His Unexpected Bride Read Free

that!” She wanted to cry out her dismay, but on that one thing he was correct. Her cries of resistance might be the very thing that brought someone into the room.
    Lord Hawksmoor drew back his hand and regarded it with puzzlement, as if he could not guess why it had touched her. “Forgive me, Miss Masterson.”
    â€œI believe you have much to ask forgiveness for, my lord. Will you please leave?”
    â€œAs soon as I can be assured I will not be seen.”
    She nodded, knowing that to do anything out of hand now would guarantee her downfall. They must take care.
    â€œDoes your abigail come in to check you during the night?” Lord Hawksmoor asked.
    â€œOf course not!” She rose to her knees, her indignation refusing to allow her to sit. “My father has never had any cause to distrust me.”
    â€œGood.” He smiled. “Let us keep it that way.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œWhat I mean is we should pledge to act as if last night never happened. It was an error, which I regret deeply, Miss Masterson, but your reputation should not be besmirched when you did nothing worse than sleep in your own bed.” He frowned, then winced, and she knew his head must be hurting dreadfully. That was the price he would have to pay for drinking himself into such oblivion he had crawled into her bed without realizing she was already there. “What I do not understand is how I got here. As I recall, the guest rooms are in another wing from the family’s quarters.”
    â€œThey are.”
    He bent to pick up his shoe, then grasped the tester pole. Leaning his head against it, he moaned. “By the elevens, my head is going to explode.”
    Taking pity on him was an instantaneous response, for she had heard Papa complain several times about the agony that followed a night of revelry. Even though she should despise Lord Hawksmoor for creating this unbelievable situation, Tess slipped off the bed and put her arm around him, steering him to the chaise longue by the window. He leaned back on it with a groan.
    â€œThank you,” he whispered. “You are being kinder than I should expect you to be.”
    â€œI know.” She dipped a cloth in the tepid water in the ewer next to her dressing table and settled it on his forehead. “My lord, if you are to sneak out of here, you must be able to walk without bumping into every piece of furniture. That is the quickest way to announce where you have been.”
    â€œYou seem to have more knowledge about a man creeping out of a lady’s bedchambers than I had anticipated.”
    Tess rolled her eyes. How could Lord Hawksmoor be jesting now? Or was he joking? She frowned. “If you would pause to think, you would know I am basing my comments on nothing more than good sense. You must not call any attention to yourself as you slip away.”
    â€œI will need directions to return to my own bedroom, for I fear I have no idea where it is in relationship to this room.”
    â€œIs that what happened? Did you get turned around in the corridors?”
    He started to shake his head, then flinched again. “The devil take this head!”
    â€œPlease, my lord, watch your language.”
    Opening one eye, he looked up at her. “I can reassure you what I said was far less crude than what I was thinking.”
    â€œWhat you should be thinking of now is how you will get back to your rooms.”
    â€œAnd how I can find out what caused me to end up here last night.” Sagging into the pink cushions on the chaise longue, he said, “I recall nothing after I finished playing cards with your father and Eustace, just as some other chap came to call.”
    She sat on the stool facing the chaise longue. “What other man?”
    â€œA very thin man who was a full head taller than your father. What hair he had left was iron gray, and his clothes were simple and dark.” He pulled the cloth down over his