Chapter 33
Expectations and Probability
But that was all. He withdrew his hand from her without a trace of hesitation.
“Go to sleep now. I can tell just by looking at your face how big an adventure today has been for you.”
Christopher took out a cigar, tapped it lightly against the table, then glanced at Lily’s face and slipped it back into the tin case.
A complete lie.
The reason he told her to sleep wasn’t for her sake, but to keep himself under control. Christopher barely managed to suppress the urge to scoop this woman up entirely and kiss her.
“I can’t sleep. Let’s just sit like this and talk. I’m fine even if we stay up all night.”
“Are you really planning not to sleep?”
“It’s fine.”
“I don’t usually sleep anyway. It’s not because of you.”
“It’s not because of you either… I mean, Christopher.”
Lily muttered as if making excuses. It was a completely unconvincing statement. She sat on the bed with her knees drawn up, her posture defensive.
Though he clearly recognized her clumsy lie, Christopher sat down on the small stool placed in front of the bed.
With the dim lamp between them, the two watched each other warily, like players in a card game.
“You can be honest.”
“…”
“Then should I go first?”
He quietly watched as Lily pushed her loosened hair back over her neck. Seeing the pale nape of her neck fully exposed, he swallowed dryly. He could have wrapped his hand around her slender throat with ease.
He was on the verge of reaching out at any moment. She was too tempting—and far too close. A man who didn’t know how to lose also knew that the only way to defeat temptation was to surrender to it.
And that once started, there would be no stopping.
Knock, knock.
The heated, strange tension and passion filling the room drained away in an instant like a receding tide when someone knocked sharply on the door.
As if caught doing something wrong, both of them froze and stared at the door.
“Is anyone in there?”
Hearing the impatient voice of an unfamiliar man, Lily hurriedly adjusted the front of her clothes. Only after confirming that she was properly covered did Christopher crack the door open.
Light spilled through the gap, stretching like a ribbon across the room to Lily’s face. Two policemen stood outside with the worried-looking landlady.
“We apologize for the late hour.”
“Sir, I’m sorry. A woman has gone missing from the exhibition hall.”
Along with the landlady’s explanation, one of the policemen peered inside and spoke.
“We’re looking for a maid who disappeared at the exhibition. Blonde hair, about this tall… wearing a green dress…”
The officer’s gaze fixed on Lily, who stood awkwardly behind Christopher. She matched the description perfectly. Because the room was dim, he lifted the lamp closer to get a better look.
For a moment, Lily stared back at him with a frightened face.
“I’d rather not have my time with my wife interrupted.”
Christopher openly displayed his displeasure.
“Sir, I apologize, but could you confirm your identity?”
It was closer to an order than a request.
“Demanding identification from someone who isn’t a criminal?”
Regardless of her pitiful gaze, it would be troublesome if word got out that Lord Belmore was with a missing woman.
He wasn’t the type to be embroiled in scandals. People always enjoyed sordid rumors about respectable men more than the antics of rakes.
“May we at least see your wife’s face?”
“I’d like to say that’s quite rude.”
But the policeman had already stepped partially inside.
Behind him, the landlady stood with a confident expression.
“Please, come in.”
With a sigh, he opened the door a bit wider. Surprised at how readily they were allowed inside, the officers exchanged glances.
“What’s going on?” Lily asked nervously, looking back and forth between Christopher and the policemen.
“Ma’am, what is your name?”
Not understanding the reason for the abrupt question, Lily blinked.
“Blonde hair, short stature, slender build, green dress. The missing woman matches your description.”
As Lily grew anxious, Christopher answered calmly.
“They say a woman went missing from the exhibition, and they’re asking if we know anything.”
The person searching for her couldn’t possibly be Cecil Hobert. Christopher wondered who, besides Cecil, would be concerned about her disappearance.
Cecil was the sort who would either grow tired of her maid and return alone, or go back to Londinium chatting with other ladies without even realizing Lily was gone.
“The missing woman’s name is Elizabeth Gardner. Twenty years old…”
Lily folded her anxious hands on her lap to hide them. She didn’t even realize how unnatural the gesture looked. In contrast, Christopher sat on the bed and casually wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her toward him.
“We’ll be leaving for Londinium early tomorrow morning. It’s inconvenient to be disturbed so late.”
At his words, the policemen clicked their tongues in annoyance. Lily nodded vigorously and leaned her head against his chest. Even that looked so awkward that Christopher had to suppress a laugh.
“Please leave now.”
As he said that, he ran his fingers through Lily’s hair and lightly pressed his nose to the top of her head. Seeing this, the officers adjusted their hats.
There was nothing to gain from provoking a man so clearly conveying that they were interrupting a couple’s private time.
“Then we apologize for the intrusion.”
With a brief bow, they left.
Only the creaking sound of footsteps descending the stairs filled the room. When Lily finally exhaled the breath she had been holding, a faint white puff escaped her lips.
The police visit snapped Lily back to reality.
Even the innkeeper hadn’t truly believed they were a married couple.
His confident manner that didn’t shrink before the police. His tone that commanded as if it were natural. The way the officers had retreated because of him.
If not for him, Lily didn’t even want to imagine what might have happened to her.
Even if he was a minor noble forced onto a theater stage by aristocratic ladies, or someone staying in the cheapest room—he was still a person of a completely different class from her.
“Stop now.”
The affectionate act of clinging to each other was over. Lily shifted uncomfortably. Just as he was about to take hold of her, she slipped away.
The man before her hadn’t realized that Lily was not someone who would fall for such temptation. Or rather—he was only realizing it now.
“Really… today has been such a strange day, hasn’t it?”
Lily forced a smile as she looked at him.
“Earlier… what were you going to say? Um, where did we leave off?”
Christopher surrendered to this innocent creature. He leaned back in his chair like someone slightly weary. For suppressing the lingering heat required a small measure of pain.
“It seems Cecil Hobert is looking for you.”
“No. It’s probably Timothy searching for me.”
“Timothy?”
“He’s my friend.”
A friend. What kind of man would ever try to remain just friends with a woman like her?
For the first time in his life, a man who had never lacked anything felt the sting of deficiency—and realized how unpleasant that feeling was.
“A friend who would mobilize the police to look for you if you disappeared…”
Lily quietly pondered what he meant. He seemed to believe that her relationship with Timothy was more than ordinary friendship.
She trembled, worried she might appear like a shameless woman playing with two men at once.
To defend her innocence, Lily blurted out an excuse.
“I’m going to become a nun.”
Unaware that those words halted Christopher in his tracks, she mumbled on.
“A nun?”
From the beginning, he had never been able to imagine Elizabeth as the wife of a butcher’s eldest son or some country farmer. The thought displeased him.
He couldn’t picture those soft hands and beautiful face wilting beside an ordinary, unremarkable man—but becoming a nun was a surprisingly clever lie, if it was indeed a lie.
Convincing enough that he would pretend to be deceived out of courtesy.
“Your God must be quite greedy.”
Christopher gave a bitter smile.
Although he had spoken irreverently of God, Lily felt relieved, thinking he would no longer see her as a woman toying with men’s hearts.
He rose from his chair, pulled up the fallen blanket, and covered her with it. He looked almost tender, as if caring for a younger sister.
“So now sleep peacefully, Sister.”
At that moment, Lily realized she was disappointed.
What was I expecting to feel disappointed about?
She lowered her gaze to hide her wavering eyes.
Watching her, he turned and strode toward the door without any hesitation. His weight made the floorboards creak.
“Where are you going at this hour?”
“To the car.”
“I told you it’s fine to stay here.”
At Lily’s words, he stopped walking.
