Secrets of a Viscount Read Free

When he was finished signing, he held onto the quill and used his other hand to reach into his breast pocket and pull out his handkerchief. Wrapping the quill in his handkerchief, he handed it to Rachel.
    She quickly nodded once and her shaking fingers took the quill from him, her eyes never meeting his. Or if they had, he couldn’t tell because of the darkness that the cloak created around her face.
    As soon as she had the quill and started scratching out her name, Sebastian grabbed his other handkerchief and wiped off the dirt the quill had left behind on his fingers. “Finished?” he asked inanely when Rachel had finished scratching out her name.
    She nodded again without looking in his direction and extended the quill back to the smithy.
    “Shall we?” he asked, offering her his arm.
    Rachel’s delicate fingers closed around his arm and she allowed him to escort her out of the shop.
    “I don’t know about you, but I feel I need a bath,” Sebastian said lightly to his new bride a few minutes later after they’d entered the boarding house. They could have just gone home. But what was the rush? They were married now and going home would only lead to questions and uncomfortable conversations. No need to rush home to that when one could enjoy his new bride for a day or two first.
    Sebastian arranged for a room and ordered a bath and breakfast tray brought up to their room while Rachel fidgeted next to him. He smiled. “Don’t be so nervous,” he teased, nudging her with his elbow. “It’s not as bad as your mother explained it, I promise. But you will have to take that blasted cloak off.”
    “I know,” she whispered, causing him to shake his head. They were married now; her reputation was not going to suffer by being seen with her own husband at an inn.
    The innkeeper handed Sebastian a key and spouted off a few simple directions before the couple left the lobby in search of their room.
    “Here we are.” Sebastian slipped the brass key into the lock. He quickly unlocked the door and swung it open to reveal a spacious bedchamber. “Will you take that ugly cloak off now?” he asked as soon as they were both inside the room.
    Rachel didn’t have a chance to respond when a knock rattled the door.
    A maid carrying an elaborate breakfast tray and two footmen carrying pails of water came in and set up a warm bath and nice breakfast. Tipping the trio handsomely, Sebastian dismissed them and stared at the steaming tub, then at the breakfast. “You’ve been awful silent today, Rachel,” Sebastian mused. “How about you make the decision, eat first or bathe first.”
    “ I’ll bathe. You eat,” she whispered.
    He blinked. He’d only attended a dinner theater once in London a year ago and swore never to go again. But this kind of dinner theater he could do every day. “All right,” he said huskily, then went over to the table and fixed himself a plate.
    “What are you doing?” Rachel asked quietly when she realized he fully intended to watch her bathe while he breakfasted.
    “ Don’t mind me. I’ll not bother you. Just go on and bathe.”
    An unladylike noise formed somewhere in Rachel’s throat and caused Sebastian to stiffen immediately. That was a sound very similar to the one Belle made when she was vexed. He shuddered. Perhaps his wife was more like her wretched sister than he’d originally thought. No matter. He could handle an occasional slip in private. At least Rachel would never make such a horrendous noise in public.
    With a shrug and another half-growl, half-grunt, Rachel marched over to the far corner of the room and grabbed the edge of what appeared to be a folded dressing screen and started dragging it across the floor.
    “ Oh, come now, you don’t have to do that,” he protested jovially as she settled the screen in front of the tub to block his view of her.
    Rachel’s only answer was tossing her cloak over the top of the screen in such a way it covered the crack in the screen