attempted to attack her.
The handle turned, and before he could move, she opened the door. For the space of several heartbeats, they stared at each other.
She broke the silence first. “Lord Tiebauld told me you would be here.”
He nodded, tongue-tied and ashamed. But when she started to move past him, he said, “Wait.”
She stopped and looked at him expectantly. “Yes, my lord?”
He stalled. “Where is the girl?”
“Marie? She’s up with Mrs. MacEwan in the kitchen.”
They were alone. Deacon forced himself to say his piece. “I want you to know you don’t have to worry about me.” He made himself meet her gaze. “I won’t harm you.”
Cora shifted. “I’ll not turn you in to the soldiers, if that is what you are afraid of.”
“I’m more afraid of you than I am the English,” he admitted candidly. It was true. Suddenly, awkward with his hands, he doubled them in fists at his sides and confessed, “I’d thought I was a better man.”
Her mouth twisted into a rueful smile. “I’ve never had a man apologize to me before. I don’t know if I like it.”
“It doesn’t matter if you like it. What matters is if you accept it. I’ve not had a drop to drink since that night, Cora. I’d like to blame the ale. I don’t know if I can.”
She raised her hand to her bottom lip, the gesture thoughtful and evocative all at once. “I can forgive,” she said. “Thank you.” She hurried away.
Anne didn’t come down to dinner. She had asked Norval for a bath and had sent word to Aidan she didn’t want to be disturbed. He worried. Lambert’s appearance had stirred memories, memories she’d probably wanted to forget.
It bothered him that in her grief, she had turned from him.
Worse, now knowing her past, he had no right to let her become embroiled in his activities. She would only be hurt.
As he made his rounds of the stables and courtyard, Aidan found himself increasingly concerned. Maybe he should go to her. Maybe he’d lived with himself for so long, he’d forgotten how to relate to another. Women were sensitive. She might even now be up in her room, crying her eyes out.
He could picture it. His brave Anne overcome by the loss of her father and mother and needing someone to hold her.
He liked the image.
But he was aware she could just as easily snub him. Anne was a proud woman. She might not like his offer of comfort.
She might even take offense in it. It seemed he never knew how to do the right thing when he was around her. He’d not had the problem before. He’d always thought women easy to understand.
But Anne was a deeper, more intelligent woman than he’d known. A headstrong lass who kept him on his toes.
He hadn’t ever thought he’d admire a woman who challenged him. But he liked it. And he liked her. Very much. Maybe even too much.
In the stables, he rubbed Beaumains’ nose and caught himself fantasizing about Anne. Her skin would be as soft and velvety—and then he laughed. Imagine comparing a woman to a horse’s nose. Anne would laugh, too. She had a sense of the ridiculous…
Suddenly, Aidan wanted to see her.
He strode with purpose into the house. Impatient, he bounded up the steps to the hallway. He knocked on her door.
There was no answer.
He knocked again. “Anne?”
Nothing.
Puzzled, he opened the door. The room was dark but the light from the hallway torch showed the bed empty. Where could she have gone?
She could be in the kitchen or servants’ quarters. It was also possible she could have gone visiting. In a short amount of time, she had integrated herself in the lives of his crofters.
She obviously wasn’t upset.
He hit his head lightly against the door. He was fool. A fool who was in danger of falling in love if he wasn’t careful.
He shut the door and headed for his room. It was all for the best. Tomorrow, he would put her on a coach for London if he had to tie her to it.
Aidan shoved open his bedroom door with one shoulder and then stopped.
Everything was as he liked it. A fire burned in the hearth. Several candles gave the room a soft glow and his torches provided light for reading. His soap was dry and in its place. His towel hung over the chair.
But there was one difference, and it was a huge change—Anne was soaking in the tub.
Chapter 11
Anne heard the door shut.
She and Aidan