The maid’s cheeks bloomed with color, and she glanced down at the floor. “Lady Burwell hadn’t enough rooms when you responded to her invitation, and she offers her apologies for you having to share one.” She peeked up from beneath lowered lashes at Malcolm. “And she hopes you will understand and not be too inconvenienced.”
Camilla’s uneven heartbeat accelerated, but she must calm the maid’s fears, although she was having a hard time with herown. Displaying her practiced smile, she nodded. “No reason to fret. This is acceptable. Tell Lady Burwell we are most happy with our accommodations.”
The young girl bobbed once and then left the room, closing the door behind her.
The room seemed larger than the one she occupied at Malcolm’s home. Her gaze flew to the large bed decorated in a blue and yellow patchwork with matching pillows, and her throat turned dry.
“Things can’t get worse, can they?” Malcolm grumbled behind her.
His rotten attitude gnawed on her nerves, and she whipped around, planting her hands on her hips. “You wanted to come here, so what are you harping about? Although we have to share a bed, you will not even notice me in it. The bed is big enough that we can each have a side to ourselves and not worry about bumping into each other during the night.”
After a few awkward moments in silence, his mouth twitched into a grin. “My, aren’t we edgy this morning?”
“I’m having a hard time understanding you, Malcolm.” She rolled her eyes. “Are you never satisfied?”
He folded his arms across his wide chest and lost his smirk. “Lately, I haven’t been satisfied at all. Have you forgotten the reasons you gave for not wanting me as a husband—in all senses of the word—right after we married?” He walked over and stood mere inches in front of her. Fire shot out of his eyes.
She swallowed the lump of fear quickly rising to her throat. “I must have forgotten.”
“Let me remind you, then,” he continued. “According to your standards, I wasn’t a fitting bed partner because I couldn’t understand your disloyalty. You accused me of complaining about everything, and you didn’t like the way I lived my life.”
She gulped at the crudeness of her sister’s words. The apology gathered on the tip of her tongue, but she dared not voice it. She needed to let him speak to understand his feelings. “I’m certain I spoke without thinking,” she whispered.
He grasped her wrist. “You knew exactly what you were saying, my dear. You didn’t like the way I touched you, the way I kissed you, and especially the way I treated you.”
Defiantly, she took hold of her fear and straightened her shoulders. “Well, if you were as gentle then as you are now, it’s no wonder I didn’t like the way you touched me.” Anger quickly replaced her fear. She nodded toward his fingers around her wrist. “Most women like a strong man with a gentle, loving hand. Not a forceful beast that will take whatever he wants, whenever he wants. That is barbaric.” A memory flashed through her head of the way her own husband treated her right after they married, and her stomach rolled.
He released her as if he had been burned and stepped away. “How odd you would say that, because you informed me immediately that you enjoyed a rough man in bed.” His brows drew together, and anger lines remained around his mouth. “When you finally realize what you want, please let me know. I’m not going to take any action, mind you, but I would like to keep it straight in my head what you want and don’t want, so I can warn your next conquest.” He turned away and marched out the door, slamming it hard behind him.
Her heart shattered, and she wished he didn’t affect her so. The main purpose of being here was to keep him alive, and to make him come to accept hisnewwife. She had to make him see she was not the same woman he’d stood beside on their wedding day.
Anger rose within her, and she stamped her foot. Looking heavenward, she growled. “A fine mess you made ofmylife, isn’t it, sister dear?”
Why had Kat married Malcolm using her twin’s name? Nothing made sense.
Camilla’s chest ached, and she knew everything about Malcolm’s marriage had been a lie brought on by her own twin sister. But now Camilla must make things right. She was falling in love with Malcolm, and she was unable to stop it.
Chapter Ten
Malcolm couldn’t waitto leave the men who had gathered in the library. Not only was their topic of conversation boring, but Brandon Kennedy watched him closely. Malcolm knew his business partner suspected him of something, and it was his duty to prove the irritating man wrong.
When he found the right moment, he slipped out of the side door and walked outside. He didn’t know what his wife was doing, but knowing Kat, she had probably found one of her lovers and met with them in private. He really wished he could get that confounded woman out of his thoughts. He especially hoped his body would stop reacting to her tender touch.
As he walked up the slope in the yard, he noticed women had gathered on the back lawn under a canopy. They all sat with straight backs, sipping tea like it was the most important function in the world.
Then a woman with light brown hair and a curvy figure caught his gaze. Strange that her appearance would distract his attention from the other women. Camilla looked so pretty in the sunlight, and the lavender dress complemented her creamy skin. This afternoon she wore another of her altered dresses, hiding the deep-cut bodice with some fancy stitching and lace. She was probably the youngest woman here, and definitely the loveliest.
He sauntered toward them. At first none had noticed him, and when he came close enough to hear their conversation, herealized why. They talked about politics. He didn’t think most of these women here had intelligence enough for that. They also chatted about the events going on in Dorchester.
Lady Burwell spoke about the other night when Mr. Clarkston’s office had been ransacked, and he froze. Someone had done this to make him look like the culprit. He backed behind a bush and listened as he spied on them.
“I heard it was nothing but a bunch of drunken fools,” another lady mentioned.
Lady Burwell nodded. “Yes, but there had to be a mastermind behind the break-in. Such lowlife miscreants wouldn’t be able to have an intelligent thought without having a leader.”
Malcolm held his breath for the next comment.
“I heard they didn’t catch the person responsible,” another woman said. “Is this so?”
