Page 21 of An Inconvenient Vow

To her surprise, Sir Jeffree ate expansively at the supper table that night, and though he offered no extravagant praise, neither did he complain or refuse any dish set before him. His consumption alone of the plain fare put him in good stead with her delighted mother, who beckoned to her after the meal.

“And to think,” Thora Burrell said, looking gratified, “that by all accounts he is so hard to please, yet there he sat and tucked into Hildeth’s pie as if it were roasted swan!”

Sabina nodded, her own suspicions forming about Sir Jeffree’s picky palate. She cleared her throat. “Perhaps Isemay would grace us with some music now we have finished eating?” she suggested.

Isemay when asked, did not seem keen to show off her talents. When she did fetch her lute, she performed three extremely tragic ballads, ending with one in which told of a scorned woman who revenged herself on her lover by drowning him.

As the last plaintive notes died away, Jeffree cleared his throat and declared his intention of retiring for the evening. Sabina dutifully rose and her mother handed her a candle to take up to bed. He responded to her parents’ wishes for a good night with a terse nod and allowed himself to be led up the staircase and along the passageway to her bedchamber.

Once there, Sabina lit another candle and then returned below stairs to heat some water by the kitchen fire for his wash. She found Hildeth yawning by the hearth with a pan of water already bubbling.

“The mistress says ye’re to take the first lot of water.”

Sabina thanked her and filled a large ewer which she carried upstairs, pausing before her own bedchamber door, and knocking softly before opening it. To her consternation, Sir Jeffree had already stripped down to his braies. “Oh!” she exclaimed stupidly and stood there a moment like a startled deer. “You do realize this is my bedchamber?” she asked, before shaking herself and turning and shutting the door after her.

“What do you expect me to do? Sleep fully clothed?”

She could not see his expression clearly in the shadowy room, but his voice was sardonic.

“Well, no…” she answered lamely, setting the ewer down on a side table. That was what she had imagined though, the two of them remaining fully clothed all night. It was not practical, of course, but the thought of lying next to him and vulnerable in sleep was unthinkable. “I will keep mine on,” she said aloud.

He snorted. “You have nothing to fear from me, madam.”

Sabina flushed for his tone was scathing. It was one thing to know she was nothing special, quite another for someone to tell you they find you repugnant. Even Miles had not done that. “Oh, very well then, have it your own way,” she answered and, without ceremony, divested herself of her headdress, casting it onto a chair.

She busied herself, removing her shoes and belt for the next few minutes, and heard Jeffree move to the table to take his wash. When she had unpinned and uncoiled her braids, she ventured a quick glance in his direction and found him turned with his back toward her, drying his neck. Swiftly she loosened the ties at her neck and wrists and wriggled out of her gown, so she stood only in her stockings and shift.

Jeffree turned about and glanced toward the bed. Then he threw down the cloth and made for it without any more ado. Sabina moved to the table, picked up the basin, and carried it to the window to empty out his water. Then she returned and emptied the remaining water in the ewer for her own wash. When it was time to dry off, she had to pick up the discarded cloth from the floor. She did so, muttering under her breath.

When she turned toward the bed, Jeffree had already extinguished his own candle and rolled onto his side, showing her his back. Sabina walked to the bed, trying not to drag her feet. Gritting her teeth, she climbed in beside him and blew out her own candle. Earlier she hadn’t the time to separate the sheets out and her bed was not a large one. Still, if they lay back-to-back until morning, then surely, they could get through the indignity.

“You don’t have a fire lit?” His voice coming out of the dark startled her. For some reason, she had thought there would be no talking while they were so closely sequestered.

“Not in May, no,” she replied, using the time of year as the excuse rather than the lack of money and resources. When he made no reply she added, “Are you cold?” He did not reply at once, so she lay tense, waiting for his response.

Finally, she could stand it no longer and turned, looking over her shoulder at him. It was a fruitless exercise as the window to her room was so small it barely admitted any light. “Jeffree?” She heard him hiss out a breath. Realizing she had addressed him informally for the first time, Sabina felt her face grow hot.

“No,” he answered after a heavy pause. “I’m not cold.”

Sabina dropped her head back onto her pillow and squeezed her eyes shut. She had a bad feeling sleep would not come at all for her this night.

“Is that the window I am supposed to have climbed through?” he asked dryly. “I should not think my shoulders could even fit.”

“It is surprising what people will believe, when they want to,” Sabina answered lightly, and realized this was true even of herself. Only look at how blindly she had gone into her first marriage. Her parents had assured her Miles was everything she could hope for in a spouse. He had turned out to be the absolute opposite.

How she wished she could forget that disastrous period of her life, but it felt like a festering wound. And now she’d had another husband inflicted on her. She huffed out a sigh. Nothing ever turned out the way you thought it would in life.

“Were you in league with Alfred Hendry?” he asked suddenly, his voice harsh.

Sabina shot upright and twisted about in the bed to face him. “No, I was not!” she retorted angrily. “I loathe and despise that man and he feels the same way about me; you could ask anyone! If you imagine for one minute that he would help me to snare a rich and well-connected husband, then you, Sir Jeffree, are a lack-wit!”

He was silent, and it was only when she felt his breath on her face, that she realized just how close she was to him in the dark. Uttering an exclamation, Sabina recoiled, rearing back in alarm. Unfortunately, the fact her legs were caught up in the bedclothes foiled her retreat, and instead, she pitched forward, landing sprawled on top of him.

“Oof!” Jeffree grunted, and Sabina felt his arms catch hold of her. She froze, then flinched and braced herself to be thrust away. Instead, he held her fast, one hand at her waist and the other gripping her thigh in an almost bruising clasp. Oh, my gods! She was glad it was dark, or she would die of mortification on the spot! “I beg your pardon!” she heard herself gasp. “Let me just…”

“Hold still!” he answered tersely.

Sabina froze again in the act of trying to reach down to untangle her legs. “If I could just—!”