The Lady Is Innocent (The Star Elite Series) (18 page)

Pie was transfixed.
Everything around them faded into the distance while he watched her with the child. He wanted what was before him with a need that was soul deep. She looked so right holding the child; she was a natural mother. He knew she would be hands-on with their child but would have a nanny to help her rather than take over care of their child. It suited Pie perfectly. He couldn’t remember much about his parents and, as a result, had grown up without feeling any particular connection to them. It hadn’t been any problem when he had left the house he had lived in during his youth. He could understand Florrie’s sentiment that the home he had been raised him hadn’t felt like home, and he knew that when it came to their own children, Florrie would undoubtedly have the same devotion toward providing a proper, loving home for their child as him, and be as eager as he was to take an active part in their children’s upbringing.

He stood patiently beside her, a small smile curing his lips as he
watched her play with the baby. All too soon though, Francesca came to take Ben back. Rather than be put off by Florrie’s natural maternal skills, Pie was more determined than ever that she should have the opportunity to use them as soon as possible. It was with more purposeful strides that he accompanied everyone else back to Crompton.

Never one to miss an opportunity, Pie took advantage of the festivities that evening to further his
progress and moved on to step two of Operation Florrie.

Throughout the
evening celebrations, he ensured that her drink was regularly topped up. Although he had no intention of taking advantage of her while she was drunk, even if he did ignore the fact that he physically wasn’t up to it, he hated the fact that he was deliberately trying to keep a watchful distance from him and it was a distance that he was determined to close as quickly as possible.

It irked him that she
thought that she needed to stay away from him, let alone leave for Norfolk. For a moment there on the driveway he had thought he had seen a hint of longing in her gaze but couldn’t be sure. Now, whether that longing was there or not, he didn’t care. He was going to move matters between them along a little; or at least give her something else to think about while she was considering when to depart. He wasn’t sure how much time he had now that Portia and Archie’s wedding was over, and wasn’t prepared to waste a single moment that was available to him.

“God you look fierce. Done a bit too much, too soon perhaps?” Jamie drawled from beside his elbow.

Pie glanced at him and sighed. “Just thinking of how I can capture your wayward cousin without having to club her over the head and drag her back to my cave,” he drawled ruefully.

Jamie snorted and glanced at
Florrie, who was laughing at something Simon had said. “I take it your intentions are honourable toward her?”

“God
, if Archie hadn’t turned up today, there would have been a wedding anyway, Jamie, and I cannot believe that I am saying that,” Pie replied studying the woman who held his heart but didn’t know it yet.

“The papers have been sent off so everything should be final soon,” Jamie drawled, and heaved a sigh of relief that one big problem had been removed from his shoulders.

He was absolutely delighted with the prospect of having Pie living next door and couldn’t wish for a better neighbour. Not only would it mean that between them, they could ensure that their families had the best of protection, but it also meant that their children could grow up together.

Althou
gh he felt a little uneasy at duping his cousin, it was done with the best of intentions. Cecily would kill him if she ever discovered his part in the events that were about to unfold, but he could only hope that she would eventually understand Pie’s reasoning, even if he didn’t exactly understand it himself. He felt slightly better though at having witnessed the pure longing on Pie’s face as he had watched Florrie with baby Ben, and knew that Pie did indeed have Florrie’s best interests at heart.

Shaking his head at the Star Elite’s latest mission, Jamie grinned and lifted the bottle off the floor. “Time for a top up, I think,” he drawled and disappeared off into the crowd.

Florrie
sighed and glanced down at her glass with a frown. She couldn’t remember so much of the fragrant wine being there before. Surely she had drunk more than that? With a mental shrug she took another sip and took a moment to study the sitting room they were using. Everyone was chatting and merrily enjoying the delicious food and wines on offer. Although it was a relatively low key event, it was a wonderfully intimate occasion and nice to see everyone so relaxed and at ease with each other.

Her gaze was drawn to the corner of the room and the loud laughter that came from Archie, Jamie and Jonathan. Cecily was deep in conversation with Portia but glanced across at her new husband and shared a secretive smile with him before she returned to what her sister was saying. Pie sat chatting amiably with Hugo while Simon was busy nuzzling his wife’s neck. Francesca looked as flushed as
Florrie felt. Although she wasn’t chatting to anyone, she didn’t mind. The wine was wonderfully fragrant but it muddled her thinking somewhat.

“What are you doing?” She gasped when Rupert appeared at her elbow and topped her wine up without asking.

“It is nice to be able to relax a little, isn’t it?” He replied, studiously ignoring her question. He took a moment to refill his own glass before carefully depositing the bottle on the mantle. “I take it that you are planning to move to Norfolk?”

“Yes, to
Lockham, have you heard of it?”

