“Of course not.” She laid the newspaper aside and walked over to help him with his shirt. Once they managed to settle the garment in place, Daniel stood up to tuck the tails of it into the waistband of his breeches and button the remaining buttons.
He slipped on his waistcoat and glanced around for the tall boots that should have completed his ensemble.
She opened the drawer in the bedside table so he could collect his personal items from the ones she’d stored there. “Ned wasn’t able to locate a pair of boots, but here are your other belongings.”
“No matter,” he answered. “I know where to get a pair of boots.”
Miranda left the drawer open and stepped back. Inside it were his purse, his pocket watch and chain, the pewter flask, and her reticule and fan.
Daniel reached in to gather his things. “The reticule and the fan are yours, I believe,” he said with a smile as he retrieved his coin purse and tucked it into the inside pocket of his waistcoat. He removed his watch, wound it, and checked the time against the time on the mantel clock before fastening the chain to his waistcoat and pocketing the timepiece. Turning away from the open drawer, Daniel grabbed a hairbrush and a toothbrush and cleaning powder from the basket of toiletries she’d brought and walked toward the bathing room.
“What shall I do with this?” She waved the flask at him.
Daniel turned. “Inside coat pocket.”
“It’s empty,” she offered.
“I know where to get more,” he said, as he opened the door to the bathing room.
“You seem to know a great many things this morning,” she teased.
“I’m a man of knowledge, milady, who wishes to specialize in discovering all there is to know about you.” He blew her a kiss from the doorway.
“You already know more than anyone else,” she reminded him.
“Doesn’t matter,” he replied. “For I’ve a burning desire to add to my store of knowledge.” He leered at her, waggling his eyebrows to make her smile.
Miranda laughed as he disappeared into the bathing room, then picked his coat up off the foot of the bed and slipped the flask into the inner pocket. She was about to close the table drawer when she spied her reticule and remembered what it contained. Taking a deep breath, she opened the drawstrings of the mint green reticule, withdrew the folded sheet of paper from beneath the cardboard bottom, and tucked it inside the coat pocket beside the flask, then impulsively retrieved the bishop from beneath the bedcovers and dropped it into his pocket as well.
She bit her bottom lip. He was leaving. Without telling her how he felt about her. And she was giving him the only proof of what they’d done to take with him. Once he discovered it, he could keep it or destroy it as he chose. She blinked back a tear and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand as Daniel returned, moments later, from the bathing room with freshly brushed hair and clean teeth. He ran his hand over his cheeks and chin, gauging the length of his whiskers. He ought to shave, but he couldn’t take the time.
Miranda looked at the whiskers shadowing his jaw and was reminded of the pink abrasions he’d unwittingly left on her stomach and thighs.
Daniel read her thoughts. “I promise to shave next time.”
“Is there going to be a next time?”
“If you want one.”
“I do.” Miranda nearly cringed when she said the words that were eerily close to the words she’d uttered to seal the vows she’d exchanged with Daniel two nights ago. Vows he still didn’t seem to recall.
He leaned down to kiss her. “Tell me, my sweet marchioness, what happened to the notion of saving yourself for your husband?”
She almost told him the truth, but Miranda was afraid of spoiling the tender moment. “I decided that saving myself for a man who may or may not take me to wife was foolish. I’ve decided it’s far better to give myself to a man who isn’t interested in sharing my fortune or my future—only my bed.”
Daniel looked fierce. “So long as I’m that man.”
Miranda’s smile was as mysterious as it was seductive.
“I may not be able to see you for a few days,” Daniel told her. “But make no mistake about it, I intend to see you again. Soon.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
Her politely distant response puzzled him. “Miranda?”
“Go.” She reached up and caressed his cheek with the palm of her hand, then turned her back to him to keep from crying.
Daniel started through the door, but stopped when Miranda called his name.