Page 71 of Unraveled By the Duke
“Well, we cannot stay out here,” Celia said.
“You think?” Alexander shot back. “I wish I had your woodcraft.”
Celia draped his arm over her shoulder. “Lean on me,” she told him.
With effort, he managed to get to his feet.
“Go down the hill. If this field were used for sheep, there might be a shepherd’s hut somewhere nearby. I am almost positive sheep roam this entire valley,” he said.
Celia proved surprisingly strong, as he found he could put little weight on his ankle. The boot around it began to feel tight, a sure sign of swelling, which in turn meant an injury.
After a few minutes, and with both as drenched as if they had fallen into a stream, a dark shape appeared ahead of them. It was a lean-to made of wood and filled with straw for bedding. Persephone huddled beneath, as did half a dozen white-bodied, black-faced sheep.
They reached the shelter, which was thatched with mud and more straw. It was dry beneath, and the bodies of the animals produced a heat that made the water steam off them.
Alexander collapsed into the straw, and Celia fell down next to him, red-faced and breathing hard. He found himself laughing.
“What is so funny?” Celia asked.
“I just remembered one day when I decided to walk from Cheverton to Chelmsford when I was a boy. It seemed such a short distance on my father’s map and a very straightforward road. I ended up sheltering from a storm in a pig pen and was mistaken for a vagrant by the farmer, who summoned a Justice of the Peace. I was sent to a workhouse near Barking for a week before my father freed me. He was mortified.”
“A pig pen?” Celia echoed, astonished.
“Yes, it was the only shelter for miles. It was either that or dying of exposure.”
“What happened when you got home?”
“My father eventually congratulated me on getting as far as I did. My mother hired a tutor to teach me geography.”
Celia laughed. “On one of my excursions, I ended up being paid to ride a racehorse at Ascot. The animal was a wonderful gelding named Henry, and his owner was the Duke of Connaught. I was in a tavern in Debtford when I was approached to be a jockey, due to my slight build. I was leading when my wig flew off my head and my long hair was revealed to all. I was taken into custody by a shocked constable and driven back to London. I gave my address as Cheapside and jumped out of the carriage on Piccadilly,” she recounted, shifting in the straw to find a comfortable position.
Alexander watched her body shift against her soaked dress. Celia noticed him noticing.
“Why did you run away?” he asked.
“Why? Because I did not want them to discover that I was the daughter of the Earl of Scovell. I knew Father would send me away to the countryside, to Aunt Hilda and Uncle Cuthbert.”
“No, I do not mean in your story. Why did you run from our bed?”
He looked at her earnestly, unable to stop himself from tracing the line of her lean but luscious figure. He reached out, running his hand down her side and over her hip. She put her hand atop his, stopping him but not removing his touch.
“I did not want to become another mistress,” she said.
Alexander frowned. “Another? I do not have one. Even you cannot be termed a mistress, given that we are married.”
Celia regarded him solemnly for a long moment while the storm raged around them. Then, she looked away, deliberately removing his hand from her hip. She sat up, hugging her knees to her chest and gazing out into the premature twilight.
Alexander regarded her, puzzled. “Whatever is the matter with you?” he asked.
“It does not matter. I had no right to speak of it. There is nothing between us but an arrangement forced upon us both. I cannot expect you to keep vows that you did not mean.”
That stung Alexander.
He sat up. “Now, what the hell do you mean by that? I do not make vows that I do not mean to keep.”
“Clearly, you do,” Celia countered, looking back at him over a shoulder that seemed bare due to the translucent fabric of her dress. She pulled the coat tighter around herself, covering her near-nakedness.
“I regard myself as married. I have no intention of conducting an affair with any other woman while I am married to you.”
