Intentions of the Earl (12 page)

Brooke looked at Mama; she clearly hadn’t
noticed what Brooke had been staring at. A quick glance at Andrew’s
face told her he had. Brooke quickly averted her eyes; she wasn’t
going to let him get the better of her today.

For the rest of the carriage ride Brooke
looked at either Mama or Madison, trying not to let her eyes
connect with any part of Andrew.

The British Museum looked magnificent, and so
far all they had seen was just the outside. Walking inside, Brooke
was overwhelmed. Dozens of people were milling around, going from
one exhibit to another. Some artifacts were on display behind glass
and others were just roped off with beautiful red velvet ropes.

The four of them looked at the exhibits
together. They saw some old maps and compasses sailors used
centuries before. They looked at some ancient Greek drawings. Then
they walked over to some legal documents several centuries old that
were out on display. So much history was on display here that
Brooke realized there was no way they would be able to see
everything today. That just meant another visit was in order,
Brooke thought with a little smile.

“If it would be agreeable with your
chaperone, I would like to show you the sword room,” Andrew said
then waited for Mama to give her approval.

“Go on,” Mama urged. “Madison and I will be
over here looking at these beautiful golden goblets. They are
absolutely stunning, don’t you agree, Madison?”

Andrew led Brooke down the hall, around a
corner, and into a room that had absolutely no swords in it.
Instead, the room was completely empty except a statue in the back
corner of the room.

“I thought we were going to look at swords,”
Brooke said, walking around the room looking for a sword. Why would
he bring her to a virtually empty room?

“I thought maybe we could have a little
privacy. That is, unless you truly were interested in seeing some
ancient swords,” Andrew replied, walking to go stand beside Brooke
who was now over in front of the statue.

“No, this statue is far more interesting than
any old sword ever could be, that’s for sure,” she managed, looking
at the statue in complete awe.

The statue was of a man holding a spear.
Other than the spear, there was nothing else sculpted, just a very
muscular man standing naked holding a spear.

Brooke had never seen a naked man in real
life or a drawing before. This was the closest she had come, and
being as innocent as she was about a man’s form, this was
fascinating to her. She marveled at how different this man’s body
was than hers, even if he were made of stone. She was thin and had
slender arms and legs, but this sculpture had thick arms and legs
that were bulging muscles. His chest and stomach were flat, with
bumps of rippled muscles. She noticed that the man had hair under
his arms, a little on his chest and quite a bit surrounding a part
she’d never seen before that rested between his thighs. For Brooke,
the statue held a higher level of appeal than swords ever
could.

She heard Andrew chuckle when he reached her
side and saw what she was looking at, but it didn’t stop her
looking. She couldn’t take her eyes off the statue. She looked the
statue over up and down, down and up, twice before breaking her
line of vision. Then she turned and saw Andrew’s piercing eye. He
had been watching her! She thought he was looking at the statue,
not her. She tried to keep a straight face and not show any signs
of being embarrassed, she’d sworn to herself he that he wasn’t
going to get the better of her today, and she was going to make
sure of it.

“See something of interest?” he asked. His
voice was hoarse, and his eyes were a shade darker than usual.

“Yes, this statue is quite extraordinary,”
Brooke answered as evenly as she could.

Andrew leaned closer to read the plaque next
to the statue. “Hmm, I don’t recognize this piece, or the
sculptor.”

“Well, sir, do you make a point to memorize
all the naked statues in the world?” Brooke teased.

Andrew smiled at her. “No, only the ones of
women.”

Brooke gave him a playful swat on the arm.
“You’re incorrigible,” she said with mock reproof.

Andrew didn’t answer to that charge, probably
because it was true and he knew it as well as she did. Instead, he
moved a few inches closer to Brooke, closing the gap between them.
He reached out and cupped her chin, tipping her face up toward his.
“You’re really beautiful, did you know?”

Brooke’s lips parted and her eyes went wide.
She had never been called beautiful before, attractive—yes, but not
beautiful. “Thank you, everyone always calls Madison beautiful,
never me,” she said before she realized she had revealed too much.
A part of her that was vulnerable.

