The clock in Rufus's study was chiming the first stroke of midnight when he arrived home. The house was dark and eerily silent as he trudged up the stairs, bone-weary and aching from his long day in the carriage—just as he'd hoped.
After their passionate night proved his self-control was in tatters, Rufus knew locking himself in his study like he'd done the day before wouldn't be enough to keep him away from Elphi.
So, he'd slipped out of bed and dressed before dawn, telling himself there were several cases he needed to follow up on, and now was the perfect time to get an early start on a long day of traveling.
However, deep down, he knew he was escaping.
And most of the day, Rufus enjoyed the solitude, lost himself in his work, and focused on problems other than his own. But every once in a while, thoughts of Elphi shattered his carefully constructed concentration, and he'd have to fight the temptation to return home with all possible haste.
It was a mentally exhausting cycle that tested him to his limits, and now that he stood outside his bedroom door, moments away from seeing Elphi, Rufus was relieved he hadn't given in earlier.
Because while he'd missed her, despite trying his damndest not to, his plan of being hours away all day long served its purpose in making him too tired to want to do anything other than sleep once getting home.
Rufus closed his eyes and grunted in relief, then cringed as he turned the squeaky knob. He froze, straining his ears for any sign the noise had awakened Elphi. When none came, he tiptoed into the darkened room and undressed.
He took extra care setting his boots on the floor, trying to be as quiet as possible, and held his breath as he slowly pulled his side of the covers back and crawled into bed, cringing with every creak it made. But still, Elphi didn't stir.
A frown creased his brow as a sense of unease prickled down his spine. Rufus's heart thumped madly against his ribs, his stomach clenched with dread, and his hands trembled as he rolled onto his side and reached across the mattress for her.
Only to encounter nothing but cold sheets.
Bursting from the bed, he scrambled to light the bedside lamp and tore the curtains back to reveal it was empty.
Rufus muttered an expletive and threw on his dressing-gown, hurried and lit a candlestick, then dashed out of his room and up the flight of stairs to Rouse's quarters. He took a deep breath, striving to keep his panic under control as he lifted his fist and knocked on the door. "Rouse?"
Nothing.
Rufus knocked harder and raised his voice, "Rouse?"
Silence, and then the floorboards creaked, followed shortly after by a bleary-eyed Rouse opening the door in his nightshirt. "Good evening, My Lord—"
"Where is my wife?" Rufus asked, unable to keep the alarm from his voice.
"Harwood Hall... Her Ladyship joined Lord Matson there for breakfast."
Rufus frowned. "Breakfast was seventeen hours ago. She should be home and sound asleep by now."
"Yes, My Lord," Rouse quickly agreed, nodding his head, "except, Her Ladyship took a valise with her as well."
Blood rushed in Rufus's ears, his stomach fell to his toes, and it suddenly became difficult to breathe. "Did you inform her that I would be back later tonight?"
"I did, My Lord."
And yet she still left. The poignancy of the thought hit Rufus like a brutal kick to the chest and nearly felled him to his knees on the spot.
"Thank you, Rouse," Rufus murmured, struggling to keep his tone devoid of the despair and heartbreak threatening to consume him. "Forgive me for disturbing you."
Without another word, Rufus returned to his lonely bedchamber, where he spent a sleepless night, wondering if Elphi would come back and what he would say to her when she did.
Roderick gave Elphi's right hand a paternal pat and nodded toward her house through the carriage window. "I'm more than willing to go inside with you and give that chucklehead a much-deserved thrashing for not coming to fetch you."
Elphi bit back a sad smile. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I must decline your offer."
"More's the pity," Roderick grumbled. He sighed, exited the vehicle, and helped Elphi alight, then pressed a kiss to her cheek and whispered, "I'll wait out here for the next fifteen minutes if you change your mind."
His tone implied he was teasing and made her chuckle, but when Elphi pulled away, she saw Roderick meant every word.
Nodding that she understood, she slowly walked to the front door, took a deep breath to calm her frazzled nerves, and squared her shoulders.
She'd slept in a series of short naps last night, startled awake by her mother's ghostly whispers until dawn.
By the time Elphi heard Roderick preparing for the day, she was washed, dressed, and had spent hours rehearsing what she wanted to say to Rufus upon her arrival home.
For all the good it did. The instant Rouse opened the door, every word she'd planned on speaking vanished from her mind.
