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But when the pleasure ripped through him, his eyes squeezed shut of their own accord The fierce jolts of ecstasy sent hiht

And then soht hi of the rain

Soed to carry her to the table and set her down on the planked surface He pulled up his trousers and slu done on that gate today

"Oh, Aaron I’y, he turned and aze "If you don’tI"

"No," she jurets about today Or last night None at all"

He exhaled with relief "Whatever the probles"

"This isn’t as simple as a broken latch"

"Whatever it is, whatever it takes, I will mend it If you don’t know it by now" He drew a sooty line down her cheek "Diana, I love you more than my life"

She bit her lip "That’s just it My life’s at stake I ed with a felony"

CHAPTER 12

Diana waited, breathless, for his reaction

After long, tense hed

She only wished this were a laughing matter "It’s not a joke, I’m afraid I’m under quite serious suspicion"

"Of what?"

She sat tall on the table, letting her legs dangle over the edge "When I ca, all the ladies were in the dining rooht they ht But that wasn’t it Mrs Nichols accusedentirely different They think I’ve been stealing"

"Stealing?" He frowned, all aone froonehouse"

He nodded "Charlotte told me about that"

"She did? When?"

He waved off the question "Not ied at her soiled bodice, pulling it straight "Last night, while all the ladies were gone to Ambervale, several more items disappeared This tiold brooch, and a guinea was stolen from Mrs Nichols’s own desk And since I was the only lady who stayed home"

"You couldn’t have been the only one there What about the maids?"

She shook her head "Only Matilda was there, and she slept in the same room as Mrs Nichols If she’d stirred, the landlady would have noticed In their eyes, I’s"

"But you didn’t"

"Of course I didn’t," she said "I’ve never stolen in my life It’s clear no one wants to believe it was ical explanation They think I’ve developed a compulsion of some kind Some sort of illness that drives me to steal"

She exhaled heavily and wove her hands into a tight lattice of interlaced fingers "Miss Price has requested a istrate I have no choice but to tell them the truth I’ll tell them it couldn’t have been "

His eyes flared "What? Diana, you can’t tell them that"

The vehemence of his reply took her by surprise He pushed off the table and went to the forge, raking the coals of the dying fire and feeding it new splits of wood

"I don’t think I have a choice," she said "It is the truth"

"Yes And if you tell them, you will be ruined In truth"

"Better to be a ruined woree, nor give any response at all

"That reat deal Thieves are hanged for stealing less"

"No one’s going to hang you You’re not a thief The items will turn up, or someone else will confess They have no evidence, only suspicion" He approached her and put his hands on her shoulders Their weight settled, heavy as a yoke "Why tell everyone about last night and invite uncharitable gossip?"

She shrugged "Perhaps I don’t care about the gossip"

"I don’t believe that"