“Of course, Lord Coulter, thank you. I will go to her at once.” The man didn’t so much as glance again at Sophie but scurried off with his coattails flapping.
And just like that, she was tense again. The last time she’d seen this man she’d slapped him hard.
“Come, we will walk,” Lord Coulter said.
“Most people say things such as ‘Would you like to?’ or ‘Please,’” Sophie said. “I do not take kindly to orders, my lord, and especially not from you.”
“I’m used to giving orders.”
“I’m not used to accepting them,” she lied.
He sighed and then looked down at her. She saw dark smudges under his eyes then and the pallor of his skin, and her heart skipped a beat.
“Are you unwell?” Sophie asked.
“What?”
“Not a difficult question, my lord. Are you unwell?”
He held out his arm. “Please walk with me, Countess.”
She stared at his arm.
“I said please.” He looked at her.
Knowing that there were too many eyes watching her to make a stand, Sophie placed the tips of her fingers on Lord Coulter’s sleeve. It was a deep forest green today, not his customary black.
Taking a deep breath, she said what she needed to. “I must apologize for slapping you the other night, Lord Coulter.”
“I deserved what you did,” he said. “Once again, I behaved badly. Forgive me.” She watched him wince as he raised his eyes to the sky.
“Are you ill?” She looked up at him again. His eyes were narrowed and squinty.
“A headache, nothing more.” He dismissed her words.
Sophie removed her hand from his arm.
“It is not catching, Countess.”
“I know that. Now take off your gloves, my lord.”
“Pardon?”
“I am not going to hurt you. Trust me.”
She felt his eyes on her, but he did as she asked.
“Right, now straighten your left hand so that your fingers are pointing up and the back of your hand is facing you.” He did as she asked. “Now watch what I do.”
Sophie found the small bulge of muscle between her thumb and forefinger, and then she began to massage it with her right thumb.
“Relax your hand before you start, but you will need to keep doing it for a few minutes. Then repeat it twice more.”
He did as she said as they continued to walk in silence. Sophie counted silently as he did it, and when they reached three minutes, she told him to stop.
“How does it feel?”
She saw the surprise on his face as he looked at her. “Better.”
