“Enjoy your trip together,” he murmured to his cousin before he was released to head back to his friends. Wallingham, Newington and Brandestock had left to attend an entertainment together, and the remaining three had decided, as luck would have it, to go out together.

  Their destination—the Marquess of Wharton’s Cavendish Square home, where Eugenia just happened to live now.

  Teddy climbed into Hurlston’s carriage and sat beside Scarsdale.

  “I’m surprised you could join us,” Scarsdale muttered. “Doesn’t the duke need you?”

  “Not tonight,” he admitted. He would keep the news about Sinclair departing London to himself for a while. The last time he announced the duke’s departure, he ended up hosting a three-day dinner for his new friends. He had other plans for his time than drinking.

  “Oh, well, that suits us very well indeed,” Hurlston claimed. “Four is always better company than three.”

  “But the three rogues rolls off the tongue better,” Scarsdale argued.

  Teddy reached for the latch on the door and started to rise from his seat, despite the fact that the carriage had already started moving. “I can get out here,” he offered.

  Pinner pushed him back to his seat. “You’re one of us now.”

  “Never to escape,” Hurlston warned. “Besides, it’s eight rogues, if you count Sullivan and I think we must. He’s not as buttoned up as he first seemed.”

  Teddy did not mind their insistence on adding Sullivan. He did not know him at all well yet, but he would eventually, if he spent more time with the man. There were worse companions to be found in London, or a man might have none at all and be an outcast.

  It had surprised him how quickly these three fellows, in particular, had rallied around when he’d become known as Exeter’s heir. He was fairly sure his cousin might have had something to do with their initial approach, though he had no doubts of the sincerity of their continued goodwill and wise counsel since.

  They were honest men, struggling like himself with challenges in life that few others had to consider. They watched each other’s backs but always with an eye to protecting their dukes, too. Like him, most were fond of the one who currently held the title they would eventually inherit. Only Pinner was on the outs with his duke—and all because of a woman.

  They reached Wharton’s home quicker than he’d expected, and he was rushed along and through the front door before he had time to even consider what he might say when he saw Eugenia tonight.

  And she was the first person he saw, coming down the stairs in response to their noisy arrival.

  A hot flush of color swept up his face. Lust. She looked rather fetching tonight in a dark blue gown, her hair swept back in a loose chignon.

  “Gentlemen, to what do we owe the pleasure,” she called out, laughing.

  “Boredom, Miss Hillcrest. We come in search of amusement and to amuse,” Hurlston promised.

  Her gaze collided with Teddy’s, and she seemed to wink. Though, from this distance, he couldn’t be sure it had been meant just for him alone. “I’ll let the others know,” she promised before grabbing hold of her skirts and rushing back upstairs, flashing him a tiny bit of slender, stocking-clad ankle and calf.

  But it was enough to make him eagerly desire her swift return.

  Teddy fought to curb his anticipation as he followed his friends into Wharton’s library and found a chair for himself to sit upon with a good view of the door. The others helped themselves to spirits and then spread out around the room, waiting for the family to join them.

  Wharton appeared first, flustered. “Don’t you have better things to do than make so much noise?”

  “Our apologies,” Pinner said. “Our intentions were pure of heart. We came to keep you company for the evening.”

  Wharton tossed the evening paper at Pinner and then poured himself a drink. “How generous of you.”

  Teddy shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Have we interrupted a tête-à-tête with your betrothed?”

  Wharton’s smile was smug as he swung about to sit in his usual chair. “You’re too late arriving for that.”

  Pinner chuckled and looked at them all. “Perhaps there’s some merit to settling down, like our friend is about to do.”

  “I cannot see why anyone should delay,” Wharton began, then stopped and cocked his head to one side as his betrothed and her two cousins waltzed into the room, followed by a footman.

  Teddy stood and bowed, as did the others in the room.

