Lords of Honor (48 page)

Of course they erupted into a fit of giggles
.
Each of
the three ladies
tried diligently to appear innocent, though each
sport
ed
a pink tinge to
her
cheeks
.

“Elveston, you’re doing a fine job on look-out,” Micah
chuckled
when he saw Jack reclining on the chaise, eyes closed
.

Jack opened one eye
.
“I’m not asleep
.
I was j
ust resting
and e
njoying the ladies’
interesting
conversation.”

All three ladies’ mouths fell open
in
disbelief
.
T
hey
looked
from
one
to the
other and
collapsed into another fit of
laughter
and giggles
.

Micah, Lyon and Harry stood, with their arms crossed,
and
amused
smiles
up
on their faces as they watched their wives
’ futile attempts at
conceal
ing
their mirth
.

“Might we borrow your guard for a moment, ladies?”
Harry asked
.
He arched a curious brow as his gaze rested upon his wife
.

“Please do, Harry,” Rowena offered with a straight face
, yet her lips
nearly twitched into a smile
.
“We’ve
certainly
no need of
him
.”

Again, a round of laughter erupted from the ladies.

Jack
grinned as he rose from the chaise
.
He left the poultice on a tray near where he reclined
.
He gave the ladies a nod
and flashed them a devilish grin
as he left.

The moment he disappeared out the door, the ladies giggled.

“I’ll stay with the ladies,” Micah said as he sat down next to Libby
, an amused grin lighting his features
.

“I’ll
stay with
Micah
.”
Charlie returned to the window
seat and took up his earlier vigil
.

Lyon
cast a curious glance at Sophia before he turned and followed Harry from the room.

“What plans have you men come up with Micah?” Rowena asked as she poured herself a
nother
cup of tea
.
“Would you like a cup, Micah?”

“Yes
.
I would love a cup of tea
, Rowena, thank you
.”

“Charlie,
would you care for a
cup?”

“No, thank you, Rowena.”

“So what plans have you come up with, Micah?” Rowena asked again
after she handed him his tea
, fearing he missed her question the first time.

“I can’t tell you until everything is finalized, Rowena
.
By orders of your
husband,
”
Micah smiled
charmingly
at her.

“Oh
.”
Rowena frowned as she
took up her own cup
.

“What was so amusing earlier that you
ladies
were
all
laughing so?” Micah
asked
Libby
as he sip
ped
his
tea.

“Oh
.
N
othing
important
actually
, it was j
ust silly woman talk,” Libby
regarded her husband with a straight face
.
She tried to remain serious, but could not
.
The corners of her mouth turned up
.
She set her
tea
down on the table
for her shoulders began to shake
so
.
A bubbly
giggle escaped her.

Rowena tried
keep
ing
her expression serious
and failed
, quite
m
iserably
.
She
snorted when laughter overtook her.

Sophia
was
laugh
ing
so hard, tears sprang to her eyes.

“Never
mind.
”
Grinning,
Micah shook his head
.
He
set down his tea,
stood
and
joined Charlie at the window
.

“And what were the ladies about, J
ack
?
Why were they laughing so?
” Harry queried when they closed the library door behind them.

“I truly should not impart such information
.
They thought I was asleep
.
I’ve a distinct feeling your wives
w
ill
not appreciate
my
repeating
what was said
,
”
Jack grinned.

“I would
appreciate your telling me
, s
o do it,” Harry demanded
.

“It was just lady talk
.
Or rather m
arried lady talk
.
They were sharing some things
.
It’s no different than our Gentleman, or rather ungentlemanly talk
.
I found it amusing
, i
nform
ative, and I’ve made up my mind;
I am never getting married.”

“Married lady talk
?
Like marriage bed talk?”
Harry
persisted
.

“Nothing derogatory, don’t worry, Harry
.
And, I’m not telling
.
It was
amusing
.
Nothing like what we divulge
.
Of
course once you marry, like you
, it seems men divulge nothing anymore
.
Y
our sexual encounters
, once you marry,
become private and sacred, or some such thing.”

“Tell me
what was said
Elv
eston, or I’ll have to kill you,
”
Harry threatened with a smile
and a laugh
.

Jack laughed
.
He bent
his head
and whispered to Harry and Lyon, “They were just talking about how they get you hard, that’s all
.
They exchanged some information
, o
ffered some suggestions
.
That was it
.
They laughed and giggled
all the way through it.
”

Harry and Lyon smiled
.
They both sh
ook their heads
.

“I’m just
beginning to realize
that our wives could be trouble together, Lyon.”

Lyon
brandished Harry a broad grin
.
“I agree
.
We’ll have to fill Micah in
.
I fear our wives are thick as thieves already.
”

“
Yes
, it would seem so
.
We’
ll
warn Micah
.
Now back to work
.
Sit down, Jack
.
We’ll fill you in
on our plan
.”

“Is that one of your new gowns, Libby?” Micah asked as he entered their
chamber
.
The ladies retired upstairs to get ready for dinner forty-five minutes earlier
.
Lachlan
a
nd Newt
stood watch in the hall
way
while they
bathed
and dressed
for dinner
.

“Yes
, it is
.
Do you like it?” Libby swished the sapphire blue skirts
about.

“Very much
.”
Micah came to stand behind her
.
He placed his hands on her waist and leaned around her to kiss her cheek
.
He paused
to
look downward
so he might
admire the dis
play of her very lovely breasts
.
He
proceeded to
place soft, feathery kisses along her
neck
.
She smelled of lilacs
.
“You took a bath without me?”
His voice was deep and husky.

“
Yes,
I did
.
Y
ou were not here
.
And thank you for the lilac soap
, Micah
.
Your water is being brought up now
.
The tub should be ready for you in a few minutes
, husband
.”

“If you weren’t dressed already, I’d ask you to
bathe
with me,” he whispered
as he
nibbled on
her ear
lobe
.

“I will go downstairs and wait for the
other ladies;
I must be a good hostess, after all.
” Libby turned to face him
.
She placed a kiss to his lips
.
She meant to pull away, but Micah held her to him and deep
ened the kiss
.
She smiled sweetly up at him when he
released her
.

“Your hair
is
beautiful, though I will enjoy shaking the pins
from
it
, and
brushing
it
later
.
Martha is getting used to
your hair
, I see.”

“Yes
.
She is very good
, e
ven with my heavy hair.”
Libby leaned into her husband
.

“
Is everything going smoothly with the household
, sweetheart
?
Mrs. Clarke told me
you are a very competent mistress
.
But I
was quite aware
of that already
.
I know you have run Roseland for a number of years.
”

Libby smiled with pride
.
“No problems at all
.
Today I
could
not spend as much time with Mrs. Clarke
as I wished
, due to the attack
.
Tomorrow, hopefully
,
I will have more time
.
Did you gentlemen finish your planning?”

“We did.”

“Can you not tell me
about your plan
?” Libby arched a
curious
eyebrow at him.

“Tonight
, a
fter dinner, Harry will announce our plans, sweetheart
.
I would tell you, except, one of the gentlemen has to inform his wife of his important part in the plan
.
She may be upset
.
So, since rumor has it you ladies are as thick as thieves, I can’t tell you
.
Harry’s orders
, n
ot mine
.
I promise you, when we come to our room tonight, I shall talk about it all you want
.”
Micah hugged her to him
.
“You’re not angry with me, are you, Libby?”

“No.” Libby shook her head
.
She smiled up at him
.
“But, you best tell me everything tonight
!”
She pulled back and prepared to walk away.