“Feed yourself.”
“Can’t. I’m more comfortable than I have been in years. My slice of mattress is the perfect temperature. The pillows at the perfect angle.I refuse to ruin this moment. Being exiled is not as luxurious as you might think. And all you’re doing is waiting for the harpy to arrive so you can fuck her.”
“I will toss you out on your arse, baby brother.”
“You wouldn’t. You love me too well.” He dropped the bell to the bed and grinned.
“I wouldn’t test him, cretin.”
Richard turned and found Beatrice in the doorway, foot tapping, gaze narrowed on Daniel.
“Good morning, shrew!” Daniel waved.
“Thank God you’re here.” Richard reached out just enough to drag the pad of his finger down the outside of her wrist, just above the lace gloves he wanted to tease from her body using only his teeth. She would have no patience for Daniel’s nonsense.And now he had an excuse to leave Daniel to his own annoying devices.
“As long as you’re here,” Daniel said, drawing Beatrice farther into the room, “tell the man you’re fucking that he should not have let the servants go. There’s no one here to do a damn thing!”
“I wasn’t supposed to be here,” Richard said, “for an entire fortnight. Of course I let them go.” He was glad he had an abandoned place to bring Beatrice, though. They had rooms at Slopevale, but this was better. He had abundant excuses to be missing from the party—various estate business. And she had so far used her translation work to beg off the celebratory activities. The last week had proved conducting an affair to be quite easy.
Except for the presence of his brother.
“I see no flaws in Richard’s logic,” Beatrice said.
Daniel rolled his eyes. “Of course not. You would like to keep riding his?—”
“Daniel,” Richard snapped.
“You do not understand the dynamic between the shrew and I.” Daniel crossed his arms over his chest, winced, and rubbed at his shoulder. He did have a wound high on his back that cut deep across the outside of the shoulder. He’d been lucky that it had not been worse and that it had not become infected. “We nag one another, don’t we, shrew? You don’t mind.”
“I do not mind,” Beatrice said, “because not a single word you utter holds any relevance or weight.”
Daniel flung an arm toward her. “See! Now, one of you please bring me something to eat. I’m famished.”
“What food is most likely to cause you distress?” Beatrice asked.
Daniel gasped. “Murderess. Very well, to preserve my life, I’ll fend for myself, but if you cannot find me, look for me in the larder. I’ll be on the floor having swooned fromunnecessaryexertion.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Richard grasped Beatrice’s wrist and tugged her out of the room toward the stairs.
“Wait!” Daniel called. “Richard! Rick! Dicky! Damn bastard!”
Richard moved more quickly.
“Shrew!”
Beatrice nearly ran.
They ran together, down the stairs and almost out the door. Richard stopped her there.
“Do you have work today? Or can I distract you?”
Her face shattered a little bit, then put itself together admirably. “No. I’ve been working on something, but… it’s not important.”
“That’s not true.” He tugged her outside just enough to shut the door and block out Daniel’s increasingly pitiful cries. He tugged her little green cap sleeve down. “Of course it’s important.”
She shook her head, staring at the toes of her slippers peeking out beneath her skirts. “I was supposed to be translating an affreightment contract, but… just before Lena and I left to come here, Papa sent it off to someone else.”
“Why?” The word came out hard, sounding like a fist slamming into bone.