Her complexion was almost bloodless. She clutched his shirt with one hand.
Annie waited anxiously in their room, and then almost fell back in horror when she saw Willa in her nightdress caked with mud and damp, and both of them smelling of the river. “Your Grace, I am relieved to see you.”
“As we are to be here. A bath is coming for your mistress. Meanwhile, fetch the brandy and two glasses.” Annie hurried to obey.
“You can set me down,” Willa said. “I’m not that fragile.” She was shaking again.
“Perhaps I like holding you.”
Her response was to rest her head against his shoulder. “We are most fortunate.”
He grimly nodded.
Annie brought brandy. Matt would have happily kept Willa in his lap but she insisted on moving to the chair across from his at the desk. He poured two healthy glasses. “Drink.” He set her glass in front of her and she took a sip.
He understood the restorative power of brandy. He drained his to show her how it was done.
Willa frowned. “I don’t like it that much.”
He smiled. “You are feeling more yourself.”
“Why? Because I’m arguing with you?”
He let his smile be his answer.
Matt stood up and crossed to the washbasin. The water was hot. He could have blessed Annie. He washed his face and his hands, all the while keeping a watchful eye on Willa as she sipped more of the brandy. Color was now returning to her cheeks.
Footmen appeared with the bath. Annie set up the privacy screen so that Matt and Willa were blocked from their view. “She thinks of everything,” Matt murmured.
Willa heard him and nodded. However, he now had a new idea. After the footmen had left, Matt sought a quiet moment with Annie. “Are there servants or workmen around this house who go by the names of Ross or Donel?”
“Is Ross Irish?”
“Yes.”
Anne nodded. “There is a stableman named Ross. He is not in your employ.”
“Has he been in the house?” Willa asked.
“A time or two. Cook is sweet on him. Mrs. Snow is partial to him as well. You know how the Irish are. We can work with anyone, Your Grace.”
“Thank you, Annie,” Willa answered. “Would you leave us now?”
The maid bobbed a curtsey and left the room. “Well,” Willa said, “we now know why Ross knew his way around the house.”
“Shall I have a conversation with Mrs. Snow and Cook, or should you?”
“Marshall should,” she said.
She was right.
Willa took off the fouled nightdress and climbed into the tub. She washed the river off her body, then it was his turn. He’d shaved while she’d bathed.
“I’m exhausted,” Willa said.
Matt nodded, not wanting her to know what he planned.
She put on a clean gown. “A few hours’ sleep, and then we must speak to someone. We must report what happened.”
