He laughed and shook his head.
She spent another restless night alone. Well past midnight, the sound of creaking on the stairs and footsteps outside her room made her sit up in the bed. When she heard nothing more, she threw back the covers and left the bed finding her way to the door in the dark. She leaned against it, listening. A further scrape and a cough sounded quite close. When the footsteps moved away, she opened the door a crack.
A ghostly white shape loomed at the end of the corridor, or was it the bright moonlight? It still sent her into a panic. She scuttled to Robert’s door and tapped, whispering his name. It was just his reassurance she sought, then she’d return to her own bed. But he didn’t answer. The hairs stirred on the back of her neck and she grasped the latch and opened the door. The moonlit room was empty.
Kate put her hand to her mouth. Where might he be? Not with that chamber maid who made cow eyes at him, she hoped.
It must have been him she heard. Now fearful he’d discover her behaving foolishly, she returned to her room and climbed back into bed.
*
Robert strode upand down the cobbled courtyard in the cool air, his cheroot glowing in the dark. Cramped in the coach all day long didn’t suit his constitution. He grudgingly admitted that Kate’s lightness of spirit and her ability to cut through to the core of things made her company more pleasant than he’d expected. Generous too, especially about her father, who’d been less than adequate by the sound of it. But he still felt thoroughly put out by what his uncle had foisted on him. He yawned, hoping that stretching his legs in the fresh air would tire him. It had been surprisingly difficult to sleep when his new wife slept in a bed a few steps away down the corridor. He should just go right in there and put this nonsense to an end. A gentleman didn’t deflower a virgin in an inn. What if she really didn’t want him? She might cry. And she didn’t have a maid to assist her as her new lady’s maid awaited her in London. Dash it all. This did terrible things to a man’s ego.
Robert shook his head, stamped out the cheroot, and made his way back to his room. Life would be more peaceful if he bowed to her wishes. He shrugged his tight shoulders. Providing her demands were within reason.
