A wave of white muslin shimmied to the ground, pooling around her feet. She wore no corset or excessive petticoats, just a simple chemise.
Alexander’s cock pulsed at the sight of her curvaceous outline, and he almost burst out of his breeches when the garment joined the puddle of discarded material.
Bloody hell!
Miss Bromwell stood a few feet away from him, the sight of her deliciously round derriere causing him to moisten his lips. Her skin had an incandescent sheen, a silvery essence that shimmered with a magical quality amidst the woodland setting.
What was he to do now?
He could hardly step out from the shrubbery and shout surprise. A gentleman should turn away and make a hasty retreat, the need to respect her privacy being the prime motivation.
But Alexander was no gentleman.
Evelyn moved to the river’s edge and dipped her toe into the murky water. Good heavens, it was so much colder than she expected, but she refused to turn back now.
When she’d gone upstairs to bed, it hadn’t been her intention to strip naked and splash about in the river. But she’d spotted the moon shining brightly in the night sky, and her thoughts had drifted back to Alexander Cole.
No matter how hard she tried, she struggled to understand him. The cold, cynical manner he portrayed was so opposed to the man who had sketched such a pretty portrait. Even his parting comment, where he’d explained the folly of living a lie, suggested a deeper level of concern for her welfare.
That’s why she’d come outside, to try to understand what motivated him, to try to understand the lure of swimming naked on a moonlit night.
Finding the courage to continue, she sat on the bank and slid slowly into the water, clutching onto a grassy mound as she had no idea of the river’s depth. Luckily, it only came to her elbow, and she shivered as she walked out into the middle and the cold water lapped around her waist. Holding her body rigid and her arms tucked into her sides, she ducked down until it covered her shoulders, suppressing the urge to curse as loud as she could.
The freezing water penetrated her bones, making her skin tingle as the blood pumped rapidly around her body in protest. She thought it best to keep moving and so swam a few strokes towards the opposite side.
“Is Mr. Sutherby so lax in his hospitality that he has failed to provide water to wash?”
Startled by the sudden intrusion, she tried to stand up, splashing water over her face as she lost her balance.
“Who … who’s there?” She turned and almost shot up out of the water when she noticed the gentleman sitting on the bank. Remembering she was naked, she clutched her arms to her chest as a way of preserving her modesty.
With her mind quickly thawing from the shock, the arrogant tone struck a chord of familiarity. “Lord Hale? Is it you?”
He stood and moved to the water’s edge. “I was passing and thought you’d fallen in.”
She felt a flush rise until her cheeks burned. “But … but you live miles away.”
“I often walk at night. I suggest you keep moving else you’ll catch your death. I’ll wait here in case you get into any difficulty. Unless you want me to help you out.” He bent down and offered his hand.
“No!”
“You complained about my hospitality. At least, I provided warm water to bathe.”
“You’re not funny and as I recall it was Mrs. Shaw who tended to our needs.”
The earl seemed different, less angry, less agitated and he sat down on the grass. “Please, continue with your ablutions. I’ll just wait here.”
“Go away,” she cried, her temper overshadowing her embarrassment. “I can’t get out with you sitting there gaping.”
“Then you should have thought of that before stripping off your clothes, eager to partake in a midnight swim.”
What a hypocrite!
“And you never feel the urge to partake in such things, my lord?”
He gave an indolent wave. “Do I look like a man who enjoys swimming in cold water?”
She ducked down and waved her arms about in a bid to keep warm. “What, you’ve never stripped off all of your clothes and left them on a bench near a fountain? You’ve never swum naked in the middle of the night?”