Andrew leaned a little closer, so close
Brooke could feel his warm breath on her face. “To me, you are far
more beautiful than Madison.” Then he lowered his head and very
lightly brushed his lips across hers.

Brooke almost melted on the spot. His kind
words had softened her resolve, but his tender kiss was almost her
undoing. “You have quite an unmatched skill, my lord,” Brooke said
weakly.

Rather than responding to her words with
words of his own, Andrew moved closer and kissed her again. This
time his kiss was not a quick brush of the lips, it was a full on
assault of lips. He started his kiss gently and just when her lips
were used to having his on them, he became more aggressive. Her
body relaxed and her lips started to respond to his. He moved his
hands around to rest on her back and draw her closer while his lips
continued to mesh with hers.

Brooke’s hands moved on their own accord up
to his neck, and she dug into the soft black curls that rested
against his collar. Her fingers twisted his hair as she felt his
lips pressed harder to hers, moving on top and in between hers. Her
body was giving up its fight to stay standing, and she would have
sunk to the floor if he had not been holding onto her. She leaned
against his chest and his hands tightened their grip to hold her in
place.

Andrew pulled back and looked down at her.
“How do you feel about my skills now?” he asked with a ragged
breath, his eyes even darker than they were a few minutes
before.

Even with the blood thundering in her ears
she understood his question; yet she couldn’t form a coherent
response, she nodded instead. She knew she was flushed from the
kiss and her body felt absolutely boneless in his arms, almost like
she had completely surrendered to him.

Andrew smiled and ran the pad of one of his
thumbs across her swollen lips. “You are truly beautiful. I don’t
care what anyone else says; to me, you are more beautiful than your
sisters.”

Her heart fluttered at his words; he truly
thought she was beautiful. “We should probably return to Mama and
Madison before they come looking for us,” Brooke forced herself to
say before stepping backward and out of his embrace. She wished she
could stay in this moment forever, but that wasn’t possible, and it
really would not do to be found in this position. It could mean
they might be forced to marry, which she didn’t want to happen, did
she?

“You’re right,” Andrew murmured, offering her
his arm.

They barely walked three steps down the hall
before nearly colliding with Mama and Madison. “How were the
swords?” Mama inquired, acting truly interested in ancient
weapons.

“They were not so interesting,” Brooke said
dismissively, hoping Mama wouldn’t insist on going into the room
they’d just left. “I’d like to go look at some of those paintings
that were mentioned in my book.”

“Paintings are down this hall over here,”
Andrew said, pointing to a hall on the left leading to where a
number of portraits of former kings and queens were located.

Standing in front of the portraits of the
past kings of England, Madison asked, “Did any of these men
actually do anything, or are they just up here because they were
kings?”

“These here,” Andrew said pointing to two
different King Henrys, “are responsible for reforming the entire
judicial system of England. Before them, the judicial system was a
mess. It was based off the whims of nobles or the Pope. However,
Henry VIII created the Church of England and ended the Pope’s
political control of England.” Pointing to Henry VII, “His father,
Henry VII, made changes by appointing each village a Justice of the
Peace, or magistrate, to keep things under control in each area.
Punishments were no longer given out on the personal opinion of the
person hearing the case. Instead, laws were created and the Justice
of the Peace made sure they were followed. If a problem came about
that could not easily solved, or required more proof a jury would
be brought in to keep it fair. You are familiar with the role of
judges and juries in the United States are you not?” Andrew asked,
raising a brow toward Mama.

“Not personally I assure you,” Mama quickly
replied. “But yes, we do use them in our legal system back in the
United States. I suppose it is one of the few things the colonists
liked about the way their homeland was run since they included it
in the New World,” she told him tartly.

Andrew gave a bark of laughter.

“Stop that, you’re drawing attention over
here,” Brooke hissed.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it,” Andrew said as
he tried to put on a straight face. “One of the few things they
liked,” he muttered disbelievingly.

“Wasn’t Henry VIII the one who had his wife’s
head chopped off because she didn’t bear him a son?” Madison asked
pertly.

