“She said that she didn’t escape the carriage, Percy,” Leo said, mentally shaking his mind free of cobwebs. “So how do you imagine she came to be wandering the forest when we found her?”
Percy’s lips thinned. “I’ve men still searching, sir. When they find the carriage, I imagine we will have our answers.”
With a nod, Leo strode to his friend and man-of-all-work and slid his arms through the sleeves of his robe, tying the sash about his waist before he removed the towel from around his hips. “Has she left the estate?”
Percy accepted the towel. “No, sir. I believe she intends to do so in the morning.”
Leo rubbed at his neatly trimmed beard hair, his gaze locked on the fire blazing in his bedchamber’s hearth. The room was spacious and comfortable, painted in a pale green and decorated far more lavishly than he truly required. He scarcely spent any time in the space, preferring to ride, walk, or convalesce in his comfortable library. He’d not thought that he would spend time languishing within these walls, wondering about such a confounding woman, but there you have it.
He cursed and sat upon the chaise by his fire, Boots taking a cushion left conveniently on the floor near the hearth. “Truthfully, I have no wish for her to leave. Hell, but we’ve waited so sodding long for a governess to accept the position. I’d merely hoped to question her. To get some bloody answers. I just…” He sighed, scratching his fingers through his beard. He’d grown frustrated by his feelings for her, and he’d reacted irrationally.
Percy moved about the room behind Leo. “As I’ve said, you desire her. Why not get it over with?”
Leo scoffed, selected a cinnamon drop from the tray that Percy held out to him, and popped it into his mouth. The sweet spice burst sharply on his tongue as he rolled it back and forth, letting the heat sizzle through his senses.
A dish of coconut oil appeared in front of him, and he dipped his index finger in, before massaging it into his beard.
“Thank you. I’ll not debauch a woman merely for the sake of one pleasing night, Percy.”
Memories of their heated kisses in the conservatory raced through his mind, and he gritted his teeth against the surge of desire and guilt that they wrought. He was grateful that they’d been interrupted, for the devil knew what he would have done if given the opportunity.
At one time, Leonard would have happily taken Miss Smith to his bed without compunction, but after… He cleared his throat and refocused his wandering thoughts. Put simply, he hadn’t slept with a woman in just over three years, and he didn’t know when—orif—he would do so again.
As out of touch as he was with the world beyond his estate, Leo was acutely aware of his discomfort and awkwardness around others. Before now, however, he hadn’t considered that a problem. In fact, he’d rather relished his isolation and detested the thought of engaging with others. Hell, he even avoided meetings with his steward, preferring to conduct business through letters. He couldn’t…abidethis struggle against his self-imposed—and befitting—restraints.
He rolled the slowly shrinking cinnamon drop over his tongue, relishing the spicy flavour.
Since she’d entered his home and his life, Miss Smith’s presence had him wanting things that he could not have, such as her body and her trust. Even should she be inclined to give them, he did not deserve them. For Leonard was not a man to be trusted.
* * *
Nerves racedup and down Juliana’s spine as she paced her small bedchamber.
Click-clack, click-clack…Heavens knew what Kitty thought they were doing, but she was along for the walk, and Juliana appreciated the silent support.
Despite her avowal to remain unmoved by Mr. Notley’s presence, she had somehow let him in. It made her furious with herself that she’d gone against her promise. She’d known that if she allowed her heart to trust a man, he would find a way to break that trust.And what happened, Juliana?
“He searched for the carriage and used it to hurt me,” she whispered, steeling her nerves.
Kitty bounced and licked at Juliana’s fingers. Despite her ill feelings, she grinned down at the dog.
There was no hope for it. Her time in Woodhaven Hall was at an end. Soon, Mr. Notley’s men would find the wreckage and would learn the truth of what she’d done. Her only option now was to continue on to London, despite the ill weather, and hope that the journey did not prove too treacherous…or that her brother did not happen upon her first.
She would use her pitiful funds to change horses along the journey and garner rooms at nearby inns when the sky grew too dark to continue. It would only be a few days—five at most—before she reached the comforts of London.
Her fingertips tingled, and she shook out her hands. The hour notwithstanding, she’d requested that a horse be saddled—no matter the snow, she could not countenance being alone in a carriage at the moment—but there was one task that she must carry out before she left—ifher quarry was amenable, of course.
What she required was something to protect her from her brother’s machinations, something that would provide a more permanent barrier between her and the viscount’s attentions, so that she might pursue the future that she desired.
While the feelings that Mr. Notley had inspired in Juliana had undeniably been irksome, she could not deny the attraction she felt toward him. He was indeed the ideal man to divest her of the one thing holding back her life: her maidenhead.
* * *
Juliana liftedher fist to knock, but lowered it again.
Goodness, Juliana. Just knock.
Nerves danced along her hips and thighs, feeling both hot and cold at once. Frowning, she rubbed a hand over her waist and discreetly shook out her legs beneath her skirts. Kitty reacted animatedly, leaping back as though Juliana intended to play. She suppressed a sigh.I can do this.