“I come from Norfolk,” Rupert drawled, shooting her a rueful look. “Damned place is cold as Hades. It gets the worst of the weather from Norway and the Arctic. Do you know, I cannot reme
mber ever being warm as a child?” He shook his head as though lost in reminiscences of his youth. He knew that God would probably strike him down for the lies he was telling but, if it helped Pie secure the hand of Florrie, then Rupert was more than happy to help.

“I-I had never heard of that before,”
Florrie replied with a frown.

She missed Rupert’s smile as her words came out slightly slurred, and didn’t even notice when Rupert topped her glass up again.
Everything around her was growing quite fuzzy and she was certain that the fire had increased in temperature by at least ten degrees. She began to fan herself with the edge of her shawl but made no attempt to remove it for some reason.

She took a sip of her wine and smiled at Rupert
with supreme satisfaction, although she couldn’t quite tell what she was so pleased about.

“My uncle Silas lives there, you see. He brought me a cottage there. Well, I actually bought the cottage but he bought it for me, I think.” She paused and considered that for a moment before she shrugged again and turned back to Rupert
, who had a strange smile on his face. “What?”

“It is good to see you relax a little. Your stay at
Crompton has been rather fraught. You have witnessed the Star Elite at work first hand. It is far more than we would have wanted you to see but given that you are one of us now, there cannot be any harm in it,” he announced softly wondering if her mind was working fast enough to understand his meaning.

Florrie
frowned at him. “I am not one of the Star Elite,” she declared loudly, her eyes growing wide with shock. Did they expect her to go out in the middle of the night and wrestle with people? “I have had enough of dodging bullets in the middle of the night, thank you very much.”

“Thank God for that,” Pie growled from behind her. He handed
a bottle to Rupert who quickly topped her glass up while she was busy looking at Pie. “I will never forget the sight of you going under that carriage.”

“Or heading over that church
yard wall, with Pie behind you,” Simon called from further across the room.

“Or disappearing off in that carriage,” Pie sighed.

“Or sitting in the tavern meeting your enemy,” Hugo added.

“My, it has been rather busy, hasn’t it?” She smiled, feeling inordina
tely proud of herself for having survived.

“Just a trifle,” Pie drawled, shaking his head in disbelief. Her eyes really did sparkle when she was amused, and when she was drunk she only ever so slightly slurred her words.

He had only intended for her to have enough wine to ensure she was relaxed and in good humour. He was in no state to take advantage of her, and knew that the only reason his friends had gone along with his suggestion to get her tipsy was because he had assured them that he not only wanted her to relax enough to enjoy the occasion, but he also wanted her to feel as though she belonged with them.

It wasn’t lost on him that when faced with a lot of people
, or more than one, she tended to hold back and stand on the fringes of the group to watch rather than allow herself to be actively engaged with her surroundings. Pie knew that it was imperative that she feel as though she was one of the Star Elite family, the way that Portia, Cecily, Harriett and Francesca and the children were. They were all one big happy family of sorts, and Florrie needed to understand that she was a part of it now, whether she liked it or not.

With the rest of the Star Elite staying for a few
more days to recuperate, Florrie would hopefully be persuaded to stay as well, and that gave Pie the breathing space he needed to put the next step of his plan into action.

If he managed to steal a kiss from her before the night was over, then he could consider the entire day a resounding success. He glanced at Hugo and shared a smile with him. Pie was relieved that Hugo
, and Jamie, had both agreed to come up with ready excuses to give to Florrie over the next few days if she suggested heading off to Norfolk.

It had been decided that because of the events of the past two weeks, everyone would remain at
Crompton for the next few days to take a well earned rest, and that included Florrie, although she didn’t know it yet. Jamie was still concerned that his cousin actually looked worse than she had when she had arrived and was determined that she wouldn’t leave without being restored to her former self.

“Do you know something?
” Florrie tried to hide her yawn behind the back of one clumsy hand and accidentally smacked herself in the face. She blinked several times and stared at the space that Rupert had just been standing in. He had been there a moment ago and had simply vanished. She turned quizzical, and slightly accusing eyes on Pie, as though the man’s disappearance was all Pie’s fault. “Whes he gone?” She hiccupped. “’scuse me.”

Pie bit his lip to stop the laugher. The sight of her consternation and the way she had to grab wildly for the chair she looked under
it in search of Rupert was hilarious. Before she could do herself, or the chair, any mischief, he cupped her elbow and eased her upright. He nodded in the direction of Rupert, who was now standing at the far end of the room with his back toward them.

“What’s wrong with ‘
im?” She peered across the room at Rupert’s shaking shoulders. “Is he crying?”

“No, darling, he isn’t crying,” Pie
mumbled. Florrie would kill him in the morning, but he didn’t really care. Her face was relaxed and almost carefree and her cheeks flushed with warmth and good humour. She was more beautiful than ever. “Come on, it is time you headed up the stairs,” he drawled ruefully. He eased her glass out of her unprotesting fingers and handed it to Cecily, who smiled and pointed a finger at Florrie while she herself swayed on her feet.

