He let her go. “I do admire you, Audrey Blake. You certainly didn’t panic, when many sighted women would have.”
And she looked damned good in her dressing gown, too.
He wasn’t going to start lusting after Blake’s widow. If she ever found out he’d been part of the reason her husband was dead, she’d never treat him the same way again. He’d rather be her hero than the man she despised.
“Promise me you won’t open the door again unless you know it’s me,” he said.
“’Twas my fault, milord,” Molly called weakly, the facecloth still pressed to her head. “I just assumed it was you.”
He kept his voice light. “I imagine you won’t make that mistake again.”
“No.” She closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them, they shined with tears. “To think I could have gotten my mistress killed …”
“He wasn’t going to kill you,” Robert reassured them both, even though he had his doubts. “Just be careful from now on. Do you need me to stay with you?”
“No,” Audrey said, her voice back under control. “I will bolt the door when you leave and—oh dear. Didn’t I hear you break open the door?”
“You did. We’ll exchange rooms so you’ll feel safe. I only have one bed, but it’s wide enough to hold you both.”
Audrey blushed at the mere thought of lying in the bed Robert had lain in. It was already difficult to even think, knowing he was partially nude, and she’d let herself touch his chest—and she’d kept her hand there, even when she knew what she was doing! He was built so very … different than her husband had been.
She’d felt his breath on her face as he’d leaned over to speak to her—good Lord, she was turning into Blythe, all flustered by his mere presence.
And with poor Molly lying there injured!
“Let me help you pack your things,” he said.
“No, no, I will do fine. I know where everything is.”
“Even the things he threw around the room?”
Now she could definitely hear the amusement in his voice. Did he know how he affected her? Was he secretly laughing that a blind girl would be so foolish?
But no, she didn’t believe it of him. He would never make fun of her.
“I think there’s a hairbrush under the bed,” he said, his voice strained as if he was bending over.
She could hear Molly giggling, and it was such a relief—even if it was at her expense. But of course, Molly couldseethe half-naked earl on his hands and knees.
Audrey bit her lip, for even she could imagine it.
But she couldn’t crawl around on the floor with him, so she went to the washstand and drawers and collected their toiletries into her valise. She hastily rolled up her gown and petticoats and tossed them in.
As if he’d never seen a woman’s petticoats, she scolded herself. Her face was hot with mortification now, and she was starting to imagine Robert’s body over hers in his big bed.
Why was she thinking of that now? She’d just had a shock, for goodness sake, and her wedding night had hardly been the stuff of a young girl’s imaginings. But with Robert …
“Molly, do not try to stand,” he was saying sternly.
“Oh, no, milord, I’m too heavy?—”
He was obviously ignoring her. “Audrey, will you open the doors for me?”
She did feel a little tingle of warm contentment that he assumed she could pack up the room and open doors, everything sighted people did. Reaching out with her hands, she found his bare back and quickly pulled away, but not before she could feel muscles move as he held Molly so manfully. She skirted around them, found the door, and opened it.
In the corridor, she hesitated, unable to see if anyone was there. She felt him come up behind her.
It was Molly who said, “I see no one, Miss Audrey.”
