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He dipped his head curtly. ‘I thought you might be tired of being cooped up indoors.’
This was a surprise.
‘I am—as I’m sure I’ve told you many times,’ she ag
reed. ‘Very tired of it.’
‘Then make sure you have warm clothes and a decent coat. We’re heading out.’
It took her a moment to gather her skittering thoughts. ‘Where?’
‘You’ll see.’
Before she could ask any more questions he spun on his heel and marched straight back out of the library.
For two weeks he had practically ignored her presence here in the castello. Did he really think that he could click his fingers now and she would go running?
Well, he could just think again.
She told herself that her racing heart was crossness, not anticipation.
Ten minutes later, the door opened again.
‘Since you didn’t appear to be moving, I took the liberty of bringing you a thick jumper and your coat. You look warm enough otherwise.’
Saskia stared at him. ‘You went into my room? You went through my clothes?’
And her outrage had nothing to do with the fact that in those drawers lurked the laciest scraps of material, which she still didn’t even understand why she’d packed.
It was as if a traitorous part of her had imagined a stay in Malachi’s castello would lead to more...intimate pursuits.
‘You appeared to need the assistance.’ He raised one eyebrow unapologetically. ‘Perhaps the doctor was mistaken when he thought you were better.’
She had the vague impression that she was baring her teeth at him. But it was either that or crumple with shame. ‘You had no right,’ she breathed.
‘What kind of a husband would I be if I didn’t help the mother of my unborn baby?’
‘And here was I thinking that you’d been avoiding me these past couple of weeks—since our wedding that no one seems to know about. Are you hiding me away out of shame?’
Shockingly, Malachi flinched, as if she had scored a direct hit. As though he felt guilty for it.
He regrouped quickly. ‘I was trying to be considerate by affording you space.’
‘Is that really what you were doing, Malachi?’ she asked softly.
And then she seemed to score an even heavier hit as his gaze locked with hers.
His lips pressed into a thin, vaguely appalled line. ‘Put your coat on,’ he commanded at last. ‘We’re leaving.’
Then, once again, he exited the room, this time leaving her to scurry behind him.
* * *
‘Are you serious?’
Saskia stopped at the doors of the castello, staring down the steps to the horse-drawn sleigh below. The storms had abated and the late-afternoon winter sun was out, bouncing and shining off the snow. A true wonderland.
‘I thought a sleigh ride through the valley might be a nice way for you to get out and get some fresh air.’
