The Other Side - J. D. Robb [48]
“Freeba, thank you.” Bettina stood up, adjusting her trousers to accommodate the awakening of the body. “I will stop in and see what the countess needs. Why do you not leave us alone until an hour before she needs to dress?”
With a smile inviting her collusion, Harry waited.
“Oh, yes, my lord, I see.” Freeba actually curtsied. “I will knock before I come back.”
“Tell the footman to bring us some champagne.”
“Yes, my lord.” She bobbed another curtsy and hurried off.
In keeping with the pretense, Bettina went to the earl’s suite and, with her valet’s help, changed from riding clothes into comfortable trousers, a loose shirt, and Harry’s favorite banyan overall.
Remembering to whistle the way Harry did, Bettina knocked on the connecting door and went into the countess’s bedchamber.
“Tell me, do you whistle to announce your arrival or because you anticipate a treat?” She had always wondered, along with marveling that his tutor had allowed such common behavior to become a habit.
Harry looked up from where he sat near the fire, dressed in Bettina’s favorite dressing gown. Why had she never noticed that the robe was threadbare, no good for anything more than the sickroom? Really, the moment their lives were back to normal, she was going to buy some new fabric.
“Oh, my banyan!” Harry stood up and slipped out of the dressing gown. “Trade with me. This thing of yours is not designed for warmth.”
“That is not what a woman is aiming for when she wears one.”
“If sex is why a woman wears this thing, why not just go naked? No confusion then.” Harry laughed as soon as he had the banyan around him. “This is the closest I’ve come to feeling like myself since we wished on the coin.”
Bettina took off the shirt and slipped into the old dressing gown. “How do you stand wearing a cravat? It’s like a rope around the neck.”
“How is it that you do not catch a chill on rainy days? I’m thinking that the dresses in fashion are designed for much warmer climates than England.”
“In the winter I wear a wool petticoat and wool stockings. It’s not so bad.” She raised a shoulder to shrug and heard a rip. “Oh, that’s much better. Now I can actually move my shoulders.”
“You’ve ruined it!” Harry announced.
“I am just imitating you. You abuse your clothes constantly. Besides, this robe is not even good enough to give to Freeba.” Bettina walked around the room, leaving the gown open. “Why did you send for me? You must know that Freeba is growing more suspicious by the minute.”
“I needed to know where you keep the key to the jewel chest, and I could hardly ask Freeba.”
Bettina nodded at the secretary. “In the topmost drawer.” At that moment there was a tap at the door, and it opened before either one of them could give permission. Kennet, the footman who had already been dismissed once this week, came in, followed by Freeba.
Bettina could easily imagine how absurd they looked. Harry might look coy in the earl’s banyan, but there was no doubt that she looked just plain stupid wearing a woman’s robe over her trousers. Now there would be rumors that the earl had lost all interest in women.
As if to confirm her worst fears, the sight of the earl and the countess in each other’s robes was more than Kennet could handle. He stopped short and dropped the tray he was carrying. Fortunately, the champagne was still corked, and the glasses merely rolled on the thick carpeting.
Freeba all but pushed him out the door and closed it behind her. “I’ll send up another bottle, my lord.”
“Do not bother.” Harry spoke in a tone that announced the mood was quite spoiled. “Tell Kennet that if he gossips, he will be fired and blacklisted in every agency in town.”
“Yes, my lady. Yes.” She backed out of the room, bowing and curtsying at the same time.
Seven
Once again Bettina waited for Harry. It seemed that Kennet had kept his experience to himself, since none of the servants were looking at the earl as though he was bound for hell for wearing women’s clothes.
When Harry finally came down the stairs, all Bettina could do was stare. He was wearing