  “Gentlemen, such pretty manners,” Sylvia Hillcrest said in praise of them. “The marchioness sends her warmest welcome but regrets that she cannot come down to keep you all under control.”

  Hurlston placed his hand over his heart. “Please convey our hope that Lady Wharton will be well enough to join us in the near future. We are bereft without her familiar and frequent gentle scolding’s.”

  Wharton gave up his chair to Sylvia, and her cousins sat side by side on the chaise opposite Teddy. Eugenia smiled at everyone, then her eyes finally met his again.

  There was such a keen light to them tonight—as much anticipation as he felt or hoped to see in her. A secret thrill that he felt to the depths of his soul stirred just because they sat in the same room again.

  From that one look from her, he decided she would want to see him in private. But in this setting, he couldn’t hope to broach such a scandalous invitation. He would have to bide his time until it was safe to speak of his desires.

  Aurora Hillcrest was pressed to play the pianoforte, previously hidden behind a set of sliding doors at the far end of the chamber behind him. Teddy decided to move to sit on the chaise beside Eugenia, so he would have a better view of the performance and be nearer to her.

  Eugenia, alas, abruptly followed Aurora to the instrument to help select music, just as he was sitting down.

  Pinner went to join them at the pianoforte and offered to turn the pages for Aurora.

  Eugenia returned, and as she passed him, her skirts dragged heavily across his legs before she claimed the empty seat at his side and Aurora began to play.

  After checking no one was really paying attention to anything but the beginning performance, he set his hand down on the seat between them. His pleasure in the night soared when Eugenia’s small hand fluttered above his. He heard her sigh as he captured her fingers to squeeze them. But she withdrew from him almost immediately.

  No one in the room was looking at anyone but Aurora Hillcrest now.

  “Their graces will leave Town tomorrow,” he confided in a whisper. “I don’t expect them back for a while.”

  “I’m sure you’ll miss them,” she murmured.

  “I will, and I won’t,” he confessed. “I will have a lot more time on my hands.”

  “However will you fill the hours?”

  Teddy checked to see that the occupants were still preoccupied with Aurora’s performance. “With you, if you will allow.”

  “I would.”

  Teddy allowed himself a small smile of triumph. “Did you hear that the duke gifted me a house not far from your old abode?”

  A frown marred her brow. “I do recall hearing that, but I’m afraid I don’t remember exactly where it is.”

  “Clifford Street. Number seven.”

  “I know the street but not well. Does your home, by chance, have a blue front door?”

  “Indeed, it does. It stands empty, but it’s high time I considered doing something with it.”

  “Will you live there?”

  “That is an option,” he confessed. “The duke has preferred me to live with him, and I prefer to know what he’s up to too. But soon, I should think about setting up my own household.”

  “Do you have servants?”

  “Not anymore. But never fear, the house is guarded by kindly neighbors’ servants, so it is safe from squatters and the like. There’s nothing there worth stealing other than the woodwork staircase and glass windowpanes.”

  “A fortune indeed in certain circles,” she reminded him. “It sounds like a house in desperate need of visiting.”

  “Yes, and I suspect now is a perfect time. Perhaps I’ll go there tomorrow.”

  “At what time?”

  “In the morning.”

  She shook her head. “Mornings are all well and good, but it is the afternoon’s light that should be considered first before any redecoration begins.”

  They were not really discussing any renovation plans but a time for a meeting and perhaps a tryst. He wet his lips. “From luncheon on then. I shall arrive around noon with a picnic basket for my lunch and survey the house from top to bottom as the light changes. I should be there for hours, I imagine.”

  Eugenia’s fingers stole back to tangle with his. “Would the front door be locked?”

  “Not after I enter. I’ll leave it closed but unlatched in anticipation of my very first visitor.”

  Eugenia withdrew her hand as the music died away, and everyone started talking and looking around. They clapped along with everyone else, and then Eugenia laughed quietly. “Oh, tomorrow seems like an eternity away.”