Resisting the urge to glance over her shoulder at Roderick to bolster her flagging courage, Elphi stepped inside and handed her valise to Rouse, about to ask where Rufus was when he exited the dining room and froze in the entryway upon seeing her.
"Elphi," he said, his voice hoarse and threaded with relief and surprise.
His dark brown hair was pushed back from his handsome, tired face in unkempt waves as though he'd been awake all night, raking his fingers through its length.
Auburn-black whiskers shadowed his jaw and upper lip, giving undisputed evidence he'd missed his morning shave. And the buttons down the front of his partially tucked-in shirt were in the wrong holes, drawing Elphi's eye to Rufus's bare neck exposed by the un-level collar.
"Good morning, Rufus," she whispered, watching his throat muscles convulse on a swallow. "We need to talk."
The blood drained from his face, and he held utterly still as he said, "Will my study suffice?"
Ignoring her racing heart, Elphi nodded and hurried into the room before she lost her nerve, gripping her hands behind her back as she turned to watch him enter and close the door.
He stood unmoving, holding her gaze for what seemed like ages in the awkward silence, then suddenly asked, "Does my crooked pinky disgust you?"
"No," she answered without hesitation. Her brows slammed together in confusion. "Why would you think that?"
"Does the way I smell after my bath offend you?"
"Rufus—"
"I can't do anything about the potatoes; I've tried—"
"You don't have to—"
"I find them revolting—"
"I know—"
"But I can learn to take longer baths if I have to, and I'll change the soap if it's the scent—"
"I was afraid," she cried out, startling him into silence. "I still am."
He paled, "Of me?"
"No."
His brow creased in a frown, "Then what?"
Elphi's mouth became dry, her stomach fluttered, and her heart thumped painfully against her ribs. But she forced herself to hold his gaze as she quietly continued, "Of what would happen if I confessed how I feel about you."
Rufus crossed the room to stand in front of her, his frown intensifying. He stood so close that his chest brushed Elphi's with every breath, and his body heat seeped through her clothing and sank into her skin. "I don't understand. Why would something happen—"
"Because I told Bradford that I loved him, and he died while we danced at our engagement ball," Elphi blurted, inwardly recoiling from what felt like having a sordid secret suddenly laid bare. "I told Fitz I loved him, and he fell down the stairs while sleepwalking and broke his neck. And after I told Percy that I loved him, and a random lightning bolt struck him—"
Rufus's lips descended and seared Elphi's soul with a deep, hungry kiss, cutting off whatever else she'd intended to say. His right hand cupped the back of her head, holding her prisoner, and his left arm wrapped around her waist, pinning her tight to his body.
Elphi clung to his shoulders and returned his kiss with equal enthusiasm. Then, snaking her arms around his waist, she slipped her hands beneath the untucked portion of his shirt in search of the warm, naked flesh of his back.
Rufus's mouth slanted over Elphi's again and again, claiming hers with wild, insatiable need one minute, then becoming gentle and worshiping the next. And Elphi poured all the love, yearning, and passion into her response, which she'd carefully kept restrained since first realizing she was falling in love and rejoiced in his ardent reciprocation.
Several minutes later, Rufus tore his mouth away, and they were both out of breath, their chests heaving with each labored gasp. He clenched his eyes shut and pressed his forehead to hers as he brushed his thumb across her jaw. "I'm willing to take the risk."
"I'm not," she brokenly whispered, shaking her head.
"We've outsmarted the Matson curse before."
"I can't bear the thought of losing you."
"So you do love me?" he purred, the left corner of his mouth lifting in a lopsided grin.
Elphi nodded, "To the depths of my soul."
"And I love you," Rufus softly declared.
"You do?"
"Most ardently," He nodded and bathed her face in gentle kisses, then pulled away to look her in the eyes as he teased, "does this mean I don't need to take longer baths?"
A tearful chuckle escaped Elphi, "Or anything else you thought I wanted you to change about yourself... I should never have written that list."
"The title needs work, I admit," Rufus playfully growled before kissing her, slow and tender, as though he couldn't get enough, then pulled away with a frown puckering his brow, his eyes vulnerable, intense, and achingly warm. "Will you forgive me?"
"For what?"
"FOR BEING A HORSE'S ARSE," Roderick called from the other side of the closed door as he jiggled the handle. "Thought I'd check that things were sorted between you two or see if I'm needed to thrash him before leaving. Just say the word, Elphi—and open the door; it seems to be stuck." He wiggled the handle again and muttered an expletive.
