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He nodded as she added a little soap to a dish and worked it into a lather with the brush she’d found alongside the razor She brought it over to his bedside and frowned

"What?"

"Your beard is quite long"

"I’er than my father’s ever was"

"Is that where you honed your skills?"

"Every day for the last few years of his life" She tilted her head to the side, like an artist exa her canvas "It would be best if we could trim it first"

"Alas, I have no shears"

Cecilia had a sudden vision of the gardener going after his face with the hedge trihter

"What?" Edward demanded

"Oh, you don’t want to know" She picked up the brush "Let’s give this a go"

Edward lifted his chin, allowing her to coat the left side of his face with the soapy lather It wasn’t as thick as she’d want, but it would do She worked carefully, using one hand to stretch his skin while the other scraped the blade down from cheek to chin With each pass she rinsed the blade in the washtub, watching as the water grew thick with his whiskers

"You have quite a lot of red in your beard," she observed "Does one of your parents have red hair?"

He started to shake his head

"Don’t move!"

He looked at her sideways "Don’t ask me questions"

"Touché"

"My mother’s hair is blond," Edward said the next time she rinsed the razor "My father’s is brown Saray Or silver, as he prefers to call it" He frowned, and his eyes clouded with soine he’ll have quite a bither voice carefully light

"Indeed" He tipped his chin up as she went to work on his throat "Thank you again for writing to theet word to theet the letter to the Rokesbys out on the very next ship, but still, it would be at least three weeks before it reached England And then another five before they ht expect a response

They fell into silence as Cecilia continued her work She was finding it much more difficult to do a proper job than when she’d shaved her father Edward’s whiskers had to be at least a half inch long--rowth she was used to

To say nothing of the fact that this was Edward And he had just kissed her

And she’d liked it Very e around her, swirling with awareness It was al at her skin And then when she finally did draw air, it was as if she was breathing in him He smelled delicious, which made no sense, since he soing mad You couldn’t s see this close to Edward Rokesby He addled her brain, and her lungs felt tightor lightor so

Honestly, it was a miracle she was able to keep her hand steady

"Can you turn your head just a bit?" she asked "I need to get that spot by your ear"

He cole the razor just so to avoid nicking hi his hair It would be so easy just to sigh, to let herself ainst his

"Cecilia?"

She heard his voice, but she couldn’t see about it She felt alh to hold her in place And then, as if her brain had needed an extra h to the rest of her body, she pulled herself back, blinking ahat she could only assu of desire

"Sorry," she said, the word see to cohts"

It wasn’t a lie

"It need not be perfect," he said, his voice strained "As long as you get the bulk of it off, I can do a closer shave to an unsteady step back "Iahthat will take reed

"You’ll wantehrm" She blinked a few ti "Do you want to don a shirt?"