“And there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for them.”
She imagined him nodding because she could still hardly see.
“Well, I should go before I’m discovered where I ought not to be found.”
But she needed him still. She didn’t want to spend the night on her own.
Fanny wet her lips and looked up at him. Her arrangement with Jeremy had never been about having a true friendship, but that didn’t seem to matter to her tonight.
Her emotions were so raw, so close to the surface that without a distraction, she feared she’d be overtaken by them as soon as Jeremy was gone. “I would like to ask you to stay with me a little longer.”
“Stay? Here in your room?”
She shrugged. “I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts tonight.”
Jeremy rubbed her arms briskly. “I can stay for a while if you have need of me.”
“I do.”
He walked to the window and parted the drapes until enough moonlight spilled across the chamber to make everything clearer. He returned and his fingers immediately rose to her hair, then he was removing the pins. “Let’s get you more comfortable then.”
His fingers were nimble as he removed and discarded the jewels she had worn about her neck, too, placing them across her dressing table. He turned her about and began to unbutton her gown—more quickly than a man bent on seduction, and as efficient as any maid Fanny had ever employed. He urged her to sit on the edge of her bed, and he fell to his knees to remove her slippers. Then he untied the garters holding up her silk stockings, which he rolled down her legs.
Fanny experienced a moment of misgiving then. She hardly knew this man, and she was allowing him to ready her for bed.
She put her hand over her chest, holding up her gown so it didn’t fall and expose her breasts.
Jeremy drew back. “Where is your nightgown, my lady?”
She gulped. “Behind the dressing screen.”
He looked there and then at her again, and nodded. “If you need help to manage the rest on your own just call out.”
Fanny rushed for the privacy of the dressing screen and, once hidden from his view, put her hands over her flaming cheeks. She peeked over the top of the screen, only to find Jeremy turning back her bedding and then sitting on the edge of the mattress to wait for her return. Fanny squirmed out of her loosened gown, removed her stays and chemise and then rushed to pull her nightgown over her head. She considered donning a robe, but she wanted to make it clear she was bound for sleep and nothing else.
Feeling shy, she emerged from her corner and Jeremy was immediately on his feet. He held out his hand and guided her to bed as if she were a young child and not a grown woman older than him. He covered her with the bedding, snuggling the material around her shoulders, before closing the drapes almost completely. Just a tiny sliver of light illuminated him, and she thought she saw a smile curve his lips. He came closer to the bed and brushed her long hair back from her face with a gentleness she’d not felt for so long. Not since her husband had lived had anyone worried about her in such a way.
She caught his hand in hers and squeezed his fingers tight. “Thank you for tonight.”
“My pleasure. All of it,” he said, and started to pull away.
But Fanny could not seem to let him go.
He looked back at her, surprised. “Lady Rivers?”
She wet her lips. “Would you…could you remain a little longer?”
“For how long?”
“Until dawn.”
He drew in a deep breath. “If you need me, I’ll stay.”
Relief coursed through her that she wouldn’t be alone, and she finally released his fingers.
Jeremy glided around the bed quietly, removing his coat and his pocket watch to place them on a side table. She felt a pang of disquiet as he removed his boots that he might continue undressing until he was naked. But then he climbed onto the bed mostly clothed and wriggled closer, spreading one arm out toward her.
“Come here, my dear lady. Hold on to me.”