She shook her head. “Of course not. That’s not how we live where I come from. Ladies are sheltered from such things.”
“Even after marriage?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
He did not move, but she couldstillfeel his warm, humid breath in her ear. A strange pulsing began within. Outside her body, the whole world seemed to go silent andstill.
Then at last he stepped back, and she exhaled sharply.
“We’llbe leaving soon,” he said, but she could not look up from the basket of eggs, nor turn around and meet his eyes.
She was too mortified. She’d watched him bathe; she’d been aroused by the sight of his strong male body, and he knew it.
But at least this time, he was enough of a gentleman not to say anything more. He simply moved past her and walked out.
Chapter Ten
Richard Bennett stood up from the warm, rose-scented bathwater and wished he could enjoy the sensation of feeling clean, but he could not revel in it—not now, when he felt so damned irritable. He had traveledallday and half the night to reach Moncrieffe Castle but felt no further ahead in this frustrating chase. Amelia wasstillthe Butcher’s prisoner—if she was evenstillalive—and Richard had no idea where to look for them.
He turned and snapped his fingers three times at Moncrieffe’s personal manservant, who appeared to be lost in a world of daydreams. “Hurry up, man! It’s frigid in here!”
The servant hastened forward with a large linen coverlet stretched taut from hand to hand.
“I thought this place was supposed to bewell-appointed,”
Richard said. “But I suppose it’s impossible to get the dampness out of the air completely, this far north of the border. Does the sun never shine here?” He wrapped himself in the extravagant linen, but thechillof this putrid Highland air would not leave him.
“Indeed it does, sir.”
Richard glanced over his shoulder at the earl’s short, stocky manservant, who was backing away slowly. “You were looking at my scars, weren’t you? And now you’re struck dumb by the sight of them, and how hideous I am.”
The man kept his gaze fixed to the floor. “No, Colonel.”
Richard’s annoyance waned slightly at the man’s submissiveness. “Come now, be honest. You can’t pretend not to have noticed. I’llnot have a liar in my midst. Besides, I can take it. I’ve taken much worse. How do you suppose I came by them in the first place?”
Richard stepped out of the tub onto the polished plank floor, dripping water everywhere.
The valet cautiously lifted his eyes. “They look to be very painful, sir.”
“Not atall,” Richard replied. “I’ve had them forever. I don’t feel a thing. It only vexes me when someone looks at them and reacts like you just did.”
Richard rubbed the linen towel through his hair, scrubbing at his scalp to getallthe water out. “Sotellme, servant …what do you know of this infamous Butcher I have the pleasure of pursuing? Do the people of this country know he abducted an English lady out of her bed? Do they know she was the daughter of a great war hero, who once tried to help Scotland by negotiating for peace? One would think they would take that into consideration. Come now, servants hear things. How does the common crofter feel about the Butcher’s tactics? There must be some who disapprove.”
When the valet did not respond, Richard continued to openly speak his mind. “I know the earl is a civilized man—a gentleman, according to some. But what of the general populace outside the castlewalls? Am I surrounded by enlightened people, or is this place crawling with Jacobites like the Butcher, who are hungry for English blood? Should I sleep with one eye open?”
The valet went to fetch Richard’s robe, which was laid out on the four-poster bed. “I promise you’llbe safe here, Colonel Bennett—inside the castlewalls. And the door can be bolted from the inside.”
Richard strode toward the valet, who was holding out his robe. “The door can be bolted, you say? So I am not so safe afterall.”
The valet nervously cleared his throat. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you, Colonel. I am certain that His Lairdship wants very much to meet with you and discuss what the Butcher has done. He’llwant to help in any way he can.”
Richard dropped the linen coverlet on the floor and slipped his arms into the loose sleeves of his robe. “Indeed.
It’s no secret that the earl likes to help the King—at least when it proves to be profitable.”
The valet bent to pick up the embroidered linen and folded it in his arms. “My master would never wish to see an innocent woman harmed. You’llhave hisfullattention in the morning.”
«Well, I should hope so,” Richard said, tying the belt of his robe. “He profited greatly from his negotiations with the Duke of Winslowe in the spring, and it’s that nobleman’s daughter whose life is at stake. I would hope the earlwillfeel somewhat …beholdenin that regard.”