  “I hope tomorrow, when it arrives, can fulfill your heart’s every desire,” he whispered.

  For an answer, she only smiled before she was drawn away again by her cousins.

  Teddy sat back, watching with satisfaction as she moved about from guest to guest for the remainder of the evening, smiling and partaking of wine and good company. Mingling as easily as if she’d always been part of society.

  And every now and then, her gaze met his, and his anticipation for tomorrow only grew.

  But he’d done it. He’d arranged a tryst with a spinster as unwilling to marry as he, and it had been easier than he’d ever dreamed. All that was left to do was get himself ready for tomorrow, secure a picnic basket, and wait for as long as it took so he could spend an afternoon with a willing and perhaps wanton lady with no fear of interruption.

  Chapter 7

  When Eugenia had come to London to live with her cousins, she’d never imagined she might want to sneak out of the house they shared. She checked the hall for lurkers and then stepped out before shutting her bedchamber door as quietly as she could. The servants should have moved on to another floor by this hour. Her cousins’ doors were closed still, which she hoped meant they were still abed and sleeping. She might just be able to leave Wharton House today without them even knowing she was going.

  Lord Wharton had already driven away in his carriage for an important meeting.

  She was currently unsupervised, and Thaddeus Berringer was waiting for her.

  She managed three steps down the carpeted rug before Aurora’s door burst open.

  “Where are you going?” Aurora squawked, much too loudly for Eugenia’s liking.

  Eugenia turned and quickly padded back down the hall to her cousin’s chamber door. “Shh, do you want to wake everyone able to sleep?”

  Aurora winced and stepped back into the privacy of her bedchamber, ushering Eugenia in with her. Aurora was still in her nightgown. “Honestly, I forgot.”

  Eugenia followed but remained close to the door. “Well, you should try to remember.”

  Aurora climbed back into her bed. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. Where are you going at this hour?” And then her eyes widened as she stared at the clock on her mantel. Aurora threw herself back out of bed and rushed to her dressing screen. “Oh, no! I’m supposed to be at Lady Bisley’s in half an hour. You have to help me dress.”

  “Call a maid or send a note round.”

  “A maid will take too long, and Lady Bisley promised me a glimpse of her love letters, too.”

  “What love letters?”

  Aurora’s head appeared above the dressing screen. “Old ones. It seems the darling lady once had a string of beaus wrapped around her dainty finger after she was made a widow. Such a surprise.”

  “She never remarried,” Eugenia murmured.

  “With all the attention she hinted she received, Lady Bisley might never have found the time for another husband. Some of her lovers were quite important men.” Aurora disappeared behind the screen again.

  Eugenia smiled. “Good for her. No one is too old or too young to take a lover.”

  “Can you help me, please?” Aurora begged as she reappeared wearing a sheer chemise now. “If I wait for a maid to come up, I might never see them. Besides, at this hour, they’re all helping reposition the marchioness in her bed.”

  Eugenia had hoped to slip away unnoticed, but since that was no longer possible, she agreed to assist her cousin for the sake of peace and no questions. “Of course.”

  Eugenia set aside her reticule and reached for the stays that Aurora had tossed onto her bed. She helped Aurora into them, binding her breasts firmly the way she preferred. “Breathe out now.”

  Eugenia tightened and tied off the strings of her stays and then found a petticoat to throw over her head. The gown Aurora chose was a sunny yellow muslin gown, heavily embroidered with green and white thread—a project that had occupied her time last winter and drew the notice of many whenever she wore it now.

  Eugenia buttoned her up and then followed her to the dressing table when she sat. Aurora was definitely the beauty of the family, with lovely thick hair, flawless skin, a straight nose, and perfect rosebud lips. The number of times gentlemen had become mesmerized by her mouth when Aurora spoke could not be counted.

  Eugenia was familiar with arranging Aurora’s hair, and twisted and pinned it into a pretty style for the daytime visit she was about to make. “How did you get her agreement to show you the letters? You were with her all of last winter, and she said nothing of them then, did she?”

