Lords of Honor (82 page)

Sophia allowed her hands to leisurely explore her husband’s naked torso
.
“I think, husband, that you best get dressed, else I f
ear we may be late to dinner,
”
s
he whispered huskily as her hands splayed across his hard, muscled buttocks
.

Lyon untied the sash of her wrapper
.
“We’ve a few minutes to spare
.
And we’ll get to dinner when we get to dinner
.
C
ould
I
interest
you
in a very fast but
satisfying bout of lovemaking, my lovely
wife
?”
He pushed her wrapper
open and let it slide
down her arms
.
He
tugged it down
and the silk pooled upon the floor leaving his wife as naked as he was
.

“I do believe I am
interested, husband
.” She grinned
up
at him.

Lyon stepped into the hallway to await his wife
.
Apparently, Micah
wait
ed for his wife
as well
.

“Are we late?” Lyon asked him.
“I know Chilcompton doesn’t suffer tardiness.”

Micah removed his watch and opened it
.
“Not yet
.
We have ten minutes.”

“Umm
.
Our bathing took longer than normal
.
I wasn’t sure what time it was,
”
Lyon remarked.

“The same thing happened to us
.
I think we’ll make it
on time
.”

“Good.” Lyon nodded
.
He looked to his friend
and flashed him a broad grin
.
“I
never thought
I would like being married, but I
honestly
like it
, Micah
.
I do
.”
He
nodded and
chuckled
.

Micah grinned back
.
“
I do as well
.”
He raised an eyebrow,
“
Even bathing is
enjoyable
.”

“I agree
.
Bathing with one’s wife is
most definitely
an unforgettable experience
.” Lyon
tried to suppress his grin
and
failed
.
A wicked, devilish laugh preceded his words,
“The tubs here at Wychcombe H
ouse are unusually large
.
R
oomy
, in fact
.”

Micah laughed
.
“
They are quite capacious
.”

Lyon joined in his laughter
.

That is how their wives found them
.
Laughing
and grinning
.

The
gentle
men were to meet
again
after the ladies retired
.
Grace, Libby, Sophia, Rowena
, her aunt and Harry and Lyon’s mothers and sisters could not help but
notice
the
guard of three men upstairs
.

Lachlan nodded
and smiled
to
the ladies as they
greeted him
.

“Does anyone know what the
gentlemen
are planning
?
Aunt Frances
?”
Rowena asked
.
She
knew there were scarcely any secrets between her aunt and Sir John.

“I do not
know, dear
.
I suspect the guard has been increased because retaliation can be expected
since
little Alice
was rescued,”
Frances provided
.
She did not offer any more information
.
Frances stopped before her bedchamber door
.
“Good night, all
.
Rowena,
dear,
you must send for me if you need me
for any reason
during the night
.”

“Thank you, g
ood night, Aunt Frances.” Rowena paused to kiss her aunt’s cheek.

The ladies parted at their respective bedchamber doors.

“Did you bathe with your wife, Lyon, you smell like lilacs,” Trevan asked as he came to stand between h
im
and Micah in the library.

Micah grinned
broadly
at Lyon
.
He removed his watch and
noted
the time
as he tried to keep from laughing
.

“Actually,
Trevan,
I’m roses
,
he’s lilacs.
” Lyon pointed at Micah
.
“
I did bathe with my wife
.
He bathed with his
.
The tubs are exceptionally large her
e
at Wychcombe House
.
I guess perhaps Micah a
nd Libby used
more soap than Sophia and I did, which would explain why the scent of lilacs is stronger.
”

Micah
burst into laughter as he replaced his watch
.

Trevan grinned
.
“No wonder the both of you smell so pretty
lately
.
I’ll try not to get you mixed up anymore
.
Lilacs.
”
He pointed to Micah.
“Roses.” H
is finger aim
ed
in
Lyon
’s direction
.

Grinning
and chuckling
, they both nodded.

Harry approached them
.

