AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her stomach rumbled again, and he peered up at her with a smile.
“The stew will soon be ready.”
“What kind of stew,” she tried to ask without sounding too greedy.
“Rabbit.”
She glanced around and arched a brow. “Where is the rabbit to come from, my lord.”
His low chuckle washed over her skin.
“There is a meat safe attached to the kitchen. A ventilated cupboard that my local man filled with mutton, bacon, beef, rabbit, and even a duck for me because I gave him notice of my arrival. Although I suspect the rabbit is poached from the duke’s lands. He won’t mind and allows me to shoot on his land. I’d planned to stay for at least a week.”
“Have mercy,” she said with a laugh when her stomach once again grumbled its hunger. “Your stew smells delicious, and I think I’d prefer it over most of the fancy dishes my father’s supposedly French chef makes at home. I think he is a fraud because his French is dreadful. I am imagining all the savory dishes you could make with those, and I truly might start salivating on you, my lord.”
Pippa squeaked when he lifted her into his arms and took her into the room she had been curious about. She gasped, staring about in wonderment. Though the room was small, it was tastefully furnished with a small sofa, a single armchair by the fire, and one wall had a built-in bookshelf filled with dozens of books.
“I enjoy reading,” he said gruffly. “This room was my father and aunts’ bedroom as children. I redid it as a library of a sort when I inherited the cottage.”
“It is lovely,” she breathed.
He lowered her onto the sofa and propped the cushions underneath her ankle.
“What do you enjoy reading? I will see what I have according to your taste.”
“I like gothic horrors and mysteries and romance.”
“I might have one or two titles.”
“Truly?”
That charming smile once again touched his mouth. “Truly. I’ve brought my sisters here in the past, and the eldest, Elizabeth, shares your reading taste.”
“Never say you’ve not yet sunk your reading teeth in a perfectly horrid gothic novel!”
William plucked a title from the shelves and handed it to her.
“Elizabeth swears it is a divine read,” he said drily. “It should entertain you while I cook…and then head out.”
Pippa snapped her gaze to his, her heart lurching. “Head out? In this ghastly weather?”
His expression became inscrutable. “I will make my way to the duke’s estate to inform them of your safety. They might even be able to send back a sturdy carriage for you.”
Fear tore through her, and she gripped the book tightly against her chest. “Do not be foolish, my lord! The rain sleets down, thunder is still rumbling in the sky, and the lightning is rather frightening. Your horse may also toss you, and you could meet with any dangerous mishap on the road!”
“Pippa—”
“No! Please, William, do not leave!”
“Wipe that look of fear from your eyes,” he said gruffly. “Do you understand that we only have one bed in this cottage? The sofa is not fit for sleeping, nor is the chaise.”
One bed. There was a tightness across her chest that made it difficult to breathe. Oddly, she had not given any considerations to their sleeping arrangements. “Then we will share the bed,” she insisted stubbornly and with acerbic sarcasm continued, “I have quite given up on courting you, so rest assured your virtue is perfectly safe with me.”
Provoking humor gleamed in his golden gaze. “Given up, have you?”
She jutted her chin and narrowed her eyes at him. “Yes! Most definitely. I know you are only tending to me because circumstances require it. I have more self-respect to not deliberately compromise a man who is not interested in me.”
A tension she’d not been aware of in him seemed to ease from his shoulders. “Very well, Lady Pippa. I will await for the storm to be over.”
