Dilemma in Yellow Silk by Lynne Connolly Read Free Book Online Page B

rescuing from the maze. She had rescued him just as much.

Chapter 4
     
    The other dinner guests had arrived by the time they returned to the house. Excusing herself, Viola raced upstairs and into the red bedroom, the one she usually used when she visited here. Once the room had been a grand showplace. Now the lovely silk on the walls hung in shreds, the floor was bare, and the paintings had gone from the wall. It was even emptier than usual, only the bed remaining. The marquess must have decided to deal with the room at last. Viola would have to find another room to use in future.
    Tranmere had brought up her bag. Viola wasted no time shrugging out of her red gown and shaking out the yellow silk she used for dinners. A modest gown worn over a small hoop, it was nevertheless a reliable one, its cheerful color making up for its deficiencies in other departments.
    Hastily she pinned the lace ruffles to her sleeves and shook her petticoat. She was about to push her arms through the sleeves of the gown when a tap came on the door. “Come in!” A maid would be useful. She could help pin the gown to her stays.
    But it wasn’t a maid.
    Viola shrieked, then clapped her hand over her mouth.
    “Maidenly modesty?” Marcus said, strolling into the room. “I never would have thought that of you, Viola.”
    “You’re doing it again!” She clutched the gown to her chest.
    “What?”
    “If they caught us, you’d be compromised. I’m a lady, you know. Kind of.”
    He smiled. “Kind of?” He advanced on her. “Ladies don’t compromise gentlemen.”
    “And gentlemen don’t compromise ladies!” She was still angry with him for his behavior in the music room. “What are you doing here?”
    He lost the smile. “I came to apologize.”
    “What for?” Not that he didn’t owe her an apology, but she wanted specifics.
    “For yesterday.”
    “For kissing me?”
    He shook his head and a trace of the smile returned. “Not that. I can’t regret that. But for what happened afterward. I should never have accused you of something that was my fault. I should not have come near you.”
    He spread his arms wide. He was in his shirtsleeves, and the pose gave her a view of the powerful muscles. That shade of intimacy sent a small shiver through her.
    She gripped the yellow silk. She wouldn’t admit she’d enjoyed it too. “You made me feel cheap. As if I were yours for the taking.”
    “Aren’t you?” He clapped his hand to his forehead. “No, I didn’t mean that, I swear it. I do apologize for everything. For the kiss if you need me to. Could we go back to the way we were before?”
    No. “Barely knowing each other?”
    He shook his head once more. “I want to be your friend, Viola. In truth—no, I can’t say anything on that score. But what I said afterwards?” He placed his hand on his heart and bowed. “Please forgive me.”
    Of course she forgave him, although she wasn’t quite ready to say so. “Why did you say it?”
    He regarded her solemnly, dropped his chin, and sighed. “Because I was angry with myself. I want to remain your friend, Viola. You’re a woman alone in the world except for your father, and you may need my help in the future. I want to be in a position to give it.”
    “My father is an extremely healthy man.” Marcus was right, though. “He will live for years yet. By then I could be a matron with children of my own. Plump and content,” she added because she wanted to see his reaction.
    He didn’t disappoint her. “You will continue to be lovely no matter what you do.”
    She let a smile curve her lips. “And I heard you were not a lady’s man.”
    “I’m not, but I am a truthful man.”
    His words unnerved her. She could not afford to believe him. He was not for her, and such talk would only lead her down paths she should not even think about, much less dream about.
    But those eyes, gazing into hers fearlessly, and his soft hair, worse since she had felt it for herself, were enough