“If you promise no violence.”
He breathed. In. Out. In. Out.
Could he promise her this? Of course, he could. He had taken that vow long ago.Primum non nocere. First, do no harm.
“Aye.”
She kissed his cheek.
After tea, Farley and Paterson became worried that it would get dark soon so they all bundled up again and went out into the snow, to walk to the stables and the grooms’ cottage where Ewen and Paterson would stay and then to the manor house. The wind was dying down.
Despite the fact they had been inside the lodge for over an hour, the drifts were not as high here as they had been on the drive. But Alasdair took no chances and picked up Arabella and carried her in his arms as soon as she stepped out the door of the lodge.
“I can walk, Dr. Andrews,” she said, frowning.
“I know ye can, Mrs. Andrews.” He must be careful not to wear her new name out, but it gave him such pleasure to say it. “I have seen ye do it. But ye are short. The snow is high. I widnae want to lose ye in a drift and not be able to find ye until it thaws.”
She fell silent and said nothing until they reached the stables and then she reached her arm out to Ewen.
“Come and find me, Ewen, if you need anything.”
“Aye,Mrs. Andrews,” the boy said and winked.
A few minutes later, they were at the front door of the large house and Alasdair set her down and he could feel her tremble, so he put a hand on her shoulder. And when he did that, she suddenly stood up straighter, thrust out her chin and flashed him a smile that cut his heart in half.
The door opened and Farley said something to someone and then Farley turned and walked away and Arabella walked through the door and he followed.
“Bother,” Arabella said, as she took off her brown scarf. “We are bringing in the snow.”
“Do not worry, miss.” The tall middle-aged butler with silver hair held out his hand to take the scarf.
“Oh, no, I will put my scarf in my reticule here.”
“’Tis madam,” Alasdair corrected the butler.
“Madam,” said the butler and bowed and took their gloves and coats and her bonnet and Alasdair’s hat.
“Nae, I’ll keep my scarf, too,” Alasdair said, snatching back the bit of bright-green tartan.
“Who should I say is visiting when I speak to Lord Morpeth?” the butler intoned.
“Dr. and Mrs. Andrews,” Alasdair said, folding his scarf carefully and putting it between his waistcoat and his shirt where it would not fall out.So that it is against my heart. It will be my armor.
“You may tell him that he is already friends with Mrs. Andrews,” Arabella said and giggled, “from when she had another name.”
As the butler walked away and they stood together in the grand hall and pretended to look at the pictures hanging there, she said under her breath to him, “I am doing what I must do to keep my pride, Dr. Andrews. I am acting like a woman who thinks what happened was unimportant and of no consequence. Which I am sure is exactly how Lord Morpeth feels.”
She turned away from the paintings and rose up on her toes and threw her arms around his neck. “And, of course, I am madly in love with my husband,” she said and pressed herself to him and gave him a long kiss.
He was caught off guard by this. The word love from her. It was like a dagger, piercing his soul. At first, it was sweet, but then he thought,she is not speaking of me but of some facsimile husband she will use to score a point against this Baron Morpeth. The sweetness became a wrenching pain.
But still his arms went around her with no thought, gathering her closer as if he could not get enough of her. And indeed, he couldn’t—her fragrance, her warm mouth, the swell of her breasts. He was very much aware that this was his first time feeling her soft curves against his whole body. A mere ninety-degree turn to make them horizontal and it would be like they were in a bed together. Like a real husband and wife.
Surely, she could feel his length lengthening.
She broke the kiss—too soon, he thought—and came off her tiptoes and released his neck but did not step away. She looked down and then back up at his face. “I think you may like having a wife more than you let on, Dr. Andrews.”
And that made him smile, and she said, “I did not even have to say ‘Open Sesame’ this time.”
