She gave no sign of responding.
“Please?” he whispered again.
“Charity?” Edith grew impatient, knocking on the door another time.
Slowly, Charity nodded her head.
Seth went to release her mouth, carefully, watching as her body still shook beneath his grasp. One of her hands clutched to the loose shoulder of her gown. The moment he released her lips, she screamed.
The yelp pierced the air and Seth acted fast. Fearing he had become a criminal after all, the very thing he detested the idea of, Seth latched a hand over her mouth again, silencing her.
“Hmm!” She tried to wail against his grasp, but the sound was muffled.
“I am not here to harm you or anyone in this house!” he whispered in her ear, firmly this time. “I am a reputable Lord, for heaven’s sake, lady. My patience would not endure were my intentions nefarious. The moment your guest departs, I will take my leave too. You can still save this, tell her you were startled by the sight of a mouse. Again, I had good reason for being here tonight, and though this must seem mad, it is all just a–”
He paused when she nodded wildly against his grasp.
Then, his words dawned on him.The sight of a mouse?He felt a fool, realizing his mistake at once.
“Perhaps do not use those words, precisely. Please, I shall explain everything later. Just ask your guest to leave.”
Charity’s blue eyes narrowed a little. Seth could not stop looking at those eyes, admiring them. He was rather glad she couldn’t see him. What would she think if she could see his disfigurement? Would she be disgusted?
Slowly, he released her once more, terrified to see if she would scream again.
CHAPTER 3
Charity thought fast, trying to make sense of this stranger in her room. True to his word, he had released her again. If he had meant her harm, surely, he would have just kept holding onto her?
She supposed it was her drunken state that made her think it was a good idea to do as he said. Whatever the reason for it, she heard the words escaping her lips, calling back to Edith.
“I thought I heard a mouse, that was all,” she called to her sister.
She heard the sigh of the man before her, the sound escaping him deeply. It was as deep as that gravelly tone of his. She could not remember hearing anyone before with such a rich or raspy voice. It was utterly hypnotizing to listen to.
“And you can tell sounds like that, can you?” Edith asked.
Charity rolled her eyes and planted her hands on her hips in indignation at her sister’s belief she was completely incapable. She could have sworn she heard the man trying to stifle a chuckle at her reaction, but she couldn’t be certain.
“Yes,I can,” she told her sister. “Leave me be, Edith. I am not joining you downstairs.”
“I suppose I will not be changing your mind tonight. Perhaps tomorrow, when you have finally come to your senses!” Edith retreated from the door, her footsteps shuffling away.
“Thank you,” the man whispered, that tone as deep as before. Judging by the creak of wood, he leaned against the door.
“I think now is the perfect time to explain yourself, good sir,” she said sharply. “Considering I was about to…” She trailed off, thinking about the loose shoulders of her gown. She hurried to right the gown and tied it at her back.
“I suppose it counts for nothing if I say I was frantically trying to think of a way out of this chamber before you disrobed?”
“And you expect me to trust the word of a man who has managed to slip into the one room in this home exclusively occupied by a blind lady?”
“I… fair point,” his baritone voice tapered off into silence.
She suddenly felt something on her cheek. She reached up and touched it. It was a warm liquid, and when she held it near her nose, she recognized the coppery scent at once.
“You are bleeding,” she said, turning around to angle her head in his direction.
“Ah… apologies once more,” he murmured, seeming to lower his head in a show of guilt. “I slashed my palm on a branch outside. I did not expect the wound to open up so soon.”
