Lucille

I feigned sleep as Lady Buckingham entered my bedchamber. I’d been there, alone, for nearly two hours. Thankfully, I’d gotten some sleep in Roman’s bed. He’d done as I asked and after securing the journal and hidden room, shed his padded shirt and clothes and joined me wearing his long silk pajama trousers.

Hidden by the dark of his room, I settled beside him, my head on his hard shoulder and my arms around his trim and ...