Before Andrew could answer
that
loaded
question, Mama jumped in. “Girls, I believe Papa will be waiting on
us, we should be going back now.”

In the carriage on the way back to the
townhouse, Brooke once again did not participate in the
conversation. But instead of thinking of Andrew’s legs this time,
she was dreaming and reliving the torrid kiss they’d shared.

Not letting go of Brooke’s hand after she
descended the carriage, Andrew ran his thumb back and forth across
her knuckles and asked, “Will I be able to see you again before you
leave for the house party?”

“No, Papa said we are to leave tomorrow.
We’re going to spend a few days in Bath before going to the
party.”

“Until the next time, then,” Andrew said
before he bent and placed a slow, lingering kiss on the back of
Brooke’s hand.

Brooke tried to hide her disappointment at
not knowing when the “next time” was as she watched Andrew turn
away, get back into his carriage and roll away.

Chapter 10

The Banks family left London for Bath by
traveling coach bright and early the next morning. They were to
spend a few days seeing the countryside before going to the baron’s
house party.

In Bath they checked in an inn called the Dog
and Fox. It was the nicest that Bath had to offer, that still had
vacancy anyway.

“It’ll cost ye four pounds a night for two
rooms, with yer meals included,” Mr. McNaught, the Scottish
innkeeper, told John.

John made the arrangements while the ladies
wandered around to look at the great room. It looked informal and
comfortable. Several divans were placed on the far side of the
room, a half dozen dining tables with chairs took up the majority
of the room, and off in a corner there was a door leading to
another room, most likely a taproom.

“All right, ladies, you may go up now. I’ll
run outside and instruct the footmen to bring in our trunks, I’ll
be right up.” John walked back toward the coach while the ladies
followed the innkeeper’s wife up the stairs.

“These will be yer rooms,” Mrs. McNaught said
as they walked past one closed door, and entered the second one.
Once inside, she continued, “I’ll bring ye in a cot to this room,
so there will be room for ye three to sleep. Since ye brought no
maids with ye, I fig’er this’ll be jist fine.”

Looking to Carolina, Mrs. McNaught said, “Ye
and yer man will have to share a room. We don’t have enough room to
have people not share rooms. Ye’ll sleep in the room we passed
along the way. If ye’ll come wit me, I’ll let ye in.” Mrs. McNaught
trudged out of the room with Carolina following close behind.

“Here ye are, mum,” Mrs. McNaught said as she
was showing Carolina the room she and John would share. “The bed is
large enough ye won’t even know yer husband is in there wit
ye.”

“The room will do nicely,” Carolina said
brightly, making her way to the window to see the view.

Mrs. McNaught took this as her cue that she
was excused and went back downstairs to her husband. “Them is some
strange gentlefolk. They brought no servants, ‘sept the coachman an
two footmen, an the lady showed no disgust at sharing a bed wit her
husband.”

“That’s cuz they ain’t gentlefolk,” Mr.
McNaught told her vehemently. “Them is Americans, a different breed
entirely.” Mr. McNaught followed his comment with an exaggerated
shudder, then he raised his chin a notch.

John missed the rest of the conversation
between the innkeeper and his wife because he was walking up the
stairs to find his own wife. When he opened the door to the room
they would share, he saw his wife’s profile. She had not noticed
his entrance, so he gazed at her for a few minutes. The sun was
shining in the room on her dark brown hair and her tanned face.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you came in,” Carolina
said when she turned slightly and noticed John was across the room
staring at her.

“I only just came in. Is there a good view?”
He walked closer to where his wife was standing at the window.

Carolina leaned back into his arms and
together they stared out the window for several minutes. The view
was amazing. If looking to the left, buildings such as a bakery,
confection shop, and another boarding house could be seen. To the
right was an amazing view of scenery. Lush green fields spread out
for miles and miles, dips and rises from hills could easily be seen
on the thick green carpet made by the grass. Clusters of trees were
sprinkled throughout the rolling hills. Nothing looked as if it had
deliberately been planted. It was quite simply a beautiful natural
landscape. Off in the distance, in the middle of the breathtaking
scene, an old gray manor sat.