Trevan sniffed near Harry.
He rolled his eyes.
“Lavender
.”
With a nod of his head
, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief,
he walked off laughing.

“You too
, Harry
?”
Lyon grinned at
him
.

“Me too, what?”
Harry narrowed his eyes.

Micah leaned close to him and sniffed
.
“He did
.
Lavender
.”
Micah pointed at himself, “Lilacs.”

“Roses.” Lyon lifted his brow.

“Nice tubs here
at Wychcombe House
, eh, Harry
?”
Micah laughed
and clapped Harry on the back.

“Apparently, they’re very popular.”
Harry grinned
wolfishly
.
He extended his hand toward
the large library table, “Gentlemen, let’s begin.”

It was quarter past eleven when the
ir
meeting
neared
its
conclusion
.

Harry once again ran through the evening’s assignments
.
“Newt, Elveston and Cleve, off to the Star
.
Pendarves
,
Carlyon and ten
of Trevan’s
men are already waiting for you.
”

“
Gabriel, August
,
Arthur
and your men
to Madame Rosier’s.”

“Wyldhurst, Trevan, Owen and I will join Sir John and the King’s officers at the home of Lord Crowhurst
.
Mrs. Lenore Bell, also known as the Society Scandal sheet author, Mrs. Mayfair, will be picked up
at dawn
by th
e King’s men when we are certain her
three gigolo henchmen
will be in their quarters
.
You
’ll remember
we learned of Mrs. Bell
from the letter I received from Matthias yesterday
.
W
hen
Sinclair returned home to fetch his daughter and found his daughter Rachel’s governess with
Mrs. Bell’s
chief henchman, Frederick Naughton
, he was able to find out some very useful information
.
In addition to Mrs. Bell’s skills at gathering gossip, she paid her three handsome associates and bedmates to glean information from female servants in ours and others’ homes
.
Not only has she been helping the Knights of the Brown Order, but she has committed treason by helping nefarious others blackmail prominent members of the government
.
Her home is already being watched
by the King’s men and police
.
They want her.
”

Harry continued, “Be careful
.
With any luck, we will take out the Knights of the Brown Order tonight
.
If
things do not go as planned
, cut your losses and get out immediately.”

“
Lyon, Micah, Lachlan, Tristan
,
Charlie
, Julyan
and the guard outside
will keep an eye on
things at
Wychcombe House
.
We are hoping
the ladies will remain asleep in their beds and
be
none the wiser to our actions this night.”

“I doubt that.” Trevan
whispered and
winked at Lyon
.
“Mark my words, one of them will notice.”

Libby woke when Micah slid into bed beside her
.

“What time is
it, Micah
?
It seems very late,
”
she yawned.

“It is sweetheart
.
It’s two
.”
He and Lyon
took t
he upstairs
watch until two
.
Charlie
and Trevan’s brother
,
Tristan
,
were on watch until six
.
Julyan and
Lachlan
w
ere in charge of the outside watch
.

Libby snuggled up against him
.
Micah tucked her head beneath his chin
.
He w
rapped himself around her
.
“Go back to sleep, sweetheart.”

“Um hmm.” Libby closed her eyes and began to drift off.

A knock sounded
up
on the
ir
door.

Micah groaned
.
Libby stirred in his arms
.

He rose, pulled on his wrapper and opened the door.

“Rowena
, i
s something wrong?”
Micah asked quickly out of concern
.

“I don’t know. I woke when I heard someone in the hall and I realized Harry
had not yet
come to bed
.
Charlie
told me no one is downstairs
.
Where is Harry, Micah?”
Rowena’s worry was evident as she looked
at
him.

Lyon stepped out of his room
.
He
remained dressed
.
He
gave
Micah
a nod
.

Another door opened
.
Grace stepped out, holding her wrapper tightly to her
.
“Where is Owen
?
Is something wrong
?
What has happened?
”

Rowena’s aunt, Lady Sperring stepped into the hallway
, a lacy white cap upon her head
.

Micah sighed
.
He felt Libby at his back.