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“I have a better idea,” Keir murmured before he leaned in and, without warning, kissed her soundly. “Does this feel real?” he asked against her lips, their breaths mingling.
“Aye,” Sarah replied, pushing herself up onto her toes, her hands eager as they reached for him. “But kiss me again… just to be certain.”
Keir chuckled, happy to comply.
Chapter Thirty-Five
TRUTH BE TOLD
Upon waking the next morning, Sarah felt almost deliriously happy. Not only because of the events of the previous night. More than even in her engagement, Sarah found bliss in opening her eyes and finding Keir lying beside her, a teasing smile upon his lips.
The night before, she had been most reluctant to bid him goodnight, and so Sarah had asked him to stay. Yes, her cheeks had been aflame, and her mother’s voice had offered countless objections, adding insults when Sarah had remained steadfast in her request.
Yet Sarah had persisted.
As they had sat with Keir’s family the night before and Sarah had listened to Keir telling their story, she had become overwhelmed by the memory of the night they had slept in each other’s arms. “Would you stay?” she had asked him when he had turned to go. “Would you hold me again as you did that night in the woods?”
And Keir had.
Still wrapped in each other’s arms, Sarah gazed into Keir’s eyes as the sun streamed in through the windows, giving the chamber a golden glow. “You’re still here,” she murmured, unable to hide a smile.
Keir chuckled. “Aye, I am.” Then his brows furrowed, and yet Sarah could see the wicked gleam that lay in his blue eyes. “Have ye already grown tired of me, lass?”
“Never,” Sarah told him earnestly, inching closer for another kiss when the sound of little feet suddenly sounded from the corridor, quickly followed by a most insistent knocking upon her door.
“’Twould seem our moment of bliss is over,” Keir remarked, sliding out of bed and pulling his boots back on. Then he shrugged back into his coat and moved to open the door.
“Wait!” Sarah called out quietly, suddenly feeling mortified. “Should we—? What will they—?”
Keir grinned at her wickedly. “Do ye want me to hide under the bed?” He wiggled his brows teasingly.
Sarah buried her face in her hands. “No, of course not. I’m sorry.”
“We did nothing wrong,” Keir told her reassuringly as he walked over, his warm hands settling upon her trembling shoulders. “Look at me, lass.”
Sarah lifted her gaze. “I know you’re right.”
“Do ye?” He raised one eyebrow.
Sarah nodded.Yes, he’s right! I will not cower.Then she reached up to grasp his face, planted a kiss upon his mouth, and moved toward the door with confident steps. “Good morning,” she greeted her nieces, a smile upon her face despite the slight trembling in her hands. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
The moment the girls spied Keir their jaws dropped. “A lady is not supposed to meet a gentleman without a chaperone,” Thea mumbled, her words an echo of her governess’s instructions. Still, the conviction Sarah had heard in her voice before when Thea had shared what she had been taught had lessened, as though the girl suddenly doubted the truth of what she had learned.
“Sarah, would you—?”
Sarah cringed when she saw her sister’s face fall the moment Kate beheld Keir. With Frederica clutched in her arms, she stood in the corridor, staring at Keir, her face paling.
Sarah felt deeply unsettled by her sister’s reaction. Yet she knew it had become second nature to Kate to judge according to society’s standards. After all, Sarah, too, still felt the need to do as she had been taught. Was that not why she had reacted with sudden panic the moment the knock had come upon her door?
“Good morning,” Keir exclaimed, striding forward and coming to stand beside Sarah at the door. He smiled at her nieces and her sister, his right hand coming to settle in the small of her back. It was warm and reassuring, and Sarah smiled up at him.
Kate cleared her throat, looking a bit flustered. Sarah hoped that with time, her sister would find herself set free of these old restrictions and once again become the woman she had once been. “I… I simply wish to ask,” Kate began, her gaze flickering back and forth between Sarah and Keir, never quite daring to linger. “What I mean to say is that the girls wish to see Bonnie.” Her gaze drifted to Keir and then quickly returned to Sarah. “Would you know where to find her?” The moment the last word left her lips, Kate all but bowed her head, not daring to look up again.
Sarah frowned, confused to see her sister so upset. Perhaps, though, there was no reason to be. Perhaps all Kate needed was a bit more time.
“I’ll take them,” Keir interjected, grasping Sarah’s hand and giving it an affectionate squeeze. Then he stepped past her, and Kate instantly retreated toward the other side of the corridor. “Dunna worry. I shall see them safely to Eoghan’s house.” He smiled at Kate and then turned to the girls. “Have ye had breakfast? Or should we stop by the kitchen?”
Augusta’s and Dorothea’s faces lit up, and they nodded eagerly.
