“I am glad you took my warning seriously, dearling, for I do not give warnings more than once.”
Leonie closed her eyes. He assumed she was acquiescent because he had ordered it. He was going to find she was not a servant.
“What happens, my lord, when your warnings are not heeded?” she asked.
His lips nuzzled her neck. “You do not want to know.”
“But I do, my lord.”
“Rolfe,” he corrected, his lips moving to the center of her throat.
Leonie groaned. “I am sorry, my lord, but I cannot.”
“Cannot what?”
“Call you by name.”
He leaned back. His hands came up to clasp her face. “Just say it. It is a short name, easy to say. Say it.”
He was smiling and his tone was husky, persuasive. But as she gazed into his eyes, she saw Lady Amelia. That lady sat firmly between them.
“I cannot.”
“You mean youwill not.”
“Very well, I will not.”
Instantly, Rolfe was on his feet, Leonie held firmly in his arms. He carried her to the bed and dropped her there, glaring down at her.
“Woman, if I did not think you had more sense, I would swear you do this purposely, just to rile me. If you wish to sulk, do so, but do so alone. If you are wise, you will be done sulking when I come to you again.”
He strode angrily from the room, slamming the door.
Leonie lay back, slowly relaxing. She sighed. She guessed she would not see him again before he left in the morning. That suited her fine. But then she realized where he would spend the night and she tensed.
Surely someone would see him going to his mistress, and no doubt everyone would know of it by the next day, for things like that were kept secret only from the wife.Thiswife already knew, however, and her husband did not care whether she knew or not. That was the vilest insult, that he made no attempt to spare his wife’s feelings.
Chapter 19
ROLFE had indeed left Crewel by the time Leonie ventured into the hall the next morning. Thorpe de la Mare had gone with him, leaving Sir Evarard as castellan of Crewel, in charge.
Leonie was in a foul mood after losing so much sleep trying to convince herself that what her husband did did not matter to her personally, only the shame of it disturbed her. Her mood was not lightened when she found Lady Amelia breaking her fast at the high table with Sir Evarard, the two of them laughing together.
They presented a tableau illustrating that the mistress was accepted there and the wife was not. It was also stabbingly clear that Amelia was in an excellent humor.
The two fell silent as they saw Leonie. She did not greet them or even glance their way again, but continued on toward the chapel as if that had been her destination all along. She knew she was too late for mass, so she didn’t even glance inside the chapel, but left the forebuilding and stepped outside into the bright morning light.
She had a decision to make, one that might get her into even worse trouble with her husband, but one that was worth considering for her own sake.
It was simply not her way to be idle. That onlyencouraged the kind of mood she found herself in. She needed to be occupied.
Of course, Amelia must surely be gratified to find herself placed above Rolfe’s wife in his household. But if Amelia knew the art of maintaining a household, she was surely keeping her knowledge to herself.
The problem was, no one at Crewel seemed to care about the conditions they lived in. For Rolfe to sacrifice his own comfort in order to honor his mistress showed great depth of feeling. Leonie could do nothing about Rolfe’s feelings, but she would not live in a pigsty or be mistress of one.
If she was to order certain tasks done, who was to deny her? Rolfe might, when he returned, but by then she would have accomplished much and the improvements might assuage his wrath. Would Lady Amelia dare complain? Leonie was willing to risk an argument with that one.
The decision made, she went to find Wilda and Mary. She found the stairs that led to the servants’ quarters above the first floor. At the top of those stairs she found, not one large room, but a narrow hall. The servants’ quarters were on the left side, and there were many small rooms on the right side of the hall.
