Lords of Honor (8 page)

Twenty minutes
later,
just as
it began to rain, Micah
led his horse through the trees to
ward
a small cotta
ge in the midst of a thick wood
.
The cottage
stood
a good way off the country lane
and
was
hidden
by a
thick copse of trees that shielded it from t
he road
.
He and Jack
spotted it
three weeks ago
when
taking a shortcut to
Shevington Chase
in West Amesbury
to see their friend
Lyon Ravenscroft,
the Earl of Amesbury
,
before going North
.
It
was apparent to them when they passed the cot
tage
in daylight the place was deserted
.
He hoped it still
remained
uninhabited
.

Micah
c
ould try to make it
to
West
Amesbury
before the
storm truly unleashed
.
Shevington Chase
was but
ten
miles up the road
, however
,
he
already
knew Lyon to be in London
.
He
called on him in London
two days ago
.
Micah and Jack didn’t stay
as they were informed Lyon
had taken
ill
.
Micah
did not know if
Lyon’s
mother and sister were still in residence
at Shevington Chase
or in London with him
.

T
he rain
began to pelt down
harder
.
He rea
s
oned
t
he less people who knew about Lady Elizabeth’s kidnapping the better
.
I
t w
ould be
best if he took her to the abandoned cottage.
He
felt
certain her brother woul
d appreciate the discreetness
and any attempt to protect her reputation
.
P
oor
Lady Elizabeth
needed to
lie down
.
They
stop
ped
yet another
time so
she
could empty
what little
contents
remained
in
her stomach
.

The cottage
appeared to be a woodcutter’s cottage, and
looked
to be still
deserted
.
No lig
ht came from within
.
L
eaves
and twigs
covered the steps
.
Micah carried his
pale
charge inside, and gently laid her
up
on the bed
, with a
whispered
promise he would return after putting his horse in a lean-to off the
side of the
small, run-down building
.

He
hastily tended the horse, knowing Lady Elizabeth would
be anxious and
need his assistance
.

Happy to find a
few
candle
s
set on the rough wooden table
, Micah lit
one
.
There was a bed, a chair, and a table
in the
tiny
one room cottage
.
There was a fireplace
which they could
not use
for fear of being found
by the chimney smoke
.
He saw no firewood in any case
.

“
The cottage appears to be deserted
, there’s not much here
.”
Micah
told Lady Elizabeth as he
rummaged around
.
“
There is no food
except the apples I purchased from Mr. Wicket in Andover
.”
Micah removed the apples from his pocket and set them on the table.
“
Would you like one
?
We’ll eat
a
good
meal
tomorrow
morning
in Salisbury, I promise
you
, Lady Elizabeth
.
I am sorry we hadn’t
an opportunity
to get you some food this afternoon
.
I so wish I
could
procure
a meal
for you.
”

“I am so happy to
be free of
those men, I don’t
care
that
there is no food
.
I don’t know what I would have d
one if you hadn’t been there at the White Hart
, Lord Wincanton
.
Again, I must t
hank you
.
I
appreciate you
r
help
more than you know
,” Libby said truthfully
.
She struggled t
o sit up then winced as if the movement pained her somehow
.

“Are
you in pain, Lady Elizabeth?”
Micah rushed to her.

“My stays…they’re digging in to me
.
Apparently, they’ve been on this whole time
.
It is quite uncomfortable.
”

“Can you get them off by yourself, or do you need help?”

Libby tried to reach her arms around to her back
to unfasten her gown
.
She groaned in frustration
.
Her arms felt so heavy and useless
.
“Even on a good day, Lord Wincanton, I would have trouble getting them off myself
.
I’m afraid my arms do not seem to be cooperating
today
.
I’m sorry
.
Do you mind helping me?”

“Call me by my given name, Lady Elizabeth
.
It’s Micah
.
I would prefer it.”

“Yes
.
I suppose under the circumstances
, we do not need to stand on formality
.”
She smiled
wanly
.
“Please, call me, Libby
.
It’s what my family and friends call me.”

“Very well, Libby
.”
Micah moved to sit behind her on the bed
.
He quickly unfastened her gown
.
“I will have to ease you
r
gown
down
, I think
, t
o get your stays off
.
Do you suppose you can
push
your gown off
the rest of the way
by yourself
if I ease it off your shoulders
?”

She nodded
.

Micah felt a
wkward
and uncomfortable
disrobing a beautiful young woman whom he
was very attracted to, but
could not think of
bedding
;
a
t least not tonight
.
He supposed in the very near future, on the occasion of their wedding night, he
would be privileged to do so.

Despite his
good
intent
ions
, his body betrayed him at the sight of
the
soft creamy
skin
of
her nape
,
upper
back and shoulders
that was exposed when he pushed her hair
away
so he could
open the back of her gown
.
He
lower
ed
the thin, light blue fabric
over her shoulders
.
Once she stood and dropped her gown the rest of the way off,
he
c
ould
unfasten her
corset
.
T
he faint scent of lilacs drift
ed
to hi
s nostrils
. H
e could not deny
his attraction to Libby
.
She was
lovely
, with her dark sable hair and
sapphire eyes
.
Her
heart-shaped
face, high
cheekbones
, and her
pale and translucent
skin all contributed to her exquisite loveliness
.
Tall, lithe and slender, Libby reminded him of a wood nymph, or perhaps the Goddess Diana; the huntress
.

“Let me help you to your feet
, Libby
.
”

Libby
struggled
to
find enough strength to
stand
.
Micah
intervened and
lifted her
to
her feet
.
H
is palm
remained
at the small of her back to keep her upright
.

“I’ll
keep hold of you, but
I will
turn my head
, Libby
.
Let your gown pool to the floor
.
I’ll help you step out of it
when you’ve pushed it down
.
I’ve an extra shirt in my bag
.
I’ll get it out for you
.
You can put it on over your chemise after we get those stays off, and
the shirt
will no doubt be more comfortable for you to sleep in than your gown
.
Call
out
for me if you need my
assistance
.”
He turned his head
.
He heard the swish of material
as it pooled around her on the floor.

“My gown is off, Micah
.
”

Micah turned
.
The sight of sweet Libby clad only in her
stays
,
chemise
and petticoats affected him
.
He could not let her know how
much
.
She trusted him
.
He did not want to frighten her
, or m
ake her feel uncomfortable
.
He prayed he could trust himself.
Lord, but
the sight of
her slender, shapely form
a
ffected him
.
He felt the need to touch
her beautiful skin
and explore
her body
.
He could not
.
He would not
!

He helped her step out of the gown
.
He
leaned over to
drape it
carefully
over the chair
while keeping his hand firmly on her arm
.
He moved to stand behind her
.
“
Libby,
I’m going to
unlace your stays and help you get out of them
.
I
promise you,
I won’t look
anywhere else.
”
Liar!
He couldn’t keep his eyes off
the creamy skin of
her shou
lders and back
.
As he unfastened the corset
, he couldn’t help but
notice
the
gentle
swell of her buttocks beneath her
petticoats and
chemise.