The Courtship - Catherine Coulter [86]
His last view of Mrs. Toop was her standing at the inn door, her rheumy eyes glittering beneath the lamp that Geordie had proudly held up for three hours the previous evening.
Everyone, it seemed, wanted Helen to marry him. It was up to him now to convince her. He was prepared to do whatever it took.
He gave the smoking fire a big grin, added a couple more small sticks, turned on his heel and walked back to the bed.
Helen awoke slowly, which was strange, because usually her eyes opened and she was ready to bound out of bed, her body and brain thrumming with energy. But her eyes were slow to open. When she finally opened them she saw that it was daylight, bright daylight, with the morning sun shining through the uncurtained windows just to her left.
But she didn’t have windows to her left. They were to her right. Something was wrong.
Her brain seemed on the blurry side, the way it felt just after Spenser had loved her until all she had left was a silly grin on her face.
She tried to sit up. She couldn’t move. That was surely odd. She tried again. Then she realized that her hands were tied above her head. Tied?
She blinked at the sound of his voice.
He cupped her cheek in his palm. He kissed her mouth, lightly. “Good morning, Helen. I hope you’re feeling more alert now? You’ve been moaning a bit for the last several hours.”
“Spenser?”
“Yes,” he said, lightly stroked his fingertip over her eyebrows, leaned down and kissed her mouth again.
She kissed him back before she quite realized what she was doing. She blinked up at him. “Why are my hands tied above my head?”
“So that you won’t try to kill me. That is, you could try, but I don’t believe that even you, my dearest, could manage it.”
“Why would I want to kill you?”
“The complete truth is that I have kidnapped you. You are quite alone with me. I have tied you down to my bed. In short, my sweet little Nellie, you are completely and thoroughly at my mercy.”
She did try to bring her arms down to punch him in the nose, but even though the bonds around her wrists didn’t hurt or rub, and she realized they were his soft cravats and thus there was just a bit of pull in them, she couldn’t get free.
Her feet. She tried to bring up her legs to smash him in the back. He had secured her ankles as well, again with those lovely cravats of his.
She stopped and just looked up at him.
He was smiling down at her. It was a smug smile, one also filled with joy—an odd combination, but it was so. She didn’t know what to think, but she knew that she could not allow it to continue.
She tried not to grit her teeth, but it was difficult. She had to start somewhere, and so she said, “You will release me this very instant.”
“I don’t think so, dearest. You would try to pulverize my liver.”
“No, I swear I won’t. I won’t even destroy your bloody manhood. Let me go now.”
“That is a lie of considerable width and breadth, Nell. Now, we do have a bit of a problem, and I want you to know that I have given it a lot of thought. When you must need relieve yourself, I will release both ankles and the wrist that’s right here closest to the side of the bed. I will bring the chamber pot close to the bed. You will be able to manage. To assure myself that it could be done, I myself tried it earlier this morning. I was successful.
“You have slept a long time. Now, before you have your breakfast that I have myself prepared for you, let me release your hand and your ankles. And, Helen, don’t be foolish. Relieve yourself, no more than that.”
She didn’t say a word. To be honest, she was still too befuddled. She was alert, but befuddled.
“You kidnapped me?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I did. I even carried you and your valise over my shoulder, out of your bedchamber window. I didn’t falter even once. I am still standing tall, at a minimum at least two inches taller than you.”
“But why? Why are you doing