Behind the Courtesan - By Bronwyn Stuart Page 0,44
cheeks betrayed that there was more to the story. “Who helped you?”
“Ah... Mr. McFarlane, Matthew, some lads from the village and Dominic. It was easier than I thought with so many hands.”
Blake gritted his teeth. “What were all of those men doing hanging around?”
“You underestimate the strength of your friendship with the villagers. I don’t think there’s one person who hasn’t raised their hand to help you. It’s one of the aspects of village life I’d forgotten.”
When she’d finished scrubbing almost clear through the bottom of the pot, she placed it upside down to drain and then reached for the next one, but Blake caught her hand mid-air. “And the firewood you chopped in record time?” He pulled her closer and turned her wet hand palm up to inspect her skin. “With nary a callus or blister or splinter?”
She went pink again and snatched her hand from his grip.
“What about the vegetables you pulled for the meal? Your hands or someone else’s?”
“Someone else’s.”
“I don’t want them hanging around you.”
She hung her head for a moment and sighed. “I thought we established that I can take care of myself, though you flatter me if you think they only stay for my presence.”
“You haven’t seen the way they look at you.”
She dropped the pot in the suds and turned on him. “You think I am blind? Deaf? Stupid? I know that the deWinter wife came here last night looking for her husband. I know she spat in the portion of pie he hadn’t yet finished and dragged him from the room by his ear. I know how the men look at me. I also know how the wives see me. Words do not hurt me anymore, Blake. If they did, I would be a bedlamite.”
He didn’t have a response for that. Words did hurt her. Or at least his had.
She must have taken his silence for anger as she forged on. “You have to understand that I just didn’t have time to do this without help. I did the pig pen first, gathered the eggs and fed the animals and then it was almost noon. I had to start the meals. Without their help, you would be starving as well as ornery.”
He shook his head and chuckled. “I am not ornery, but I am thankful not to be starving. I don’t blame you for asking for help.” He did blame the ones doing the helping.
She sighed and reached for the last pot, but Blake stopped her again. “Leave that one to soak. You’re tired and you need to rest.”
“I’m fine, really.” But then her stomach growled loudly in the quiet space.
Blake’s brows rose as he stared at her. “Did you eat?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t have time.”
“I don’t believe that. You could have sat for a moment. I would have.”
When she turned from him and crossed the expanse of the kitchen to replace a ladle on its hook on the wall, Blake worried. Why hadn’t she risen to his jibe? He’d deliberately put it out there to test the strength of her bite, but all she did was walk away?
“What is it? If you’ve had enough, we can end this. I won’t hold it against you.”
“It’s not that. I wasn’t even thinking of your silly challenge.”
“What were you thinking about?” He wanted to ask what had suddenly put the sadness in her eyes and made her shoulders droop, yet he didn’t think she’d appreciate him voicing his concerns aloud. Even if his concern was for her.
“Blakiston.”
Anger rose pure and swift at the mention of his enemy. “You seemed quite taken with him last night after dinner.”
“Did I? Appearances don’t always tell the full story. You should know that.”
“Are you saying you didn’t enjoy his company? He is a powerful and wealthy duke.”
“Wealth does not buy you manners,” she snapped.
“Did he say something bad? Sophie, did the duke do something to upset you?” He waited to the tune of his own thumping heart while his hands curled into fists. He’d always known the current duke was a blackguard. Thunder shook the walls as though it agreed with his thoughts.
“It’s nothing he did.”
He calmed a fraction but even with his ribs still hurting like the devil, he wouldn’t hesitate showing Charles what he really thought of him. He schooled his face to a gentler emotion and followed Sophie from the kitchen back into the now empty common room.
He watched as she fidgeted with chairs and cleaned imaginary crumbs from the tops of already