After the Abduction by Sabrina Jeffries

“Surely the guests have left already.”
    “No, milord. There was a heavy snow in the night. ’Tisa foot or more, too heavy for the carriage to manage. It’ll take a day or two to melt.”
    He groaned. “Which means my guests are staying until it does.”
    “Don’t see as they have much choice. They can’t travel to London in that mess.”
    What a catastrophe. Two days of Juliet’s blithe comments and Knighton’s probing questions, and he’d be offering his own neck to the noose just to escape them. Besides, what if Morgan arrived while they were here? That would be sheer disaster.
    Wait until he got his hands on his troublemaking uncle. When Sebastian finished with him, Uncle Lew wouldn’t be so quick to offer shelter to dangerous strangers.
    Boggs cleared his throat. “Milord? Your clothing?”
    “Right. Do I still have that morning suit of superfine you drool over? The one with the patterned velvet waistcoat I never wear?”
    “Oh yes, milord, you do!”
    Boggs had always been eager to put his master in a “proper suit of clothes,” as he called it. The poor man never got to demonstrate his talent as a valet. Half the time, Sebastian went around in fustian. It didn’t stain like the finer materials, so he didn’t ruin a suit of clothes every hour.
    “I’ll wear the superfine then.”
    “And the silk stockings?” Boggs said hopefully.
    He suppressed a smile. “Yes, Boggs, the silk stockings.”
    “We might have trouble with the cravats,” Boggs mused aloud as he hurried off into the dressing room. “It’s been so long since I tied an elaborate one that it may take a few tries. But you must have at least a mathematical or perhaps a Gordian knot. Those are impressive enough, I think, for the superfine, although…”
    He ignored Boggs’s dithering, relieved that discussion of his clothing for the day had not only preoccupied his valet, but subdued his reckless John Thomas. By the timeBoggs returned with the suit, he was presentable for company again.
    It took a good hour for Boggs to dress him, but Sebastian endured it for once. Today of all days, he must look the part. He wasn’t sure how much his wealth influenced Knighton, but anything would help.
    Then there was Juliet. His dull attire yesterday had probably contributed to her absurd perception of him as some inept country bumpkin lacking any knowledge of how to please a woman. This would remind her of his position and its responsibilities, which precluded the sort of “reckless” behavior that had attracted her before.
    He sobered. It would remind him as well—of his duty to his family and his estate. It might keep him from losing control the next time he was around her.
    As soon as Boggs finished, Sebastian headed for the breakfast room, but he’d arisen so late that no one was there. Thank God. He needed time to plan. Might Juliet have told her relations of her conversation with him last night? He didn’t think so, for she’d be loath to admit that she’d met a man alone. And he couldn’t imagine her revealing those kisses they’d shared. Those wholly unwise, incredibly erotic kisses…
    He must stop thinking of that! Or of her blasted opinions about it afterward. He scowled. All right, so he hadn’t precisely cut a swath through the available women in society during recent years; that didn’t mean he couldn’t kiss perfectly well, thank you very much.
    Besides, he was also the one who’d kissed her the first time, the one who’d “made her heart race and her bones melt.” She’d merely trumped up the memory like females were wont to do. In her mind, “Morgan” became a reckless adventurer sweeping her away with passion, and the respectable brother couldn’t begin to compare.
    Next time he had her in his arms, by thunder, he’d showher what a respectable gentleman could do when he set his mind to it.
    He released a groan of frustration. What was he thinking? He wasn’t going to have her in his arms again, for God’s