He sincerely hoped that she did not cause a scene when the time came for her to leave. She would stay with the Shrewsburys, and that was that.
Nodding to the servant who waited to attend him, he leaned back in his chair, then watched as the domestic filled his plate with his Thursday morning fare of fluffy eggs, buttered scones, and a steaming slice of kidney pie.
Splendor shuddered when she realized that the servant had served Jourdian something with animal in it. Sweet everlasting, she hoped the man did not serve her the same!
“You did not have to make your bed, Splendor,” Jourdian said for lack of anything better to say. “That’s what the maids are for.”
“Make my bed?”
“That little maid—Tessie, I think her name is. She told Mrs. Frawley that when she went to make up your bed, she found it already made.”
“I didn’t make my bed, My Grace, and there was nay a need for Tessie to do it, either. I didn’t sleep in it.” She recalled that she’d slept the entire night atop the soft and airy canopy that stretched from bedpost to bedpost. Aside from the fact that shrinking to Pillywiggin size helped conserve her energy, she’d also thought the canopy an ideal place to hide from Jourdian’s cat.
“You didn’t sleep in your bed?" Jourdian asked. “Where did you sleep?”
“On top of the bed.”
“On the canopy?”
“I was afraid your cat would get into the room.”
“And the canopy didn’t fall?”
“My Grace, I weigh but little.”
“But…” How could she have slept on the canopy? True, she didn’t weigh much, but surely she was too heavy to sleep atop a length of suspended satin.
But perhaps the canopy was securely fastened to the posts, he decided. “How did you get up there?”
“I flew.”
He frowned and stared and leaned over his plate. “You flew?”
“What? Umm… Did I say I flew? Well, what I meant to say, you see, is that I—I climbed one of the posts. I am an excellent climber, My Grace.”
He could hardly believe what he was hearing, but since no other logical explanation existed that he could think of, he accepted the one she gave him. “A canopy is no place to sleep. Indeed, I have never heard of a stranger thing.”
She strained her neck upward, trying to see him better over the flowers and candelabra. “’Twas quite comfortable, the canopy, and I see nothing strange about seeking a comfortable sleeping place. On the contrary, ’twould be strange for one to sleep in a disagreeable place when a pleasing one is within reach.”
He realized he was getting nowhere with the argument, and decided to end it. After all, she would be gone shortly, and he would never have to participate in such a bizarre altercation again. Sleeping on a canopy indeed! “At any rate, I appreciate your having stayed in your room last night.”
“Do you…thank me?”
Jourdian took a bite of eggs. “I suppose.”
Splendor battled uneasiness. As a fairy, she spurned gratitude. “I nay wish to be thanked, My Grace. If I do something that pleases you, my reward is knowing that I have made you happy. Please do not express your gratefulness again. Besides, I did not truly set out to follow your instructions. I fell asleep, and since I do not walk in my sleep, I remained in my room.”
Jourdian laid his fork down beside his plate. “Am I to understand that had you not fallen asleep, you would have defied my instructions for you to stay in your room? You would have wandered about the house in the dark?”
“I would have gone directly to your rooms, My Grace, now that I know where they are,” Splendor said, smiling when the same servant who had served Jourdian now filled her own plate with quartered apples, sliced pears, and several hot scones. “I desire to give you joy from dawn to dawn. Therefore, if I am nay with you at night, how would it be possible for me to give you nighttime pleasures?”
Shocked over what he was trying desperately not to hear, the servant dropped the glass of milk he held. The creamy liquid drenched the blue tablecloth and dripped onto the gold carpet. With shaking hands, he pulled off the thick cloth draped over his lower arm, then bent to wipe up the milk from the rug.
But he found nothing to scrub. The carpet was dry and unstained, so clean it seemed to twinkle with silver lights.
When he looked up, he saw the duke’s lady guest calmly sipping a full glass of milk.
His legs trembled as he straightened. “The milk,” he whispered.