Elphi looked at Rufus, her eyes wide and her brows reaching toward her hairline as she quietly asked, "Did you lock it?"
"I couldn't take any chances we'd be interrupted," Rufus whispered with a smirk.
Biting back a smile, Elphi didn't take her eyes off her husband as she raised her voice so her brother would hear her, "You may go home."
There was a moment of silence, and then Roderick grumbled on the other side of the door, "Oh, very well."
The Treadway family supper on Saturday evening arrived far sooner than Rufus was prepared for, despite keeping an internal countdown until the dreaded moment the carriage rolled to a stop in front of Barkston Hall.
Elphi gripped his hand in hers and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Remember, when you're ready to leave, all you must say is, 'the potatoes tasted lovely,' then I'll complain of a headache, and we'll say our goodbyes. Simple as that."
"What if there are no potatoes?"
"Then do that thing you do with your eyebrows."
Rufus arched a confused brow as a lopsided grin curled his lips. "Do you mean frown?"
Elphi giggled and rolled her eyes. "No, you goose. I meant the other thing," she said, showing him her version of the expression in question.
"No," Rufus laughed as he shook his head, "absolutely not."
"Why not?"
"Because my father will take one look at me and believe I've soiled myself at the dining table."
Elphi clucked her tongue and playfully scowled. "Well, then you better hope there are potatoes."
Rufus wanted to laugh; the temptation was there as the scene unfolded in his mind. But at the mature age of twenty-seven, having his father believe he'd soiled his trousers even if it was only in jest was too mortifying to entertain. No matter how badly he wanted an early escape from what was sure to be a hellish evening.
"Ready?" Elphi quietly asked, gazing at him with love and concern.
No, he wasn't, but since remaining in the carriage was not an option, Rufus took a deep, fortifying breath, slowly let it out, exited the carriage, then turned and helped Elphi alight.
"I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to join us or if I would need to send out a tray," Rosalind said as she hurried down the front steps toward them.
Rufus turned to Elphi, "I never considered a tray—"
"It isn't an option," Elphi and Rosalind said in unison, as though they'd rehearsed it.
"Were you devising your escape plan?" Rosalind said with a conspiratorial wink, "I do hope it has secret phrases or looks involved. Those are always my favorite."
Rufus blushed and kissed his sister's cheek. "You know me too well."
Elphi laughed and returned Rosalind's welcoming hug.
"Are you unwell?" Rufus asked, frowning as he studied his sister's wan complexion and the sweat beading on her brow. "If this is too much—"
"It is not," Rosalind interrupted with an imperious lift of her chin. Her lips curled in a rueful grin as she lowered her voice and said, "I am merely with child and married to Reggie, both of which can be rather taxing upon one's faculties at times. You, dearest brother, will not get out of this supper that easily."
Rufus pursed his lips, unconvinced. But Rosalind's eyes pleaded for him to drop the matter, so against his better judgment, he dipped his head in a perfunctory nod.
"Now, to ensure the evening goes smoothly, I've instructed Reggie to try and keep Father preoccupied with talk of archeological matters and to avoid any mention of Sir Walter or politics," Rosalind murmured before leading them to the door. "And Mother has promised to wrangle the two of them back on topic should either deviate too far off course, and if that fails, Chef Tomas has prepared all of Father's favorite foods, so, at the very least, we shall eat in peace."
"So this will be nothing more than a typical family supper, I take it?" Rufus teased, trying to ignore his hammering heart and sweating palms.
Rosalind chuckled and patted a lock of hair into place as she entered her home, then deftly maneuvered Lord Roger and Lady Aurelia Treadway into officially welcoming Elphi to the family with unexpected and genuine warmth.
And as the night unfolded, Rufus watched in stunned amazement as his sister's plan worked with resounding success. His father was kept on track and engaged on approved topics—minus one or two wayward comments hinting at a possible derailment—before Reggie deftly reined the discussion back under control.
Not only did it become the first family supper Rufus hadn't wanted to leave within the first five minutes of arriving, but he also found himself joining in on the conversation.
However, while finishing dessert, he noticed Rosalind grimace in pain and watched her hand tremble as she raised her glass for a sip of water, and Rufus knew his sister needed the evening to come to a close.
So, ignoring the foreign twinge of regret that the pleasant night must end, he met Elphi's smiling gaze across the table, tipped his head in a subtle nod, and said, "The potatoes tasted lovely."