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He would understand, she was certain. A person who was so gentle and patient with her and her siblings could never be the angry beast she used to think he was.

Yet she was too afraid to tell him the truth, nonetheless. Now that she’d experienced his warmth, she was afraid to lose it. If he knew that she’d tricked him into accepting another man’s child as his heir, he would not be able to trust her.

And since there was no trust established between them to begin with, this would ruin any possibility of it in the future.

Emily had just crawled into the bed when she heard the door of the room next to hers open and close. And then the footsteps passed her door as Tyrone moved toward the stairs. Eager to finally find out where he went at night, Emily jumped out of bed and rushed to the door. Her stomach churned with anticipation but also fear. What if she didn’t like the answer?

She peeked out of the door and caught a glimpse of Tyrone’s cloak as he rounded the corner. Wrinkling her nose, she glanced at her bare feet before hastily scouring the room for her slippers and tugging them on.

She dashed out of the room, moving as quickly and as quietly as she could.

Her heart drummed violently in her chest as she followed him outside. He couldn’t be leaving to see a mistress, could he? He was not coming to her bed… What was stopping him from visiting another’s?

Emily wrapped her arms around her waist, shielding herself from the chilly wind and her ugly suspicions. He was headed for the stables. Of course, he was. He wasn’t going to have an assignation in the back of the townhouse. Once he saddled a horse, how was Emily to follow him then?

She strangled a hysterical chuckle and hurried her steps. The only plan she had was to catch up to him and ask him all her questions. It was time.

When he disappeared inside the stables and everything went quiet, for a moment she worried that perhaps he did have a liaison planned. In the stables.

Emily silently slipped inside, listening to him cooing sweet words in the darkness. She stayed in the shadows, stepping lightly and making as little noise as she could—

Rip.

Her nightgown caught on a nail sticking out of the wooden beam and ripped the fabric of her sleeve and the neckline, baring the upper left part of her body, including a bit of her breast.

Perfect!

She caught the fabric and tugged it up, mumbling something to herself when a pair of shiny hessian boots appeared before her eyes. So much for her stealthy approach. She raised her gaze to her husband’s grim face.

“What are you doing here?” he bit out, holding a lantern over his head, a harsh light throwing shadows onto his face.

“I…” Emily wracked her brain to find an appropriate lie, but she came up blank. Finally, she blurted out the truth, “I am following you.”

He blinked in stunned silence for a long moment. He probably didn’t expect her to be upfront about her motives. Or perhaps he didn’t expect this to be the motive. “Why are you following me?” He looked genuinely perplexed, and his gaze turned even more puzzled as he studied her from top to bottom.

She squirmed under his watchful eye. In her single, torn nightgown and flimsy slippers, she must have looked ridiculous and out of place in the stables on the cold spring night.

“To find out where you are going every night, obviously.” She shrugged and collected more fabric in her fist to keep her gown from opening up. “Which I would still like to know. Including who you were talking to just now.”

“How do you know that I am going out every night?” he asked as he hung the lantern on a nearby hook and proceeded to take off his cloak.

“Because—” Because I come to your chamber every night hoping to start our marital relations. Emily grimaced. She couldn’t say that. No matter how upfront she wanted to be with her husband, that was just embarrassing. “I hear you leave your room every night. And I know you don’t come back till the early hours of dawn. If you want to be secretive about it, you should be—” Emily paused her rambling as Tyrone stepped even closer, invading her space. He wrapped his arms around her before gently placing his cloak over her shoulders. “—quieter.”

He tied the cloak at her neck and just stood there, refusing to vacate her personal space. “I wasn’t trying to be secretive. I didn’t think you’d care." He brushed a lock of hair away from her face. "And what are you doing not sleeping till the early hours of dawn?”

Emily took a deep breath, inhaling his comforting scent. He smelled of horses, soap, spice, and the hint of the outdoors.

And his heat had chased away her chills. He looked so powerful in a single shirt and buckskin breeches. Somehow larger than when he was dressed in formalwear.

“I read,” she said. And wait for you to come back. “I don’t get much time to myself during the day, so I take my time at night to relax and do what I enjoy in order to unwind.”

“What keeps you so busy during the day?” His breath hit her cheek and her heart sped up, her stomach tumbling in an excited frenzy. His voice, his closeness played with her jittery mind.

“I… um… I have to find a governess and tutors for my siblings. And I need to buy them clothes. Now that I have my allowance, I have a lot of duties piled up that need taking care of, including this townhouse. It’s been neglected for a long time.”

“That does sound like a lot of work,” he murmured.

“It is,” she agreed.