not a lady, and now you say I am not a woman."
"And I say that Phil will be reaching the far stages of boredom downstairs in the library with nothing to do but look at books," said Eversleigh. "Come, my love, do not be cross with me. I promise to try to curb my animal instincts. "
And he strolled from the room, leaving Henry's mind and body in turmoil.
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In the library, Eversleigh was soon offering an indignant Philip a choice: either to spend three days indoors doing extra tasks in the schoolroom, or to receive a thrashing there and then.
"But I did not do anything so very wrong," the boy protested. "Pen and I knew how to get back to Manny and Mr. Ridley. We were never lost. And we were not interfering with those men. We were merely asking some questions. If Peter had not hauled us away, there would have been no problem."
"It is not for any of those things that I propose to punish you," the duke explained, strolling over to his desk and perching on the end of it. "It is your behavior to Miss Manford that I take exception to."
Philip stared, uncomprehending. "Manny?" lie said. "She is used to us. We are always playing pranks on her, or we forget and do things without thinking. But she knows that we mean no harm. She don't mind."
"On the contrary, Phil," said Eversleigh, "it seemed to me when I entered the drawing room earlier that she minded a great deal."
"That was only because Peter had been giving her a great scold," Philip explained. "She was not mad at us. And she would not have been so upset if Peter had not kidnapped Pen and me and brought us home so that Manny thought we were lost in good earnest. It was all his fault. "
"Was it, dear boy?" the duke asked. "Was not your disobedience to your governess at the root of the whole matter?"
Philip stared, unable to think of an answer.
"You see, Phil," Eversleigh said, standing and wandering over to the fireplace, where he took up his favorite stance leaning an elbow on the mantel, "ladies in Miss Manford's situation can lead a miserable life. Many people feel that they do not have to be treated with the same courtesy and respect that one would afford to a lady of independent means. A true gentleman will not make the distinction. You frightened the lady this afternoon and caused her to become an object of anger and contempt."
Philip continued to stare. He had turned noticeably paler. "I had not thought of it that way before," he said.
"No," Eversleigh agreed, "I thought you had not." He considered the boy in silence for a while. "Well, Phil, which is it to be?"
Philip straightened his shoulders. "I'll take the thrashing, sir," he said.
Eversleigh did not move. "Good lad!" he said. "If you realize that you deserve it, Phil, it seems that you probably do not need it. You are dismissed."
"Now, sir?" stammered Philip. "D-do you want me to return some other time?"
"Not particularly, dear boy," said Eversleigh. "I find myself tolerably contented without your company. But I will require it if I find you disregarding the feelings of Miss Manford again, Phil. Somehow, though, I do not expect it."
"Thank you, sir," Philip yelled, and he tore through the doorway before his brother-in-law could change his mind.
Chapter 7
Henry did not see a great deal of Giles in the few weeks following his arrival in London. He avoided the round of social events that she now attended almost with enjoyment. He did visit her and the twins occasionally, and she sometimes spotted him in Hyde Park during the afternoons, when the whole fashionable world, it seemed, paraded on horseback, in carriages, and on foot. He was always with a group of fashionable young men, some of them outright dandies. She noticed that Giles, too, now dressed in the height of fashion. His collar points were often so high that Henry wondered how he could turn his head or even see to right or left. His coats were so close-fitting that she imagined he must have been poured into them. His boots were so shiny that they must surely be polished with champagne, an affectation that was current among some of the young bucks, she had heard.
Henry was amused at her brother's obvious enjoyment of town life. She had always thought he was like she used to be, happy only in the country when free of social restraints.
She became alarmed for him one afternoon, though, when he visited. The twins were away from home. Eversleigh had begun to spend more time with them since their escapade at the balloon launching. On this particular day, they had gone to the Tower of London to see the gate leading into the building from the River Thames that condemned persons used to enter prior to execution. They
also hoped to see the dungeons and the axes used to decapitate condemned nobles.
"There are other things to see there, you know," Eversleigh had suggested in his languid way.
"Such as?" Penelope asked.
"Furniture, jewels, a magnificent view of London from the turrets."
"Ugh! Let us stick with the interesting stuff," Penelope replied.
"Quite so, Penny," he agreed. "An admirable decision."
Henry had reluctantly remained behind because she was expecting callers. The guests left soon after the arrival of Giles.
"You are very quiet, Giles," she remarked when they were alone together.