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‘Only you won’t explain it either.’ Not that it mattered any more, she added silently.
‘You’re right, I shouldn’t have walked out on you earlier. I should have explained.’ He raked a hand through his hair. ‘The truth is that somebody did fall from the roof. It was my stepmother Blanche, the one you asked me about. She fell right in front of my eyes. When I saw you up there today, it reminded me of that. It was a shock and I wasn’t thinking straight, but I was afraid you were in danger, too. I panicked.’
Constance peered closer at him. His expression was as stern as ever, but the look in his eyes was anguished, as if he were telling the truth, as if in the heat of the moment, he’d really been afraid that she’d been going to fall, too, and had genuinely been trying to protect her. Leaving her personal feelings aside for a moment, she almost felt sorry for him. It must have been terrible reliving something so awful. If it hadn’t been for everything else she’d recently learned, she might have been tempted to put her arms around him and offer comfort, but she wasn’t about to forgive quite so easily. Not until he’d told her the whole truth about Blanche, the woman he’d been in love with when he’d made his marriage vows to her.
‘Oh.’ She tugged on the cord holding her braid. ‘In that case, I appreciate your telling me, but I’m tired. We can talk more about it tomorrow, but now I think you should go.’
‘Go?’ His brows snapped together. ‘Where would you like me to go?’
‘Back to wherever you slept last night.’ She stopped in the process of unwinding her braid. ‘You didn’t sleep in here...did you?’
He jerked his head towards the fireplace. ‘It wasn’t the most comfortable experience, but I’ve slept in worse places. I’d prefer a mattress tonight.’
‘You mean you want to sleep here? In the bed?’
‘That would be the usual arrangement. We’ve done it before, after all, and I’ve no intention of leaving you on your own.’ A muscle in his jaw twitched. ‘There’s no need to worry, Constance, our arrangement still stands. I won’t lay as much as a finger on you.’
‘Oh.’ She flushed as the memory of his fingers on her cheeks the evening before flashed through her mind. ‘Good.’
‘None the less, I’ll give you some privacy.’
He moved away to the window, turning his back while she threaded her fingers through the rest of her braid, pulling her hair loose over her shoulders and wriggling out of her gown. She supposed that she could demand he sleep on the floor again. She had a feeling he wouldn’t actually refuse, but somehow it felt too much like revenge. The day had already been trying enough—for both of them. Only the phrase no intention of leaving you on your own disquieted her, as if he still felt some need to protect her, but why? An image of Sir Ralph’s face made her shudder.
‘I’m ready,’ she called across to him, scrambling into bed and pulling the coverlet up to her chin.
Matthew nodded though he didn’t turn around or answer. Instead he pulled off his boots, tossed them into a heap by the window and started to unfasten his belt. As she watched he drew his tunic up over his head, allowing her a clear view of broad shoulders and a muscular back that tapered down to a narrow waist. When he bent over to pull off his breeches the muscles all seemed to ripple at once and she bit back a gasp. The lower part of his body appeared to be just as sculpted and muscular as the top, with powerful-looking thighs and...
She blew out her candle and closed her eyes before he turned around and she saw anything else, though unfortunately that didn’t stop her imagination from running riot. There was more rustling, followed by a sound of splashing from the direction of the wash bowl, then movement as the coverlet stretched and the bed dipped beside her.
She allowed herself a small peek through her lashes and then squeezed her eyes shut again in alarm. He was naked! And not just naked. He was onl
y an arm’s length away and completely naked! He hadn’t yet pulled the coverlet over himself, allowing her an up-close view of that part of his body her aunt had warned her about, only it was nothing at all like she would have expected! Nothing in her experience had prepared her for that!
‘Constance, there’s something I need to ask you.’
His voice sounded deeper than ever, a guttural sound that seemed to have an instant tingling effect on her body even despite her anger. Suddenly she felt as hot as though there were ten coverlets piled on top of her.
‘Yes?’ She kept her eyes tightly closed, trying to focus on his words and not her body’s treacherous response to them.
‘It’s about Lacelby. I know I promised to take you home as soon as possible, but I want to make things right with Alan before we leave. I don’t want to abandon him again so quickly.’ He paused as if he were expecting an argument. ‘It would mean staying for a few more days. Maybe a week.’
‘Yes.’
There was a telling pause, as if he thought he’d misheard. ‘You don’t mind?’
‘I didn’t say that, but I like Alan and I told you yesterday, family is important. I can wait a few more days.’
‘Thank you.’ Another pause. ‘Constance...are you feeling all right?
‘Of course.’ She opened one eye, surprised by the note of concern in his voice. To her relief, the lower half of his body was now hidden beneath the coverlet, but his chest was still exposed and she had to make a conscious effort not to gape. His chest was broad and smooth except for a scar on one shoulder and an arrow of pale hair that drew her eyes down towards a taut stomach and... She swallowed. He seemed to have muscles on top of muscles.
‘You look feverish.’ Before she could say anything, he reached out and pressed a hand against her forehead. ‘You feel hot.’
‘I drank too much wine.’ She jerked away from his touch before she got even hotter. At least that was true. Her stomach was feeling decidedly unstable and now the room seemed to be spinning around her, too. The scenes in the tapestries looked as if they were actually moving.
‘I noticed.’ His eyes stared back at hers, dark and impenetrable in the firelight. ‘Why do you think I came up here with you?’
‘Because you were afraid of me falling down the stairwell, too?’ She bit her tongue the moment the words were out of her mouth, horrified by her own tactlessness as his face seemed to ice over. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean...’ Words didn’t seem to be making a great deal of sense any more. ‘I shouldn’t have said that.’
