She shivered. “Good night, Colin.”
“Thank you again for taking care of my sister.”
She seemed only able to nod. Walking into the room, she saw the duchess sleeping in the bed with her daughter. Not willing to disturb either woman, she quietly departed the room. She covered a yawn with her hand as she headed to the stairs.
“Where are you going?”
Selina blinked and stared at Colin. “They are both asleep. I didn’t want to disturb them.”
“I asked you to stay,” he said, walking closer to her.
“I will ask a footman to make a room up for me. I told you I wouldn’t leave.”
“Come with me,” he said, taking her hand. “There is a room already made up.”
He led her down the hall toward the west wing. She remembered Mrs. Roberts telling her that his suite of rooms was in this wing. Could he be ushering her there? He stopped before a door and then swung it open.
Selina ambled into the room and her mouth gaped. She entered a large salon with two divans, four gilt chairs, cherry tables, and a large fireplace.
“The bedroom is through here.” He opened another door and she entered a room nearly twice as large as her room upstairs. A huge four-poster bed dominated the back wall. The lavender bedcovers made her realize this was not his room after all.
“If you need anything I am right next door.” He bade her good night and walked to a small door on the same wall as the bed.
Connecting rooms! This was the duchess’s room. His late wife’s room! This was the last place she should stay. “Colin, I’m not certain this is the room I should sleep in tonight.”
With his hand on the knob, he shook his head. “She slept in another room. She never used this room except to dress. The room is only made up because the servants believe it should always be ready in case I bring a bride home. Good night, Selina.”
“Good night, Colin,” she whispered.
Once the door shut, she remembered that she still wore her dress. It was one of the few that buttoned down the back. The maids
were exhausted from the house cleaning and upheaval this evening. It wasn’t that improper to ask him to help her, was it? Before she could change her mind, she knocked on the door to his room.
He answered it so quickly she wondered if he’d been standing right next to the door. “Yes?”
“My dress buttons down the back,” she said, suddenly thinking she should have slept in the dress.
He nodded with a sigh. “Of course, just turn around.”
She presented her back to him. His knuckles scraped across her skin at the top of her dress. She trembled. His warm breath caressed her shoulder as the first button came undone. Her breath quickened.
It was nearly two in the morning and yet she felt quite awake. She could only imagine him slipping the dress off her shoulders and untying her stays. If only he would . . .
“That’s the last button,” he said. “Do you want me to untie your stays?”
“Yes,” she replied in a breathless voice. She could have sworn he groaned slightly. Without a doubt, this was the most improper thing she’d ever done. She slid her dress down her arms just enough that he could untie her stays. His fingers quickly loosened the ties on her stays until she would be able to get the garment off herself.
“That should do,” he said in a gruff voice.
“Thank you.”
What would he do if she turned and let her dress drop to the floor? Would he be consumed by lust and take her in his arms? As the door closed behind him, she realized that the decision had been made for her. After carefully placing her dress over a chair, she walked toward the huge bed. She lay down and wondered what he was doing in the room next door. She laughed softly at her musings. He was no doubt already fast asleep. And she should be the same. Except every time she closed her eyes, she remembered the sensation of his lips on hers that night by the pond.
She tossed the coverlet off her and then walked to the window. She glanced out into the dark night. From this window, she could look down at the reflecting pond. Moonlight illuminated the white swans with their heads tucked into their feathers. At least they could sleep.
She turned and stared at the connecting door. All she had to do was walk over there and open the door. Then she’d know if he desired her or not.
Colin dressed the next morning before his valet came to wake him. Not that he had slept last night. After practically undressing her, all he could think of was her. He could not get involved with a woman like Selina. It was madness.