“I can see by your father’s portrait that you have inherited his coloring, but you don’t favor him in looks.” Nathaniel’s father had thin lips and a stern, rather arrogant expression. “What was your mother like?”
He dropped the lock of her hair he’d been winding around his finger. “I remember little of her. Why all these questions?” He pushed away from her and stood. “I’m sorry, Laura. That was rude of me. Must be more tired than I realized. Forgive me. I’ll say good night.”
The panel slid back and he was gone.
Chapter Nineteen
Nathaniel had had a horrendous few days, Laura told herself. So much had happened. She tried to convince herself that she wasn’t to blame for him leaving her, but she still lay in bed, tense and unsure. As sleep continued to elude her, she ran over the events of the evening. He was concerned that the rumors of smuggling would taint his reputation in Parliament. The news of smuggling was worrying, of course, but that didn’t account for his behavior; his heavier than usual drinking perhaps, but not what followed. It had something to do with his mother. Dispirited, she realized it wasn’t that he wanted too much from her, but too little. She could not live like this. Laura wiped her eyes, knowing she could not let it endthere.
She left the bed. Having spent some time locating the spring which opened the space between their connecting rooms some days ago, she pressed it. The oak paneling slid back to reveal an emptyroom.
With a deep breath, Laura whirled around to snatch up her dressing gown. She left her bedchamber, her candle held high. Amanda’s room lay in darkness. Laura turned and went downstairs, her footsteps echoing in the quiethouse.
The great hall lay silent under a fragile silver net of moonlight. In the corridor beyond, the wall sconces sent flickering shadows over the walls. Holding her candlestick high, Laura opened the door to Nathaniel’s study. It was empty, as was thelibrary.
Puzzled, she returned to the hall, her candle fluttering. There was a draft from somewhere. Might a door be open? She retraced her steps, finding the door to the rose garden bolted shut. At the kitchen steps, the breeze strengthened, lifting her gown and swirling around her legs. She shivered with a sense offoreboding.
Below her, the cavernous kitchen lay in darkness. Laura hesitated, then her fingers gripped the banister, as a need to know propelled her forward. She stepped down into the cold room. The stoves would not be lit until daybreak. The servants’ hall beyond was empty, as all the staff retired early. A current of air infused with the briny tang of the sea whipped up the stairs from the wine cellar and beyond. The door leading to the water’s edge must have been left open.
Laura ventured down a few steps, as her guttering candle threatened to go out. She balked at going further. A loud scrape. The heavy clunk of a lock sliding into place. The breeze died away. The hollow sound of footsteps on the stairs followed. It must be Nathaniel, and she didn’t want him to find herhere.
She retraced her steps as the well of darkness below lightened. Heart racing, she hurried up the kitchen stairs. Gaining the ground floor, she began to run. She almost fell into her bedchamber and shut the door. Leaning against it, gasping for breath, she put her ear to the door and waited. Nothing, not even the reassuring sound of Nathaniel coming tobed.
Laura went to the window. Down in the garden dotted with gravestones, a shadowy figure appeared, darting over the moonlit ground before disappearing. She watched for some time, but nothing moved beyond the sway of the trees. Nathaniel had stated flatly that the smugglers had gone. Was he withholding anything that might alarm her? She shivered and sought the warmth of her bed. Huddling there, unease and frustration churned her stomach. He had pleaded exhaustion and the need for sleep. But where washe?
***
The next morning, Laura woke to the rasp of the sliding panel. She stretched as Nathaniel drew the bedclothes back and joined her in the bed, taking her hisarms.
He nuzzled her shoulder. “Sorry, my love. I was a bear last night. Best that I left you.”
His musky scent and hard body tempted her, but Laura pulled away. She propped her head on an elbow to gaze into his smoky eyes that didn’t always reveal the truth. “Did you sleep well?”
“Wonderful. I feel more like a lion than a bear this morning.” He untied the neck of her nightgown and kissed his way down to her breast with obviousintent.
Laura moved out of his embrace. “You weren’t in your bed last night, Nathaniel.” She was gratified to see surprise widen his eyes. He thought it so easy to fool her. “I doubt you were in the house.”
He sat up, his dark brows meeting in a frown. “You looked for me?”
Her lips trembled. “Yes.”
“Don’t do it again!” Nathaniel rolled out of bed to pace thecarpet.
“Why ever not?”
“Can’t you do what I ask of you? It’s so little, surely.”
She took a deep breath. “You think it a small thing to imprison me in my room at night?”
He sat on the bed and took her hands in his strong grip. “Promise me, Laura.”
She gasped. “Tell me why, Nathaniel.”
“Damn it!” He flung her hands free. “You are my wife. Can you do what I ask without questioning me, just once?”
Shocked by his explosive response, Laura drew in a breath. “I will not be ordered about like a servant. And I refuse to be treated like a prisoner in my own home.”
At her words, Nathaniel gave a bitter laugh. “Laura, for God’s sake! You know we’ve had smugglers on the grounds. It’s not forever, and I have my reasons. Please?”
