Whirlwind Affair

himself utterly, completely enchanted by her.

And the sight of her in that gown… the topaz color glowing against her creamy skin…

Bloody hell, she stole the breath from his lungs.

Elizabeth, resplendent in a pale green muslin gown, sat at the foot of the table. As the dishes were cleared in preparation for the next course, she turned toward Allie and said, 'Do you recall the first time we went fishing?'

Allie raised her gaze toward the ceiling. 'I shall never forget.'

'What happened?' Caroline asked.

'We were twelve,' Allie said, 'and for some reason I shall never understand, we allowed my father to goad us into claiming that we could certainly fish as well as he could, in spite of the fact that neither of us had ever attempted to fish before. After all, how difficult could it be to catch a few fish? So off we went to the lake to prove ourselves. Unfortunately, we quickly discovered that neither of us wanted to put the worm on the hook.'

'The worms were slimy,' Elizabeth stressed.

'This from my robust wife?' Austin teased from the head of the table.

'Slimy has nothing to do with a robust constitution,' she said with a haughty sniff.

'We knew, of course, that it is quite impossible to catch fish without bait,' Allie continued. 'Unless you are a bear or bird or some such-'

'-which we are not,' Elizabeth interjected.

'-so we decided to use something else as bait,' Allie said. 'Sadly our choices were somewhat limited. But based on our experimentation, I can report that fish do not like to eat acorns, leaves, rocks, or cheese.'

'Cheese?' asked Robert.

'We'd brought a hunk with us,' Allie acknowledged. 'Quite a nice cheese, too. You would have thought that there would be one fish in that large lake who liked cheese.'

'Obviously not the most intelligent of fish,' Robert murmured with a smile.

'That is exactly what we said!' Allie replied with a wide smile of her own. 'Still, despite our best efforts, we were unable to catch a single fish. But we simply could not go home without one. Papa had teased us unmercifully before we'd set out on our fishing expedition, claiming that we wouldn't be able to catch any fish without his manly presence to help us.'

'So he was proven correct?' Caroline said, her disappointment evident.

'Oh, no,' Allie said. The devilish gleam in her eyes was at complete odds with her angelic, innocent smile. 'On our way home, we detoured through the village. And stopped at the fishmonger.'

'By pooling our resources, we were able to purchase a very respectable fish,' Elizabeth said with a laugh. 'Allie's father never knew that we'd bought the fish instead of catching it. It cost us every bit of money we had between us, but it was well worth it.'

'Amazing,' Austin said. 'Just when I think I know everything about my wife, I learn something new.' He made a tsking sound, his eyes gleaming at Elizabeth down the length of the table. 'I never would have suspected her capable of such despicable chicanery.'

Elizabeth raised her chin with a regal, duchesslike air. 'The dastardly deed was entirely Allie's idea.'

An expression of mock shock widened Allie's eyes. 'My idea?' She frowned, then pursed her lips. 'Oh, well, yes, I suppose it was.'

Everyone laughed, and Robert spent the remainder of the meal falling more and more in love with her. Every time their eyes met, his heart jumped. Every time she smiled, his heart melted. Every time she laughed, his heart rolled over in his chest. Indeed, by the time dessert was served, he realized with an inward wry smile that his heart stood a good chance of not making it through the evening, what with the beating it was taking.

Bloody hell, she was lovely. Everything he'd always wanted. Everything he'd been searching for. Witty, intelligent, generous, caring, honorable. And she set his blood on fire.

'You're awfully quiet,' Caroline said to him in an undertone, leaning toward him as conversation buzzed around them. He looked at her, noting her arch smile. 'And you're sporting a very interesting gleam in your eye. I wager I can guess why.' She flicked her gaze toward Allie in a totally unsubtle way.

Robert shot Caroline an equally arch look, then flicked his own gaze toward Allie. 'I don't believe I'll take that wager, because I'm certain you're correct.'

He bit back a smile at her smug expression. She leaned closer to him. 'You mean… Allie?'

He arranged his features into a look of confusion. 'Allie? Whatever do you mean? I thought you were referring to the syllabub. It is absolutely delicious. Cannot possibly speak when eating it, you know. Must concentrate all one's attention on the delicate flavor. And that subtle taste of lemon always puts a gleam in my eyes.'

Caroline bared her teeth at him. 'Do you know who is more vexing than you?'

'Who?'

'No one.'

He threw back his head and laughed. Ah, yes, life was good. He'd found the woman he loved, and could still get a rise out of his sister. And life was very soon to be even better. For he had the entire night planned. Making love to Allie, then asking her to be his wife. His inner voice roused itself, pointing out that she might very well have some objections to his past, but he pushed the bothersome warning aside. Nothing would spoil this evening. Certainly not something that had happened four years ago. You're fooling yourself. You know how she would react if she knew. Indeed. Which was precisely why he had no intention of telling her now.

Later. He would tell her later. After she loved him enough to understand. Of course, he would never be able to tell her the whole truth, but surely he could make her understand. But not tonight. Tonight he would propose. She would say yes, and they would announce their betrothal at breakfast tomorrow. The family would welcome her with open arms, for it was obvious, especially after this meal, that she fit like a glove. Elizabeth loved her, and it was clear that Caroline and Mother liked her enormously. And he… he was a man deeply in love.

Ah, yes, life was good indeed.

********

After dinner, Robert suggested they retire to the music room.

'Why?' The question came from the duke, who Allie noted was glaring at Robert with ill-concealed suspicion.

'I wish to entertain you all with a song.'

Allie nearly choked with laughter at the range of horrified expressions surrounding her. Caroline and her mother looked as if they'd just spied an insect swimming in their teacups, while the duke and Lord Eddington appeared as if they'd bitten into sour pickles. Only Elizabeth seemed amused.

'Good God, man,' the duke said, 'if you won't take pity on the rest of us, at least have some consideration for Elizabeth. She's just been through a trying ordeal.'

'Nonsense,' Elizabeth said, taking Robert's arm and leading the way toward the music room. 'You know how robust I am. I should love to hear a song.'

A collective groan went up, but everyone followed the duo down the corridor, albeit with obvious reluctance. Allie walked beside Robert's mother, who whispered, 'I'm sorry, my dear. He's my son and I love him, but he cannot carry a tune in a bucket. We tried to discourage him, but I'm afraid the dear boy loves to sing.'

'I've already heard him sing,' Allie confided. 'And play the pianoforte. At the town house in London.'

'Oh, dear. So you know.'

'That he's completely tone-deaf? I'm afraid so. But then again, so am I.'

'Ah, then you shall fit in with us quite nicely, my dear. We're all abysmal singers, although Caroline plays the pianoforte passably well.'

When they arrived in the music room, Patch raised his head from his cozy position on the hearth rug, and thumped his tail in greeting. Everyone settled themselves on the settees and wing chairs, except Robert, who took his place at the pianoforte. The instant he sat before the instrument, Pirate, clearly sensing what was coming, scrambled to his feet and trotted swiftly from the room, head down, tail tucked between his legs. The duke