“Matthew, you’ve compromised me twice,” she argued. “So why…?”
Realization poured over her like a bucket of water.
He doesn’t want to marry me.
“Fine.” Her feet fell hard on the stone ground. “I’ll leave. I don’t care what you do.”
She shoved her feet into her slippers, grabbed her stockings, gloves, and...
The key to the door.
The small iron key weighed heavy in her hand, and a new option presented itself in her wine-addled mind. Time was running out. Decisions were about to be taken away. Jasmine considered Matthew’s words earlier. He was searching for a wife and didn’t have high standards. Someone willing to be seen with him. Kind. Intelligent.
Fearless.
Where else would he find that except with her? If he wouldn’t do the right thing, and her only options were the horrid men on her mother’s list, then she had no choice.
She wouldn’t marry anyone else.
Jasmine looked at Matthew, turned away, waiting for her to leave.
Heart pounding, hands shaking, she pretended to jiggle the door handle. She placed the key in the lock and twisted until the bolt latched, sealing their fates. Praying that one day he would forgive her, she slid the key into her glove.
“Matthew.” Her voice shook. “The door won’t open.”
He pivoted so fast he tripped. “What did you say?”
She tugged at the door once more and said slowly, “The door will not open. We are stuck.”
Chapter Eleven
“Don’t get too close to those casks with that candle!” Jasmine warned. “This entire place could go up in flames.”
Matthew placed the candle back on the table and set tothinking. There had to be a spare key in the cellar somewhere. It was a private place. Romantic.He grimaced at the image of Lord and Lady Dorchester having a secret rendezvous of their own in here.
Shuddering and pushing down nausea, he said, “Your mother wouldnothave a door that locks on both sides without having a key hidden inside.”
“There used to be one,” she mused. “It went missing a long time ago.”
Being an accomplished hand at fine metalwork, he could pick the lock if he had his tools. He examined the door again. How was itpossiblethat it locked behind him? Even an aged lock shouldn’t have justslidinto place.
Matthew ran a hand through his hair. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Does it matter?” She gave a resigned sigh.
Sitting at the table—on a chair this time—she hadn’t donned her gloves and stockings. Her dress and the table hid her legs, but her wrists were on display for his greedy eyes. He wanted them tied to abedpost.
As she took another sip of wine from the bottle, her throat moved with her swallow. Hyper-aware of her movements, he was aflame for her. Like a beast, he had been ready to strip her bare and take her on atable. With the way she moved under him and how she responded to his touch, she would have let him.
Curling his hands into fists, he suppressed the impulse to finish what he started. Giving in to his desire for her had gotten him into this predicament. But having her under him—wanting him—was enough to wake him up. His selfishness didn’t warrant trapping her. All it took was one beautiful, breathless moan for him to realize how badly he needed her tochoosehim.
Too late.
Blast it all.
“How long do you think we have before someone notices we’re missing?” she asked.
“Everyone knowsyou’remissing,” he said. “Seth and Zeke won’t bother looking for me. My guess is when they run out of wine, they’ll send a servant down here. How long does that normally take? A few hours?”
