The Courtship - Catherine Coulter [95]
She leaned close and bit his neck. Then she licked where she had bitten, and then a small, light kiss. He loved that. “I think you would enjoy a Level Six, my lord, more than I would.”
He nearly swallowed his tongue. He cleared his throat. “The reason you didn’t think of anything is because I wasn’t here to stimulate you.”
“What is your plan?”
He eased her up until she was sitting on his lap, her eyes level with his. He tweaked her nose. He lightly kissed her mouth. Her lips were soft from the cream. “You and I, Helen, are going to announce our engagement in every newspaper in London and all the environs. We will even send an announcement to all the newspapers in Paris. Society is above war, don’t you know. We will give our wedding date as a month from today. We will hold parties and a big ball. We will enlist the aid of the Sherbrookes, also Gray and Jack. Everyone will be speaking of our nuptials. If Gerard Yorke is still alive, then he will come to you. He will have no choice.”
She blinked at him. “That is a brilliant idea. Actually, now that I think about it, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to come up with that plan because there was no one about for me to marry.”
She beamed at him, and he laughed and pulled her tightly against him. “You will marry me, Helen?”
She stilled, and he knew she was worrying and assessing and worrying some more.
“If he comes to London?”
“Then we will do what we have to do,” Lord Beecham said, and wondered silently exactly what that would be.
“I don’t want to be married to him, Spenser. Perhaps it is just better to go along as we have, not to put our hands in the hornet’s nest. Perhaps I won’t ever hear from him again.”
“We will marry, Helen. We will not be lovers.”
“If he is alive, then we can never marry, unless I divorce him. I cannot do that, Spenser. It would be a horrible scandal.”
“We will speak of that again when and if the fellow shows up. If he is alive, he will come. If he isn’t, then we will marry. If he comes later, then we will deal with it when and if it happens. If there is nothing else, then you will divorce him. If the scandal proves too great, then we will move to Italy, a lovely place. To Tuscany, I believe, our own snug little villa. You will buy a local inn and run it. I speak Italian and will teach you all the curse words. What do you think?”
“I think you are wonderful, but that isn’t to the point. There is something you’re ignoring here, and you simply can’t.”
“What is that, pray?”
“You are Lord Beecham. You must have an heir. I am barren.”
“I have already given that all the thought it deserves. My nominal heir is a cousin, a sailing captain in the Americas. He’s a good fellow, as are his sons. Don’t worry about it. I want you more than I want anything else in this entire benighted world. Believe it.”
“It isn’t right.” He said nothing more, just looked at her. She nodded, finally, then nearly leapt off his lap. “Oh, goodness, I forgot about the lamp. How could I possibly forget about the lamp?”
“I’m here with you and my hands are stroking up and down your beautiful back. How could you think about much of anything other?”
“I see. Thank you for that explanation.” She turned to kiss him, but he held her off.
“No, Helen, I’m not going to make love with you again until we are wed. I am committing myself to you for the rest of my life. I have no intention of—”
He looked down at her breasts and swallowed. “You must help me with this. I am set upon a noble course, but I need help.”
“If Gerard doesn’t come by the time our wedding is to happen?”
“Then we will wed, just as I told you. Perhaps the letter was a forgery, for some reason that we will discover, particularly after we announce our engagement. Everything will work out, Helen. Trust me.”
He was still staring at her breasts when she said, “He wasn’t a very nice man. I thought he was when I first met him, way back in the summer