“Luscious,” Splendor said, and smiled. “So fresh that I imagine it only just came from the darling cow who was sweet enough to share it with me. I shall be sure to send a gift to her. A shining silver bell she can wear around her neck. I think that would be appropriate. Do you think so as well?”
The servant didn’t answer. He fainted.
“What the—” Jourdian rose from his chair and rang for Ulmstead.
The fussy butler arrived instantly, carrying a baby seal in his arms. “Your Grace?”
Jourdian stared at the sleek marine animal. “You have a seal.”
“I found him burrowed beneath a stack of table linens, your lordship. Oh!” he exclaimed upon spotting the supine footman. “Oh my, what has happened to poor Leonard?” He scurried over to where the servant lay and set the seal down on the floor.
Splendor seized the chance to send the seal, who was Delicious, to one of the fountains outside. “He fainted, poor Leonard,” she said. She felt terrible over having so frightened Leonard, but sweet everlasting, these humans fell completely apart over the least bit of magic! How was she to live here if every twinkle of enchantment made them scream or swoon? She could not cease to use her powers. To do so was akin to ceasing to breathe.
“Splendor, you are not to discuss such things,” Jourdian said when Ulmstead and two other male servants had carried Leonard from the room. “The man fainted because he could not believe what he was hearing.”
Apparently the candelabra and flowers had prevented Jourdian from seeing the servant drop the milk, Splendor realized. “To what such things do you refer, My Grace?”
The confused tone in her voice convinced Jourdian that she truly did not understand what he was talking about. He sat back down. “You said you desired to give me joy at night. In my chambers.”
“’Twasn’t a falsehood I spoke.”
The room felt suddenly warm. Jourdian pulled at his collar and shifted in his chair. “This conversation is highly improper.” Clearing his throat, he took up his fork again and ate a bite of kidney pie.
Bewildered, Splendor rose from her seat and moved to stand beside Jourdian’s chair. Once beside him, she noticed how untidy and tangled his hair was.
Elf knots.
Harmony.
“Splendor?” Jourdian asked.
She would deal with Harmony later, she mused. She had to, for Harmony had already struck twice and there was no telling what other forms of pixie pranks she would employ. “Why is it improper for me to make you happy in your chambers at night?”
Jourdian’s pie stuck in his throat. It took three swallows of cool water and one swallow of warm tea to get it down.
Finally he peered up at Splendor and again saw her confusion. Was it really possible that she was so naive that she did not understand the implications of going to his rooms during the night?
But then, she hadn’t known what a kiss was, he remembered suddenly.
She was either the most accomplished actress ever to perform, or she’d lived her entire life beneath a rock.
He told himself he didn’t care. She was going to live with the Shrewsburys, would soon be out of his hands, and so, whether her ignorance of sexuality was real or feigned, it was none of his concern.
He didn’t care.
But, damn it all, how was it possible for her not to understand the impropriety of going to his room at night?
He had to know. Taking her hand, he led her out of the dining room and escorted her to a nearby parlor.
> Splendor noticed the small, sunlit room was decorated in shades of springtime—delicate pinks, yellows, white, and pastel green. “’Tis lovely, this room, My Grace. We shall dine in here rather than in that other room, which is a bit dark for my liking. And I cannot see you well while sitting at that enormous table. I need to see you. Here, I could see you. Aye, we shall take all our meals in here.”
Her decree increased his curiosity over her. Who was she? Why, how, and where had she acquired her commanding demeanor?
So many questions about her hammered through his mind that his head began to ache.
“You will not dictate to me, Splendor, and never mind about dining in this parlor. I brought you in here to discuss—to understand if it is truly possible that you know nothing about…” He rammed his fingers through his hair, then winced. He’d never had so many tangles in his hair, and they’d defied every comb and brush he’d used! “Splendor, if you do not comprehend the consequences of going into a man’s chambers at night, just what sort of happiness do you think to give me in my bed?”
