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There, that should give her plenty to think about while she was getting changed for dinner. Hopefully, he’d surprised her enough that she’d want to dwell on what he’d confessed, rather than whatever poisonous notions Cottam had tried to infect her with.
‘Run along and get changed, then,’ he said. ‘But don’t take too long.’
‘Why, are you hungry?’
‘No,’ he growled, leaning in close. ‘But I don’t want to spend more time away from you than is absolutely necessary.’
She lit up with pleasure, before turning and bounding up the stairs.
Ponsonby cleared his throat. ‘A word, my lord, if it is convenient?’
He’d been wondering why Ponsonby hadn’t melted discreetly away the moment he’d started making verbal love to his wife. So he went into the little sitting room, with Ponsonby on his heels.
‘It concerns Kendall,’ said the butler, after carefully closing the door.
‘The footman?’
Ponsonby nodded. ‘I arranged for all the staff to enjoy some extra leisure hours, in accordance with her ladyship’s wishes,’ he said. ‘Kendall appears to have made straight for a tavern down by the harbour where, he claims, he was befriended by two locals who plied him with drinks, and then, once they were convinced he was deeply under the influence, with questions. About your lordship. And her ladyship,’ he finished, looking uneasy.
‘I see.’ It could just have been natural curiosity, but what if the locals plying his footman with drink were Cottam’s minions? ‘What did Kendall tell them?’
‘Nothing of any importance. He was not as intoxicated as that. However, once the evening air cleared his brain, he became a touch concerned about whether he ought to return to that tavern. Or any other.’
‘I see…’ he said again. He turned to look out of the window while he considered both what Ponsonby had said and what he’d left out. Which was that this Kendall was conscientious enough to repeat what many footmen would have attempted to conceal. And appeared to be able to keep a clear head even when everyone else thought he should be drunk enough to become indiscreet.
Which could come in handy.
‘I see no reason,’ he said, turning back to Ponsonby, ‘to curtail his enjoyment of the local amenities. Providing, of course, that he is able to carry out his duties when needed.’
‘Thank you, my lord. I was unwilling to turn him off whilst we are so far from London…’
Rawcliffe raised one eyebrow. It was unlike Ponsonby to talk about the way he governed the staff, or to bring such concerns to him. Did this sudden outburst of familiarity stem from the fact that they were in a holiday resort? Or was this Clare’s influence? He’d already noted that his staff all believed they owed their increased leisure time to her, rather than to him.
Ponsonby took the hint and left the room. Leaving Rawcliffe free to go upstairs and change for dinner. Over which he renewed his sensuous assault on Clare, turning the eating of food and the drinking of wine into a protracted form of foreplay, so that by the time they went upstairs Clare was as impatient as he was to get to the main course.
* * *
He just about had the finesse to get her to the bed before ravishing her for the first time, unlike the previous night.
When they’d finished, she kept her arms and legs round him, as though she couldn’t bear to let him go.
‘Stay with me again tonight,’ she whispered. ‘I… That is…’
He stopped her mouth with a kiss. There was nothing he wanted more than to hold her in his arms all night, telling her, and showing her, how much she meant to him.
But his conscience kept him silent. Reminded him he’d just spent all day manipulating her and using her, and withholding a great deal of information from her.
Somehow it didn’t feel right to say he still loved her, had never stopped loving her, while he was deliberately keeping her in the dark about…so many things. Far better to show her. Didn’t they say that actions spoke louder than words? If he worshipped her body, the way he’d vowed to do in church, stayed faithful, cherished her, eventually, there would come a time when he’d be able to tell her what was in his heart, with some chance of her believing him.