  “She hinted at their existence early on in our acquaintance, but I thought she was teasing me. I think it was also her way to keep me coming back to visit her for the next juicy tidbit. Visiting her was something I had intended to do anyway, though. But I let her play her little games. It amuses her.”

  “As long as you still want to go,” Eugenia murmured.

  “Of course I want to go. Molly is great fun. She knows all sorts of scandalous tidbits about the older ladies of the ton. I occasionally whisper some to the marchioness, with Molly’s permission, and it makes her laugh.”

  Eugenia grinned. “Too much laughter is not good for the marchioness. Be careful what you tell her, so she doesn’t hurt herself. But that sort of knowledge could be useful one day when you marry your duke.”

  Aurora rolled her eyes. “The last thing I will ever do is marry an English lord. I’ll marry the man, and it won’t matter what his status in society might be.”

  “A title can come in handy,” Eugenia suggested.

  “Not for my needs,” Aurora vowed as she fitted a simple chain and pendant around her throat. “Perfect. We make a great team as usual.”

  Eugenia clucked her tongue. “You wouldn’t need me if you’d just remember to make your appointments later in the day.”

  “I will always need you,” Aurora promised, rising to hug her. “Now, I’d better go.” She kissed Eugenia’s cheek. “Enjoy your day.”

  “And yours. Remember to take Mr. Bloom with you.”

  “I will.” Aurora rushed out and down the hallway. By the time Eugenia reached the entrance hall, Aurora was just being driven off in the carriage Eugenia had called up for herself.

  “Oh, curse her,” Eugenia cried softly. “That was my carriage!”

  The butler winced. “Miss Aurora begs your forgiveness for taking your carriage and promises to send it back for you straight away.”

  Lady Bisley did live too far away for a walking visit, so taking a carriage had been absolutely necessary. Eugenia’s professed errand was just as far away though. “Could you hail me a hack, please? I really must be on my way.”

  The butler rushed outside to hail a hack, and once inside the hired conveyance, Eugenia gave the driver her old address. She tapped her finger on her knee, fighting impatience to reach her destination and then go on to the next.

  Eugenia let herself into her old home and looked around with a sigh of relief for the privacy and familiar furnishings surrounding her. There were no servants here now, and the place was cold enough to make her shiver. But her few furnishings remained, pieces that had no right to be moved into Lord Wharton’s grand mansion. She placed her hand on her lovely desk, an item too large to move easily and now with no purpose at all. She left a handprint behind in the dust.

  They would never sit around this desk again in conversation with nervous bachelors or reluctant widowers, about to embark on the trials of searching for a bride on the marriage mart.

  She missed being needed, but at least today, she had a lot to look forward to.

  Eugenia turned away from the desk and made her way downstairs to the servants’ quarters, toward the rear of the property, and stepped into the tiny yard. The small plot of garden she’d once cultivated had been taken over by neighbors, eager to use the fertile garden beds for themselves to feed their families. She strode past rows of beets and climbing beans, regretful that she couldn’t stay out in the sun and tend the plants herself.

  She slipped out into the rear alleyway, looking left and right.

  Despite the warmth of the sun, she pulled her hood over her hair and hurried north, passing no one as she went. This area was always well kept, and she’d considered it a safe means of egress when she was in a hurry and on foot. She rushed across Old Bond Street between the passing carriages and slipped along to Clifford Street without seeing anyone of her acquaintance. From there, it was a very short walk to where Thaddeus Berringer was waiting.

  She approached number seven and the blue-painted door he’d described. Heart in her throat, she walked as calmly as she could up the short flight of stairs, grasped, and turned the handle.

  As promised, the door had been left unlocked for her.

  Eugenia slipped inside and closed the door behind her as if what she was doing was perfectly normal. She flicked the hood from her head and looked left and right.