The Rakehell Regency Romance Collection Volume 2(22)

She extinguished the candle, planted a soft kiss on his brow, and shut the door with a sigh.



She lingered on the landing for a time, until she heard deep, steady, even breathing, and was assured that he truly had fallen asleep.



Then she crept along the landing, and down the stairs. Once on the ground floor, she made her nightly rounds, checking that all of the candles were out and the fireguards set in front of each hearth. She looked in the bathroom, and made certain the boiler was extinguished. She looked at it longingly. She had had such high hopes for a bath before he had arrived. Well, there was always tomorrow morning.



She filled an ewer of hot water to bring upstairs with her, and headed for the hall. She returned to the small table at the foot of the stairs and took up the candle she had left there.



Once she had ascended to her own room, she placed it and the ewer on the bedside table, and undressed. She washed her face, hands and neck with the hot water, and dried herself carefully with a soft towel.



Then she sat down at her dressing table, and began to unbind her hair from its long braid, which she had coiled into a simple bun. She brushed it out with brisk efficiency, then lingered for slightly longer than was her wont, looking at herself in the mirror. Weighing and assessing her face, her straight patrician nose, clear gray eyes, finely arched brows, good skin, if a bit pale compared to her very dark hair.



Her face had often been described as handsome, rather than beautiful, no doubt due to her cleft chin and strong jaw, but she felt to have anything less would have rendered her visage insipid. Her sisters had been classic beauties, but rather vacant-looking.



She brushed her hair until it gleamed, then rubbed it with a silk glove as her sister-in-law had suggested. Then she looked again, and decided it did look much better, a rich, glossy blue-black.



She rose from the low bench and looked out the window at the peaceful garden outside her window. By rights she ought to be exhausted herself after all the wedding preparations and helping all her friends pack for their journeys, but she felt curiously invigorated.



In her fine lawn nightdress, with her hair flowing down her back sensually, she felt free for the first time in her life. It was true she did have her unexpected visitor down the corridor in the guest room. But for the most part, she could do as she liked, go to bed when she wished, rise when she wanted. She had no idea what Jonathan would say about Alexander staying with them, but she was certain that he would understand. It was the right thing, the Christian thing to do.



What could be the harm in helping the poor man?





Chapter Five



Dawn arrived crisp, cool and sparkling after the cleansing storm the night before. Sarah stretched luxuriously like a cat, then sat bolt upright as she recalled her houseguest.



Struggling into her robe, she padded down the hall barefoot, and peeped through the crack in the door. Alexander appeared to be asleep, for his long limbs were sprawled in every different direction, with the covers hurled about.



She stared for a time, admiring his bare chest, lean hips, long legs, and blushed despite herself. It seemed almost indecent to be peering in at him like that. Ogling his almost naked masculinity when he was blind and vulnerable. Well, she would have found him magnificent no matter what condition he was in, she decided. He really was most extraordinarily handsome, with a physique honed to perfection for all he had said he had been incapacitated in the hospital for nearly two years.



"Sarah?" He turned his head and looked straight at her, causing her to start.



That set the floorboards creaking, thus cutting off her opportunity to retreat without him having known for certain that she had been there.



"Just checking to see if you're ready for breakfast, Alexander," she said in an even tone, though she could barely breathe as she stared at his bare torso and legs, rippling with muscles with his every move. "Did you sleep well?"



He gave a huge stretch, completely unself-conscious in all of his male splendor. "I did. That was the best night's sleep I've had in a long time."



Alexander groped around for the blankets and sheets, and rearranged his arms and leg under the bed linens, which he pulled up over his chest, leaving only his shoulders bare.



"Is the room warm enough?" she asked, going over to the heart to poke the embers and throw on another log.



"It's fine, just perfect. I can't recall the last time I was this warm and cozy."



"Good. And I'm sure you'll feel even better when you get some hot food inside you."



"Yes, I'm hungry despite the wonderful meal last night. Is there any chance of more of that wonderful coffee to start off the day?"