She lifted his hand to her face and touched her cheek to it. “Whatever sort would please you, My Grace,” she replied, taking careful note of the change that suddenly appeared in his eyes. They darkened, yet there remained a strange light within their silvery depths. “What would please you in your bed?”
The ache in Jourdian’s head moved much lower. Dear God, how she aroused him. And she didn’t even mean to do it!
Breathing unevenly, he walked from the door, away from her. “Let’s start from the beginning, shall we? We’ll put this matter in much simpler terms. Say you slept with me. In my bed. What would you do there?”
She noted that the odd light in his eyes had brightened and now resembled the sheen of excitement. “I would sleep, would I not? What more is there to do in a bed at night?”
He stared at her for a very long while. “Hasn’t anyone told you... Wasn’t there anyone in your life who explained… Who… Do you mean to say you know nothing at all about what happens when a man and a woman are in the same bed together?”
His disbelief was boldly apparent to her, and she decided that whatever all-important bed activity he was referring to was a human thing that fairies didn’t do. “Nay, My Grace, no one has ever explained what men and women do together in bed. But if ’twould give you joy to do this thing with me, take me to your bed and I will do it with you.”
Her honesty was as plain to see as the solid oak door behind her, and he was finally convinced that she was telling the truth.
What a change she was from the other women he’d met! Most of the unmarried ladies of the ton were still maidens, he knew, but not a one of them was completely ignorant of the ways of love. Far from being unacquainted with sensuality, they flaunted their charms and flirted outrageously, and they did it with the express purpose of enticing the noblemen, some of whom were young, some of whom were elderly, all of whom itched to sample what was so blatantly displayed to them. Splendor represented the truest meaning of purity.
And her complete unworldliness pleased Jourdian more than he cared to admit or ponder.
“Do you wish to take me to your bed?” Splendor asked, gliding across the floor to stand beside him. “There’s a light in your eyes… ’Tis a luster that looks quite like excitement. It appeared the moment you began to speak of my sleeping with you. I will go to your bed with you now if that is your wish.”
Her sweet offer to give what she didn’t even understand touched a chord in his heart, one he hadn’t realized existed. “No, Splendor.”
She moved closer to him, savoring the strength that emanated from his body. “Please. Let me grant you this wish.”
He felt the tips of her breasts smooth across his chest, and he cursed his lust, his wavering resistance. “No.”
The potency of his might and vigor lured her even closer to him. She pressed herself against him and felt his vitality flow into her like a deep breath of life-giving air. “I would do everything you told me to do,” she promised. “Anything, whatever you want.”
Closer, closer she moved to him, and his heavily muscled thigh slipped between her legs and across her femininity.
She gasped as unfamiliar pleasure shot through her. Wanting more of the strange delight, she wrapped her arms around his waist, and thrust her hips forward, then backward, stroking herself against him with unabashed enjoyment. “Oh, My Grace, ’tis supremely glorious this feeling that comes from your leg!”
“My leg?” Jourdian felt his lips curve with a ghost of a smile. “Splendor, the feeling isn’t coming from my—”
“Don’t move,” she said when he tried to step away from her. “Please don’t move, My Grace. Something tells me that this feeling flowing from your leg is but the beginning of something bigger. Much like a bud about to open into full blossom. Do you understand?”
He understood, all right, but her stirring against his leg was ludicrous. Shameless.
It was the sexiest thing he’d ever felt.
And one of the funniest things that had ever happened to him. His leg, he thought. She thought her pleasure came from his leg! He felt his smile grow broader.
He wouldn’t laugh. No, he wouldn’t. To laugh over such an absurdity was an absurdity in itself.
But his mirth defied his will, and he began to chuckle.
“Joy,” Splendor whispered. “Your laughter means you are joyful, doesn’t it, My Grace? Why, you must feel this pleasure too! Oh, ’tis grand that we share this delight! Let us blossom together as well, shall we?”
