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“Fine.” Ian let out a resigned sigh and got off the bed, completely naked, and sauntered toward his room through the adjoining door.

Helen couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the beautiful planes of his body, by his firm buttcheeks tightening and swaying as he walked. And she already regretted sending him away.

She stretched, her body protesting. Her muscles felt tender and her joints still ached, but she felt happy and healthy.

She rolled off the bed and unhurriedly took her morning ablutions, then put on a peasant’s dress in lieu of a day gown and went in search of Anna.

She didn’t have to look for long. The first footman she encountered led her to Anna, who was sitting on a private patio overlooking the garden.

It was a beautiful place, the smell of flowers and the warm wind blowing in her face reminding Helen of her childhood home. Of course, the garden here was far vaster and had a greater variety of flowers, but the feeling this place evoked was the same.

A safe place.

Anna noticed Helen’s approach and greeted her with a smile. “Apologies fer wakin’ ye up in such a rude manner,” she said before Helen was able to speak. “I should have kenned ye’d be wi’ yer husband an’ no’ alone.”

Helen stifled a grimace. Her husband Ian was not. But she couldn’t tell Anna that, especially not after what she’d witnessed.

“No apology necessary,” Helen replied softly. “Was it something urgent that you wanted?”

“My father wanted tae speak tae ye. He havena had a chance tae welcome ye properly intae his home an’ he feels bad aboot this.”

Ian’s father. Oh, Lord! The images of him walking into the study while Ian and Helen were kissing the night before flashed before her eyes. How many more embarrassing conversations would she have to encounter today?

And then she remembered the documents Ian had stolen from the safe, and her skin covered in a cold sweat. Had he found out? Did he suspect her?

He wouldn’t suspect his own son, would he?

Helen started to shake in fear.

“He’s in his study,” Anna continued, not realizing the state that Helen was currently in. “I can show ye where it is.”

Oh, I know where it is. Helen tried for a smile. “Yes, I would like that.”

She decided she didn’t want to worry Ian. If anything were to happen, she would assume full responsibility and shield Ian from any blame. That way, it would be easier to break off their relationship in his father’s eyes. And things would sort themselves out well enough.

Not perfectly—because there was no ‘perfectly’ for Helen—but better for everyone involved.

* * *

Helen entered the earl’s study on weak knees. Her entire body was rigid, and her mind was whirling around in fear.

“Thank ye, Anna,” the earl addressed his daughter who’d accompanied Helen into the lion’s den. “You can gang now. I wish tae speak tae Lady McAllistair alone.”

Lady McAllistair. How strange that name sounded when referred to Helen, and yet somehow it sounded just right.

“Please, tak a seat.” The earl gestured to a seat across from him and Helen slowly complied. “We havenae had an opportunity to speak and I thought we’d remedy that.”

“I apologize for the way we exited the ball last night,” Helen finally collected enough strength to say, but he waved her words away.

“Despite whit ma son might think o’ me, I see a lot. I notice even more,” he said carefully, stressing every word. Helen’s body was covered in a cold sweat again, and her breathing grew shallow. “I see the way the both o’ ye are engrossed in each other. And there’s nae need tae apologize fer that. The way he feels aboot ye became obvious tae me when he brought ye intae my home sick and unconscious. But the way ye looked at him last night during the ball, as if he was the air ye breathe, was what convinced me that ye love him, too.”

Helen stilled. This was not the direction she’d expected the conversation to go, at all.

“I see ye’re surprised,” he noted with a light smirk.

“I am,” Helen admitted. “I didn’t know why you called me in here today, but I expected the conversation to be more businesslike.”

He let out a bark of laughter, and Helen couldn’t help but smile. Was it because of nerves? She didn’t know. Perhaps she felt something else from the forbidding earl. The warmth that his own son had never felt.