“Besides the first rule of always keeping me in your sight?”
He cast her a boyishly endearing smile, although he was no boy but a dangerously handsome man. “All right, rule number two is that we take it one day at a time. Stop thinking ahead and trying to account for every detail. We’ll make our decisions as they come upon us.”
She pursed her lips. “Shouldn’t we plan a little ahead? We cannot wait for things to just spring on us.”
“We’ll plan out the important details,” he conceded. “But these little matters are not anything we need to fret about. Are you hungry? Or thirsty? Shall I have tea and a light repast brought up here for you now?”
And have the entire Huntsford staff aware she was sleeping in his bed?
She would never live down the humiliation.
“No, Octavian. That would require waking your staff. It can hold off until the morning.” She set down her quill pen. “They won’t understand how it is between us. I couldn’t bear to have them see me here tonight. Come morning, they’ll know I shared your quarters. That is bad enough. But by that time, we will be ready to leave and I will only have to endure their disapproving looks for a short while.”
Once again, he rubbed a hand across the back of his neck as he regarded her. “This cannot be helped. I’m sorry, Syd. Truly. Even if you were in a room down the opposite end of the hall, they would still believe we spent the night together. But we will soon be married and no one will think less of you when you return as my wife. Besides, they will take their cues from me. If I treat you with respect, they will do the same.”
Assuming she returned as his wife.
But she was not going to bring up this issue again.
Octavian was right.
One day at a time.
As she sat down to write her letters, Octavian went behind the screen to change out of his wet trousers and don a clean pair of dry ones. He then took one of the pillows off his massive bed and a blanket stored in his wardrobe to make a pallet for himself in front of the fireplace.
His makeshift bed looked rather inviting by the time he was done.
Since her hair was still damp when she finished writing her letters and they had exchanged places, she borrowed his comb and sat beside the fire to brush out her hair. Octavian glanced over a time or two, but she merely smiled at him and made no comment.
This silence between them felt perfect.
There was no tension, just acceptance of their plan to travel to Scotland, and the comfort of being in a safe place for the evening.
Her hair was dry by the time he finished writing explanations to his brothers. She watched as he stacked all of their letters in a neat pile and then pursed his lips in thought. “Is something wrong, Octavian?”
He shook his head. “I was just wondering whether we ought to pack tonight rather than wait until the morning.”
Syd was exhausted and eager for bed. “May we hold off until tomorrow? It would not be right for me to just take whatever I wanted from Adela’s wardrobe. Her maid ought to be the one to assist me with that and I could not face her now. Besides, it is very late and I can hardly keep my eyes open.”
He nodded, watching her as she practically dove into his bed. “I’ll wake you at dawn, Syd. We’ll take care of packing then. The staff will be up and about, so they can attend to most of the task while we have our breakfast. Sweet dreams.”
“Sweet dreams, Octavian. Thank you for everything.”
He stretched out on the pallet and casually folded his hands behind his head. “My pleasure, Syd.”
She wrapped her arms around her pillow and fought to hold back her tears. What a useless thing these tears were. In truth, she had cried so much while growing up but they never made anything better. Why did she feel like crying when she felt truly safe and happy for the first time in as long as she could remember?
Being with Octavian gave her such a feeling of contentment.
She cherished this moment and reveled in it, for she knew their friendship would not last. They were both too strong-headed.
How long before they got on the road and were at each other’s throats?
Oh, how lovely it would be if they weren’t.
But she knew herself too well.
She would do something to rile him. The only question was, how long before she had him boiling mad and retracting his offer of their make-believe marriage?
