"Your refreshment," one of the barmaids announced, smiling at Merlin as she carried in a tray, placed it on the table. Seeing Aurora, she reached into her bodice and extracted a folded sheet. "There's an urchin downstairs who insists I give this message to the red-haired lady in the fancy gown. I assume he means you. If so, he says you owe him five pounds."
Unsteadily Aurora reached for the folded sheet. Smoothing it out, she forced her attention on the words.
Dear 'friend', it read. Thank you for the tidbit. I'll look into it at once. Lady Altec.
"Splendid!" Aurora nearly toppled from the bed. Resettling herself, she dug in her pocket and extracted two five-pound notes. "I'm grateful to you—and the lad. Please see that he gets one of these. The other is yours."
"Thank you." The barmaid's words were for Aurora, but her gaze was on Merlin. "Will there be anything else?"
"Not tonight, Bess," he replied.
"If you should think of something…"
"I'll summon you at once," he assured her, holding open the door. "But for now, good night."
"Good night." With another wistful look, she was gone.
The instant the door closed behind her, Merlin turned back to Aurora. "Does the arrival of that note mean the 'biggest gossip in Devonshire' is on her way?"
A nod.
"Then the coffee can wait. First, we'd best discuss that compromising position you mentioned." He walked over, bypassing the chair and sinking down on the bed beside her.
A quiver—was it of warning or excitement?—ran up Aurora's spine. "Very well."
He leaned closer, studying her features as one would assess a fine painting prior to purchasing it. "You're a very beautiful woman."
How did one respond to so blatant a compliment? Aurora mused. Especially when one's dealings with men were as limited—as nonexistent—as hers?
Her silence spawned a flicker of curiosity in Merlin's eyes, tiny golden flames against burnished topaz. "Let me ask you something, Rory. Do you understand what was going to happen after Jackson whisked you upstairs?"
"What he intended to happen," Aurora corrected. "And of course I do. I might be foxed, but I'm not stupid."
Merlin's lips twitched. "I didn't mean to suggest that you were. I was merely trying to assess the degree of your naïveté."
"I'm not naive."
"No? Then how did you plan to extricate yourself from Jackson's intentions?"
A twinkle. "I'm a very resourceful woman, foxed or not. I'm also an expert at eluding those I choose to elude. Should Mr. Jackson have managed to drag me upstairs, and should he have been unwilling to listen to reason, I would have found the means to escape. I always do."
One dark brow shot up. "How intriguing. Are you often in situations where you need to elude men?"
"Constantly. Other than now."
"Why not now?"
She gave him a beatific smile. "Because I never attempt to elude my allies."
An answering smile tugged at his lips. "How do you know I'm an ally? What if my motives are as untrustworthy as Jackson's? What if I decide to take advantage of your offer and our privacy by making your ruin an actuality rather than a performance?"
"You won't."
"What makes you so certain?"
"The fact that you want my two hundred pounds."
Merlin threw back his head and laughed. "Touché. It's rare that I'm bested, especially by a woman who's beside me in bed and too deep in her cups to walk away."