He drew her into the shadow of the staircase to shield her from anyone in the house. Slowly he twined his arms around her, relishing how perfectly she fit his body. Her hands slid up his chest, trailing fire even through his clothing, and linked behind his neck. He stared down at her, memorizing each feature. The wide, shining eyes; the marked brows; the pointed, determined chin indicating stubbornness under the sweetness. Didn’t he know that to his bones? If she wasn’t stubborn, she’d still be in his bed. If she wasn’t stubborn, he wouldn’t love her so much, confound her.
His head inched down. Her lush lips parted and passion surged, as it always did when they kissed. The world flared into heat and demand. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, staking the claim she denied with words but affirmed with every caress. She moaned and kissed him back voraciously, as though struggling to jam a lifetime into one embrace.
All too soon, the kiss changed, its fire retreated until only banked embers remained. The recognition that this was farewell threatened to rip his aching heart in two. She whimpered at the back of her throat and slowly, reluctantly drew away.
He let her go. What choice had he? He’d promised her freedom if she married him. If he compelled her now, he’d prove himself the tyrant she feared in a husband.
Very slowly, she lowered her arms as if she hated relinquishing the contact. Tears glinted in her dark eyes, but her head was high and she stood straight. “Take me back to Barstowe Hall, Jonas.”
Sidonie needed her key to slip into Barstowe Hall through the kitchens. At this hour, the small staff usually gathered there for tea. To her surprise, the cavernous, underground room was empty. She’d prepared tales about her visit to London, but nobody was present to hear. Nor did she need to make excuses about one of Roberta’s town friends dropping her off at the gates on an urgent errand elsewhere.
Nor did she encounter any servants as she made her way through the house. The silence was uncanny, eerie. A shiver chilled her skin. The rooms were cold and shadowy as wintry evening closed in.
“Hello?”
The only response was the echo of her voice. What on earth had happened in her absence? Had William turned off the staff? She knew things were bad with her brother-in-law, but she hadn’t realized his finances reached quite that pass.
She was walking toward her bedroom along the second-floor corridor when she heard a muffled bang from the schoolrooms above. Fear tightened her skin. Had a robber broken in? There wasn’t much to take. William had sold anything valuable. Whatever little remained after Jonas’s father had ransacked the house before his death.
Quietly, she set her bag down and lifted a chipped earthenware vase from a side table. If it had been whole, William would have sold it long ago.
She crept up the next flight of stairs. Carefully she inched the nursery door open and raised the vase above her head. Only to drop it in shock.
“Roberta?” she asked over the crash of pottery on bare floorboards.
Her sister whirled around from clearing the crammed and dusty shelves along one wall. At her feet sat two gaping valises. One overflowed with toys. The other was empty.
“Goodness gracious, you frightened the life out of me.” Roberta rushed forward through the potter
y shards to hug Sidonie. “Are you all right? I’ve been so worried about you.”
Sidonie returned the hug, feeling Roberta’s trembling tension. Her sister’s manner was always brittle but this surpassed her usual nervousness. Something was seriously wrong. “I’m fine.”
Robert drew back and surveyed her with a frown. “That’s a little pat for a woman who’s just returned from the monster’s lair.”
“He’s not a monster.”
“He didn’t hurt you?”
What to say? “No.”
“I’m so glad. Although I can hardly believe it. I must hear everything, but not now. Now you have to help me.” Roberta turned to grab another handful of toys from the shelves and stashed them into the empty bag.
Apprehension stabbed Sidonie between the temples as she finally saw her sister properly. Roberta looked dreadful. Distraught and untidy, when Lady Hillbrook always appeared in public comme il faut. Dust hemmed her green muslin dress, grime smudged an alabaster cheek and her coiffure wasn’t far from collapse.
“What in the world are you doing? Where are the servants?”
With unsteady hands, Roberta pitched a cracked slate into the empty bag. “I sent them off for the afternoon. They’re all sneaks and spies.”
From habit, Sidonie checked her sister for signs of violence, but she seemed unharmed. “Are you all right?”
Roberta avoided her eyes and grabbed a worn set of lead soldiers that the boys hadn’t touched for years. She struggled to stuff them into the bag. “Of course I’m all right. Oh, for pity’s sake, why can’t these things fit?”
Sidonie surged forward and grabbed her sister’s busy hands, holding them until she caught Roberta’s undivided attention. This close, she saw the blind panic that underlay Roberta’s confusion. Only one person terrified Roberta like this. “What’s wrong, Roberta? What has William done?”
What in heaven’s name was going on? Had William found out about the losses to Jonas? Had the mental instability the duke mentioned at Castle Craven burgeoned into full-grown madness?
Sidonie could see Roberta was too distracted to think beyond the present moment. Even the peril she’d sent Sidonie into didn’t really register beyond her current fear.