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"I don’t want to sleep without you" Daisy stared into the shadowed face just above her own "And I don’t want to ithout you"
"Someday" He bent to press a firm kiss on her ht or day, and hold you as long as you want" His voice deepened with emotion as he added, "You can depend on that"
Downstairs, the exhausted earl of Westcliff lay on a sofa, his head pillowed in his wife’s lap After two days of relentless searching and precious little sleep, Marcus eary down to his bones However, he was grateful that tragedy had been avoided and that Daisy’s fiance had been safely returned
Marcus was a bit surprised by the way his wife had fussed over him As soon as he had arrived at the manor, Lillian had plied hies from his face with a daes to a few cut fingers, and even pulled his muddy boots off
"You look far worse than Mr Swift," Lillian had retorted when he had protested that he was fine "Froe for the past two days, whereas you’ve been foraging through the woods in theabout," Marcus had pointed out "He ounded"
"That doesn’t change the fact that you’ve had no rest and practically nothing to eat while you were looking for him"
Marcus had sub the way she hovered over hied properly, she cradled his head in her lap Marcus sighed in content hearth-fire
Lillian’s slender fingers played absently in his hair as she co time since Mr Sent to find Daisy And it’s too quiet Aren’t you going to go up there and check on them?"
"Not for all the he one of Daisy’s new favorite phrases "God knohat I "
"Good God" Lillian sounded appalled "You don’t think they’re…"
"I wouldn’t be surprised" Marcus paused deliberately before adding, "Remember hoe used to be"
As he had intended, the remark diverted her instantly
"We’re still that way," Lillian protested
"We haven’t made love since before the baby was born" Marcus sat up, filling his gaze with the sight of his dark-haired young wife in the firelight She was, and would always be, the hened his voice as he asked, "Howher elbow on the back of the sofa, Lillian leaned her head on her hand and setically "The doctor said at least another fortnight I’hed as she saw his expression "Very sorry Let’s go upstairs"
"If we’re not going to bed together, I fail to see the point," Marcus grumbled
"I’ll help you with your bath I’ll even scrub your back"
He was sufficiently intrigued by the offer to ask, "Only otiation," Lillian said provocatively "As always"
Marcus reached out to gather her against his chest and sighed "At this point I’ll take whatever I can get"
"You poor , Lillian turned her face to kiss hiue
As it turned out, Matthew and Daisy were not wed until late autue, the hounds were out four s a week, and the last baskets of fruit had been harvested from heavy-laden trees Now that the hay had been cut, the raucous corn-crakes had left the fields, their cla-thrushes and the chatter of yellow buntings
For the entire suood part of autu the frequent trips to London to al affairs With Westcliff’s help the extradition requests fro Matthew to re on a pair of skillful barristers and acquainting them with the particulars of his case, Matthew had dispatched them to Boston to file with the appeals court
In thethe construction of the Bristolup distribution channels throughout the country It seeed somewhat since the secrets of his past had been revealed…he was freer so Matthew’s li list of accomplishments, Simon Hunt had infor for Bowman’s, he elcome to come to Consolidated Locoher percentage of the soap company’s future profits
"I’ll be a millionaire by the time I’e to stay out of jail"
It had surprised and touched Daisy that everyone in her family, even her mother, had rallied to Matthew’s defense Whether this was for Daisy’s sake or her father’s was unclear Thomas Bowman, who had always been so severe on people, had i hiard him more than ever before as a de facto son
"One suspects," Lillian had told Daisy, "that if Mattheere to commit cold-blooded murder, Father would say on the spot, ‘Well, the boythat keeping busy helped the ti a hoabled seaside house that had once belonged to a shipyard owner and his family Acco far e, coings and fabrics And of course she made certain there were tables and shelves for books in as many rooms as possible
It helped that Matthew sped to Daisy whenever he could steal away for a few days There were no constraints between the conversations and walked through the sleepy suht in each other’s cohts when Matthew came to Daisy in the darkness and made love to her, he filled her senses with infinite pleasure and her heart with joy
"I’ve tried so hard to stay away froht made stripes across the shadowed hills of the bedclothes
"Why?" Daisy whispered back, crawling over him until she was draped over the muscled surface of his chest
He played with the dark cascade of her hair "Because I shouldn’t come to you like this until we’re married There’s a risk--"