“If you let this man upstairs with you, tell him to keep his hands to himself.” She nodded her head authoritatively
.

“I have no idea what you mean,” Jamie drawled piously.

Cecily ignored her husband and poked him in the ribs with her elbow as she pointed one long finger at him. “Take a word of advice? These men don’t know how to behave themselves. Don’t trust them for a second.”

“Here, here!” Harriett cried, glaring at the rug that had just made a grab for her ankles in an attempt to trip her over.

Florrie lifted her brows in amazement and almost told Cecily that she didn’t know how to behave herself either, but the weight of her brows shooting upward seemed to topple her backward. If it wasn’t for Pie holding her upright she would have fallen onto her bottom. She opened her mouth to thank Cecily for her kind words of advice when Jamie, looking more than a little unrepentant, merely grinned and threw a glance at Archie who came to join them.

“I think we have married a load of drunkards,” he drawled ruefully, nodding toward Simon
, who was busy trying to ease a goblet out of Francesca’s grasp and got a painful jab in the ribs for his trouble.

“I’m not married though, ah ha!”
Florrie declared triumphantly and lifted one finger into the air. She turned at stared at it for a moment before she dropped her hand back to her side. Where had her glass gone?

“Yet,” Pie sighed ruefully. When
Florrie turned toward him, her mouth open to say something, he pre-empted the protest he knew was coming and steered her toward the door.

“I’m not getting married,”
Florrie declared firmly. She ruined her declaration with a hiccup. “Ever.”

“That’s what I said, then
he
came along and poof,” Harriett made large circular motions with her arms and threw her glass into the fire. She stared at her empty hand in consternation for a moment before she turned to her husband. “What did you do with it? Where’s it gone?”

Fl
orrie giggled and watched as Harriett tried to pour another glass of wine. After several unsuccessful attempts during which Hugo had a poke in the stomach for interfering, Florrie bravely wrenched her arm out of Pie’s grip and stepped forward.

“Here, let me
help.” She carefully placed the glass on the table and held it steady for Harriett while she poured the wine. Even with two of them it was a tricky venture, and more wine went onto the table than in the glass but, eventually, they managed to get it half full.

“There,” she declared in satisfaction and turned to pick up her glass onto to find it gone. She glanced around but there was no trace of it. She glared accusingly at Pie. “What did you do with it?”

“I didn’t see anything,” he replied absently. He nudged the glass further under the chair out of sight and nodded to the door. “I think it is time for bed.”

“I don’t,”
Florrie snapped, turning back to the table and reaching for another glass.

“Here, here,” Harriett toasted again, a
nd wobbled a bit when Francesca came to stand beside her.

Francesca glared at her husband. “Take a word of advice from me
too?” she whispered to Florrie. “Don’t trust the Star Elite as far as you can throw them. They are dodgier than the people they arrest.”

“How do you make that one out?” Simon demanded, glaring askance at his wife. “I married you didn’t I?”

“Ha! Eventually,” she scowled at him. “The churl wouldn’t have returned then if he hadn’t found himself at a loss to find something to do.”

Simon stared in horror at his wife and couldn’t quite decide if she was angry with him or playfully warning
Florrie about Pie’s intentions. “Francesca Ambrose, you should be ashamed.”

Francesca merely sniffed at him and gave
Florrie a wink.

Florrie
bit her lip. She had never stopped to think that there might be a more playful side to any of the Star Elite. Now they were relaxed, chatting and teasing their wives while being teased in return, they were completely different; far more affable and approachable. The fact that they were all including her in their teasing made her feel like she was one of them and it was a strangely surreal experience.

“
Give the man a break, Francesca, we did have French spies to hunt,” Hugo declared, trying to ease the bottle of wine out of his wife’s fingers.

“You are not having this too,” Harriett snapped and yanked the bottle away. This time she kept a firm hold of it and nodded to Cecily,
Portia, Francesca and Florrie. “Let’s go and sit out of the way of these bossy boots, and then we can enjoy ourselves.”

As it was, the ladies
moved to one end of the room - with the wine, while the men stayed near the door and settled down to watch and wait.

Florrie
tried to ignore Pie, but she could feel him staring at her. She turned to help Francesca upright because it was apparent that she was struggling with a chair that wouldn’t stay still, but couldn’t resist another quick peek across the room at him. He was talking to Simon and both men were looking at her and Francesca.

“I don’t like this,” Hugo growled.

“We have got to split them up,” Simon sighed, rubbing a particularly bruised part of his ribs that were a result of his wife’s dexterity with her elbow.

“But how?
Do you want to go over there?” Pie scoffed and glanced at Jonathan who held his hands up in horror and backed away.

“This is your problem. They are your wives and this is not Star Elite business. I am going to find myself a drink and my bed. You do what you need to,” he muttered, flicking a dark look at the ladies across the room. “Good luck.”