broadminded than I let on.”
“Well, if you’re certain . . .”
“Quite.”
The thrush left its post to fly onto the back of a chair near Lili, cheeping furiously in her direction.
“Calm yourself, my friend,” she told it in a soothing tone. “We won’t go anywhere near your home.”
The bird lit off the chair and flew into the cave.
“It lives in there?” he asked.
“Yes, deep inside.”
“Do you make a habit of talking to birds?”
With a little smile, she said, “Just that one.” Before he could pursue the subject, she turned away from him and began tugging off her long white kid gloves. “I wonder if you wouldn’t mind unbuttoning my dress.”
Six
D AVID STARED AT Lili’s back, thinking he couldn’t have heard her right. Was she asking him to
undress
her?
“It’s a new frock, and it will end up filthy if I wear it in there,” she said, nodding toward the cave. “Silk is so wretchedly difficult to get clean.”
“Do . . . Do you really think it seemly for you to disrobe in the presence of a man whom you barely—”
“This from the gentleman who professes to be broad-minded,” she said with a little chuckle. “I assure you I do plan to retain my underpinnings—which, I might add, is more than I had on last night.”
Last night.
He was ambushed with the image of Lili naked with her legs wrapped around Elic and her head thrown back, gripped in a paroxysm of lust. “
Yes, like that. Oh, God, I’m so close. I’m going to come . . .”
“Considering what you saw of me then,” she said, “your protestations of impropriety strike me as a bit disingenuous.”
“I . . . You . . .”
Dear God.
Stammering like some Peeping Tom who’d gotten caught, he said, “I . . . I didn’t realize you knew I was . . . That is, I didn’t mean to . . .”
“You didn’t mean to see what you saw,” she said as she turned to face him. “I know that, David, and I’m not trying to embarrass you, truly. I wouldn’t have brought it up, but for your objection to unbuttoning me. I shan’t press you about it, but neither am I willing to ruin this beautiful dress.” Pulling a glove back on, she said, “Let us return to the château, shall we? They’ll be serving tea soon.”
“Yes, of course, but . . . Perhaps if you told me how to locate the effigy within the cave, I could come back later and—”
“You might have a bit of trouble finding it on your own, even with directions,”she said. “It really isn’t that important for you to see it, and it would take time away from your work here.”
“But . . .” Looking back toward the cave entrance, David thought,
A dusios.
“I must say, you’ve whetted my curiosity to a very great degree. I, er . . . Perhaps I was, after all, being a bit, well, priggish.”
“Not at all. We enjoy a rather bohemian outlook here at Grotte Cachée. Most visitors think us utterly shameless—at least until they get to know us. I should like to get to know
you
a little better, David. You strike me as a man who keeps much of himself hidden. I would find it a most diverting challenge to unearth the real David Beckett.”
God help me.
He gestured awkwardly for her to turn around so that he could undo her dress.
The buttons that ran like a string of pearls down her back were tiny, round, and covered in the same material as the gown, an iridescent, pale green silk that shifted color with every rustling sway of her skirts. It glimmered bluish one moment, violet the next, imparting an air of illusion and mystique that suited her perfectly—unlike her wide-brimmed sunbonnet with its stovepipe crown, which was charming, to be sure, but a bit too provincial to look quite right on the elegant and alluring Lili.
As if she’d heard that thought and agreed, she untied it and set the bonnet on a chair, along with her gloves. Her hair was scraped up into a simple Apollo knot with the front parted crisply down the center, sans the ringlets that were all the rage at
“Well, if you’re certain . . .”
“Quite.”
The thrush left its post to fly onto the back of a chair near Lili, cheeping furiously in her direction.
“Calm yourself, my friend,” she told it in a soothing tone. “We won’t go anywhere near your home.”
The bird lit off the chair and flew into the cave.
“It lives in there?” he asked.
“Yes, deep inside.”
“Do you make a habit of talking to birds?”
With a little smile, she said, “Just that one.” Before he could pursue the subject, she turned away from him and began tugging off her long white kid gloves. “I wonder if you wouldn’t mind unbuttoning my dress.”
Six
D AVID STARED AT Lili’s back, thinking he couldn’t have heard her right. Was she asking him to
undress
her?
“It’s a new frock, and it will end up filthy if I wear it in there,” she said, nodding toward the cave. “Silk is so wretchedly difficult to get clean.”
“Do . . . Do you really think it seemly for you to disrobe in the presence of a man whom you barely—”
“This from the gentleman who professes to be broad-minded,” she said with a little chuckle. “I assure you I do plan to retain my underpinnings—which, I might add, is more than I had on last night.”
Last night.
He was ambushed with the image of Lili naked with her legs wrapped around Elic and her head thrown back, gripped in a paroxysm of lust. “
Yes, like that. Oh, God, I’m so close. I’m going to come . . .”
“Considering what you saw of me then,” she said, “your protestations of impropriety strike me as a bit disingenuous.”
“I . . . You . . .”
Dear God.
Stammering like some Peeping Tom who’d gotten caught, he said, “I . . . I didn’t realize you knew I was . . . That is, I didn’t mean to . . .”
“You didn’t mean to see what you saw,” she said as she turned to face him. “I know that, David, and I’m not trying to embarrass you, truly. I wouldn’t have brought it up, but for your objection to unbuttoning me. I shan’t press you about it, but neither am I willing to ruin this beautiful dress.” Pulling a glove back on, she said, “Let us return to the château, shall we? They’ll be serving tea soon.”
“Yes, of course, but . . . Perhaps if you told me how to locate the effigy within the cave, I could come back later and—”
“You might have a bit of trouble finding it on your own, even with directions,”she said. “It really isn’t that important for you to see it, and it would take time away from your work here.”
“But . . .” Looking back toward the cave entrance, David thought,
A dusios.
“I must say, you’ve whetted my curiosity to a very great degree. I, er . . . Perhaps I was, after all, being a bit, well, priggish.”
“Not at all. We enjoy a rather bohemian outlook here at Grotte Cachée. Most visitors think us utterly shameless—at least until they get to know us. I should like to get to know
you
a little better, David. You strike me as a man who keeps much of himself hidden. I would find it a most diverting challenge to unearth the real David Beckett.”
God help me.
He gestured awkwardly for her to turn around so that he could undo her dress.
The buttons that ran like a string of pearls down her back were tiny, round, and covered in the same material as the gown, an iridescent, pale green silk that shifted color with every rustling sway of her skirts. It glimmered bluish one moment, violet the next, imparting an air of illusion and mystique that suited her perfectly—unlike her wide-brimmed sunbonnet with its stovepipe crown, which was charming, to be sure, but a bit too provincial to look quite right on the elegant and alluring Lili.
As if she’d heard that thought and agreed, she untied it and set the bonnet on a chair, along with her gloves. Her hair was scraped up into a simple Apollo knot with the front parted crisply down the center, sans the ringlets that were all the rage at
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