“It matters,” he said softly.
Gooseflesh broke out across her skin. “You said, and I recall vividly, that all your intentions toward me have only ever been good.”
“I said that?”
Her eyes narrowed on him. “Are you going to deny it?”
“I must have lost my mind.”
On that, they were agreed. “It’s good that you know.”
“Well, my intentions still aren’t bad. How can a husband attempting to seduce his wife not be good, eh?”
Seduce?
Her brain threatened to stumble to a halt again. “I also recall you saying you wouldn’t dream of trying to charm me.”
“Is using charm seducing?”
Would you not know that better than me?“Have you turned into a rogue?”
“Perhaps I’ve always been one, I just turned into an adult.”
“Once again you seem to have forgotten this is a marriage of—”
“Convenience, I know. However, I didn’t agree to not attempt to seduce my wife. You’re too much of a temptation for that.”
Her breath hitched at his blunt admission. “How did you turn into such a rogue?”
“Perhaps Crane brushed off on me?” he suggested, as if he was just as stumped by the idea.
“Your recluse employer?”
“The very one.”
All of England knew the man to be a hermit, which would makeGiles part-hermit. A hermit unleashed.
How terrifying.
She turned onto her back, staring at the canopy, inhaling a deep breath to steady her heart before daring the question. “Did you confront your uncle today?”
He didn’t answer at once, and she turned her head to stare at him. His gaze was still fixed on her.
“I did,” he said finally.
“And?”
“And the worst is over.”
She couldn’t place his tone, but she could understand the sentiment. The moments before confrontation were always worse than the confrontation itself. And more often than not, less satisfying than envisioned.
She pressed, “Are you relieved?”
His gaze dropped before lifting again. “I don’t know.”
“It’s fine if you’re not. It’s even fine if you’re disappointed. You should be. What your uncle did was unimaginable.”
“What I wanted,” he said, his voice thickening, “and what I feel are two different things. It should have felt like justice. Instead, it feels like a loss.”