When she tightened her thighs around his leg, Jourdian’s amusement deepened. Quite unable to control himself, he threw back his head and laughed harder than he could ever remember laughing.
“I am about to blossom, My Grace!”
Still in the throes of mirth, Jourdian couldn’t decide whether to pull her away or allow her her first taste of lovemaking.
And then he heard music, a soft, quiet, faraway melody that grew a bit louder every few seconds. As if building toward a magnificent crescendo.
With Splendor still clinging to him like a stubborn vine, he looked around the room. “Where is that music coming from?”
She didn’t answer. She couldn’t. The beautiful feelings gathering within her robbed her of her voice, her thoughts, everything but the exquisite sensations seeping into her from Jourdian’s leg.
She felt her feet leave the floor and knew she was going to float right up to the ceiling. “Blossoming,” she moaned.
Jourdian heard her groan something to him, but could not concentrate on anything but understanding where the strange, beautiful melody was coming from. Determined to find out, he finally succeeded in moving Splendor away from his leg, then turned to investigate the unaccountable music.
But it faded instantly.
Splendor felt the floor beneath her feet again. “Why did you stop me from blossoming?”
“Did you hear that music?” he asked, still staring all around the room.
“Music?” She pressed herself close to him and curled her arms around his back again. “My Grace, I would very much like to understand the culmination of the feelings—”
“I distinctly heard music, but it—”
“And this time I desire for you to feel the majestic feelings as well,” Splendor continued. “’Tis obvious that you have never felt them as I have, for if you had you would nay have stopped us from blossoming together.”
Finally, he looked down at her. He remained mystified by the inexplicable music, but knew he had to do something about the little innocent wrapped around his leg. “Splendor—”
“If you will only keep your leg still—”
“You don’t understand. The feelings—”
“I was about to understand them, but you stopped. We shall begin again. Now.”
“No, Splendor.”
She gazed up at him, unable to understand why he didn’t yearn for the pleasure the way she did. “Could it be that
the feelings I felt were stronger than the ones you felt? I am unable to give you the same rapture from my leg, but if you know of another way I can bring it to you, I will gladly comply. ’Twould make me very happy to gift you with such bliss, My Grace.”
Her proposition sounded through his mind just as the top of her robe parted and revealed her breasts. She was thoroughly aroused; he could tell by the way her nipples had darkened and puckered. The sight inflamed his own desire again.
He imagined what it would be like to make love to Splendor. Giving as she was, she would hold nothing back, but would yield to him everything she had to offer, everything he wanted to have.
“My Grace?”
He held himself rigid. She tempted him almost beyond his control, but he would not take her innocence, the very thing about her he found so engaging.
“No,” he rasped.
“But—”
“I said no, damn it all!”
She drew away, sudden tears spilling from her eyes and dropping to the carpet. “I have wanted to make you happy since first meeting you, but all I have done is anger you. I can find no way around your uncivil streak no matter how I try!”
“Splendor…”
She skimmed toward the door, remembering to open it and exit like a human the moment she reached it.
And then, in a silver flash, she was gone.
Jourdian started to follow her, but something shining on the floor stopped him. Looking down, he saw bits of gleam scattered all around his shoes.
He gathered them up, and diamonds twinkled up from his palms.
Tiny diamonds.
He felt as though he’d seen them before.
Somewhere.
A long, long time ago.
Splendor flew down the corridor and straight through the wall at the end of it. In the next second she was outside, sailing over an ivy-drenched terrace, then a fountain, a wide, well-kept yard, and finally into a fenced pasture over which fir and sycamore branches swayed in the gentle autumn breeze. As soon as she descended, she vanished into her mist.
Within the cool and sparkling hideaway, she tried unsuccessfully to understand what it was she did and said that made Jourdian so irritable. Her father was right. Human emotions were different from fairy feelings. Sweet everlasting, they went quite beyond her comprehension!
A Basket of Wishes Page 9