an iron gate to the sweep of lawn above the water. She was talking about the little rotunda perched on the island in the center of the lake. Its design was based on some obscure ruin which Reyn cared not one whit about.
“Enough, Lady Kelby. If I’d wanted to take a degree in architecture or history I would have.”
Maris blushed.
He was becoming very used to her pretty pink cheeks.
“I’m sorry. I do tend to go on.”
“Is that boat functional?”
“You cannot think to row me out there. People really will notice us then.”
“You are right. It’s too cold anyway. Let’s return to the house. You’re probably chilled to the bone. Have you any idea who Kelby might be paying to spy on you?”
“No. Henry is a very generous employer. I can’t imagine why someone might be tempted to betray him.”
“Oh, come now. Money is the universal language, is it not? Temptation enough in its own right. Maybe it’s someone who prefers his own name to John and is out for revenge.”
“Stop teasing about that. I had nothing to do with the renaming of the servants. I don’t even think it was Henry’s idea. It’s just Kelby tradition.”
“Some traditions should die out, don’t you think? Do you expect your son to travel the globe and bring back more trash to Kelby Hall? There’s enough here already.” He could not see the value in much of what he’d seen over the past two days.
“If he—or she—chooses an interest in history, I would not object,” Maris said primly.
“What about the present?” Reyn argued. “Surely one should enjoy oneself in the here and now.”
“How do you enjoy yourself, Captain Durant? Whipping women?”
“I told you that was not my usual kind of thing!” Reyn sputtered. What exactly had he said about the Reining Monarchs? “I was . . . bored. At loose ends. A friend proposed me for membership and I didn’t see the harm.”
“You didn’t see the harm? Perhaps you do need those spectacles after all.”
Wait a minute. How had they gone from him trying to cheer her up to this attack on his character? It was she who’d broken a commandment.
Instead of giving her a blistering set-down, he bit his tongue near bloody. She was in a wretched fix and he happened to be a handy whipping boy.
The thought of her whipping him made him laugh out loud.
“What is so amusing?”
“You wouldn’t understand, Maris. I’m not sure I do myself. Let’s cry friends. Go back upstairs to work.”
“N-now?”
“It won’t be dark for a while.”
“All right.” She said the words with very little conviction, and would have been even less enthusiastic if she knew what he planned to do to her once she got upstairs.
Reyn had been hired for a job, and a job he would do. He could make Maris forget for a few minutes about David Kelby and the Earl of Kelby and all the Kelbys that had come before them. He was damned annoyed with the Kelbys, men who seemed to revere inanimate objects rather than treat the living well, particularly the Kelby women.
It hadn’t taken much, a brush of his lips on the back of her neck and she bent over the desk, his hand squeezing her shoulder. She’d looked up, her questioning brown eyes magnified by her spectacles. Reyn didn’t have to say a word to make her drop the pen, rise, and retreat behind the screen. They had undressed each other, hands slow and steady, never breaking eye contact.
It was the most honest interaction he’d ever had with a woman. Maris’s trust was a living thing, a gift he could never equal. What he gave her body was nothing to what she gave his soul—her acceptance, her faith, her respect. He wasn’t worthy, but would work to be.
Reyn let her take charge, placing her over him. Once she realized what could be done, she laughed in delight and proceeded to obliterate all his thoughts but one. He loved her.
That certainly proved what a fool he was. He wasn’t in the habit of falling in love. Yes, he enjoyed more than his fair share of women. Who wouldn’t, when given the opportunity? But his heart had never been engaged. It shouldn’t be engaged now. Maris Kelby was completely wrong for him, and it wasn’t just because she was married or a countess. Her intellect was far superior to his own. Would she still like him if she discovered he couldn’t even read what she’d been writing in that ledger? He