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With an adlance in Aline’s direction "Yes, sir"

Brusquely McKenna ushered Aline into the residence, which was handsomely furnished in dark woods, the walls covered in rich plu room, with the bedroom visible just beyond Heavy velvet drapes had been pulled back to reveal curtains of tea-dyed lace that softened the sunlight as it streamed into the room

Aline could not control her nervousness It erupted in a violent tre her jaw, she went to sit in a large leather chair After a long pause, McKenna did the sa her coldly An antique French carriage clock ticked busily on thethe tension that fractured the air

Aline’s ed to think of a fairly well-structured explanation, but all her carefully considered phrases had suddenly vanished Nervously she daaze flickered to her ether "Get on with it, will you?"

Aline inhaled and exhaled slowly, and rubbed her forehead "Yes I’lad of the chance to finally tell you the truth, except…this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done" Looking away froripped the upholstered arht, if I’vecould be further from the truth I’ve never cared one whit about the circumstances of your birth…where you ca o anywhere, to be with you" Her nails dug deep crescents into the worn leather She closed her eyes "I love you, McKenna I’ve always loved you"

There was no sound in the room, only the crisp tick of the mantel clock As Aline continued, she had an odd sense of listening to herself as if froe is not what it appears Any appearance of romantic interest between the two of us is a deception--one that has served both Lord Sandridge and myself He does not desire me physically, and he could never entertain that kind of feeling for me because he…" She paused aardly "His inclinations are lie to ement--a union between friends I won’t say that I didn’t find the offer attractive, but I turned hi her eyes, Aline stared down at her lap, while the blessed feeling of numbness left her She felt raw and exposed and terrified This was the hardest part,herself vulnerable to a le word A man as justifiably furious at the way she had treated hio…" she said raspily, "…you were right to suspect that I was lying about that It wasn’t a fever I was injured in a fire--I was burned quite badly I was in the kitchen with Mrs Faircloth, when a pan of oil started a fire in the basket grate on the stove I don’t reht fire, and I was instantly covered in flaround and beat out the flames He saved my life You may remember him--William--I think he was second footman when you were still at Stony Cross" She paused to take a long breath Her tre had eased a little, and she was finally able to steady her voice "My legs were colance at McKenna, she saw that he was no longer leaning back in his chair His body was canted slightly forward, his large frareen in his skull-white face

Aline averted her gaze once more If she looked at hihtmare that I couldn’t awaken froony from the burns, I was out of my head with morphine The wounds festered and poisoned my blood, and the doctor said that I wouldn’t last a week But Mrs Faircloth found a wo abilities I didn’t want to get better I wanted to die Then Mrs Faircloth showed , she trailed into silence That raved in her mind, when a few scraords on paper had eased her away from the brink of death

"What letter?" she heard McKenna ask in a suffocated voice

"The one you had sent to her…asking for money, because you needed to break your apprenticeship and flee fro the words you had writtenas there was a chance that you were in this world, I wanted to go on living in it" Aline stopped suddenly as her eyes blurred, and she blinked furiously to clear them

McKenna made a hoarse sound He ca as if so blow to the center of his chest

"I never thought you’d come back," Aline said "I never wanted you to find out about my accident But when you returned to Stony Cross, I decided that being close to you--even for one night--orth any risk That is why I…" She hesitated, blushing wildly "The night of the village fair…"

Breathing heavily, McKenna reached for the he his wrist in a convulsive movement "Wait!"

McKenna went still, the htly bunched

"Burn scars are so ugly," Aline whispered "They’re all over ht one is especially bad, where hten and shrink until it’s difficult to straighten my knee sometimes"

He absorbed that for a ers from his wrist and reht a wave of nausea, knowing exactly what he was about to see She sed repeatedly, while salty tears burned the back of her throat He reached beneath her skirt and slid his hands along her tense thighs, his pal the fabric of her drawers until he found the tapes at her waist Aline turned chalk-white, followed by brilliant scarlet, as she felt hiar her hps while he pulled the drawers over her buttocks and stripped the gars The hehs, the cool air washing over her exposed skin A profuse sweat of anxiety broke out on her face and neck, and she used her sleeve to blot her cheeks and upper lip

Kneeling before her, McKenna took hold of one of her icy feet in his warm hand He brushed his thu shoes when it happened," he said, staring at the pale, s of blue veins near the arch

Perspiration stung her eyes as she opened them to look at the top of his dark head "Yes" Her entire body jerked as his hands slid to her ankles

McKenna’s fingers stilled "Does it hurt when I touch you?"

"N-no" Aline blotted her face again, gasping as the slow, easy exploration continued "It’s just…Mrs Faircloth is the only one I’ve ever allowed to touch …and in others, the skin is too sensitive" The sight of his hands sliding along her ravaged calves was almost more than she could bear Transfixed and h, reddened scars

"I wish I had known," he murmured "I should have been with you"