For the next few minutes, she dodged his clumsy attempts to press his knees against hers as he spread his legs wide and took up most of the space. He made a show of unbuttoning his waistcoat and untying his cravat, which she assumed he meant to be suggestive, but only proved his increasing lack of coordination.
He took a second gulp from the flask, then handed it back, and she sent him a flirtatious smile as she slipped it into her reticule.
“No more for me.” She feigned a delicate hiccough and covered her mouth with a giggle. “Oops! I fear I’m a little tipsy myself.”
Case’s head dropped to one side and for a delighted moment she thought he was going to sleep, but he jerked upright again with a start and peered blearily out of the window. The hackney rocked to a stop.
“Ah, here we are!” he slurred. “Home sweet home.”
Tess was relieved to see a row of small but relatively neat town houses, tucked into a narrow side street. At least he didn’t live in a hovel.
With the hood of her cloak pulled up to hide her face, she debated whether to ask the driver to wait for her, but decided against it so as not to rouse Case’s suspicions. She would summon another as soon as she was finished here.
She paid the driver while Case fumbled through his pockets for his key.
Thank goodness he was still on his feet. He was too big for her to move if he fell over.
After three abortive attempts to unlock the door, he finally pushed it open and gestured her into a hallway with a black-and-white tiled floor.
“Do you have any servants?” she asked.
He shook his head and steadied himself with a hand on the wall. Movement clearly made his head spin.
“No. Just a char lady who comes once a day.” He sent her a lopsided smile. “We’ll be completely undisturbed, my sweet.”
“That’s good to hear,” Tess purred.
He leaned forward in a clumsy attempt for a kiss,but she ducked his lunge with a light laugh. “Someone’s eager!”
He chuckled and waved his hand toward the open doorway to her right. “Parlor’s through there. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be back in a minute.”
To her great relief he turned and staggered off down the corridor, using the walls on either side for support, as if he were on a swaying ship. Perhaps he needed to relieve himself?
Glad of the temporary reprieve, she entered the parlor and looked around with interest. Did she have time to search it before he came back? How long would the laudanum take to have an effect?
A small bow-fronted sideboard held some glasses and a half-empty wine bottle with the cork wedged in the top. She poured herself a glass, and emptied the rest of the contents of her flask into the second glass for him.
A series of shuffles and bumps suggested Case was bumbling around somewhere upstairs, so she made a brief search of the mahogany desk in the corner, and rifled through the drawers of a small dresser. She found nothing useful, except the stubs of betting slips from various racecourses and a handful of bills, most of them from wine merchants.
A sound in the corridor made her grab her glass and sink quickly into one of the brown leather armchairs that flanked the fireplace, in an attitude of casual relaxation.
“Ta-da!”
Tess tried not to gasp, or burst out laughing.
Case stood in the open doorway, his arms spread wide in an attitude of triumph. He was wearing what appeared to be nothing but an open shirt and a silk banyan robe, and for an awful moment she was flooded with memories of her wedding night.
Case was stockier than the old duke. The sash of the robe strained around his waist and the front gaped to reveal a chest furred with a thatch of curly blond hair.
“Thought I’d make myself a little more comfortable,” he said with a tipsy smile. “Perhapsyou’dlike to take some things off, too?”
Subtlety was clearly not this man’s forte.
“I’m still a little cold, from the carriage,” Tess lied.
“I’ll warm you up.”
“Let’s have another drink,” she temporized. “And why don’t you sit down?” She patted the seat next to her invitingly.
