Page 46 of Suddenly a Bride
“I don’t want to forget meself when I’m with the other servants,” she said, even as she fiddled with her skirt and avoided Gwyneth’s eyes. “Milady, aren’t ye…afraid of your husband?”
“Afraid?” she echoed, surprised.
“Well, I saw ye sittin’ on his lap outside today. Ye treat him like a man ye wanted to marry. And the way ye look at him…”
The girl trailed off, obviously uncomfortable.
“Why should I be afraid?”
“I’ve been speakin’ with the other servants, milady, and though I don’t mean to be passin’ on rumors, they say he”—she lowered her voice even as she stared purposefully into Gwyneth’s eyes—”that he killed his first wife.”
“That isn’t true, you know,” Gwyneth said calmly.
“How can ye be so certain?”
“You know that his first wife was my cousin. I’m not permitted to speak in any detail, but I was with her the last few months of her life. Sir Edmund was in France when she died.”
Lucy shook her head. “Still, he could have hired someone. Everyone thinks it, so there must be a reason they’re all ready to believe such a thing. And milady—ye don’t sleep in the same chamber.”
“You don’t know him as I do, Lucy. And the rest of them won’t take the time to know him. He’s nothing like he shows the world. I find him…intriguing, and I want to prove to him that he can trust me.”
“Do ye love him?” she asked, wide-eyed.
“I don’t know,” Gwyneth said thoughtfully. “But I am willing to try.”
~oOo~
The next morning, Gwyneth was up and dressed before dawn, unable to wait for the servants to bring her bath water. She had a busy day planned, and the first obstacle to get by was her husband. She had to catch him before he escaped the castle.
After walking into the servants’ wing, she knocked briskly on Edmund’s door. She heard a muffled, “Come in,” so with surprise, she lifted the latch and entered.
Edmund stood with his back to her before a cupboard on the far side of the room, naked from the waist up. She stared in wonder at the broad, flexing muscles of his back as he pointed at the hearth.
“I’ve set the tub before the fire. You may start filling it up.”
“But I haven’t brought any water,” she said softly, walking toward him.
He turned around very quickly for a man with a lame leg, then stood unmoving as she approached within a foot of him. She lifted a hand, meaning to touch that wondrous chest.
“Don’t.”
Frozen, she looked up at him, wishing she could understand whatever he was hiding. “But I want you to kiss me again.”
Tension crackled between them.
“I seem to recall that I did not initiate that kiss,” he said, so mildly that she was disappointed.
“But do you not want to?” She placed her palm on his chest, regardless of his wishes. His skin was hot, and she wanted to lean into him.
“Of course I want to,” he murmured, leaving her hand where it was. “But we need more time. We barely know each other, and I do not want you to be hurt.”
“You won’t hurt me,” she whispered, sliding her palm across the hair on his chest. When her touch swept over his nipple, she lingered, and she could see his swift inhalation.
He gently took her wrist and held her hand away. “Why did you come to my chamber?” he asked, his voice huskier than before.
She hesitated, still staring at his chest, feeling befuddled, before she finally shook herself and looked up into his impassive eyes. “I would like your permission to walk to the village.”
He frowned. “It would take you more than an hour. And the roads can be dangerous.”
