and the two female witnesses departed, casting relieved smiles in her direction.
‘Where are your clothes and shoes?’ Rothmore asked.
‘I don’t know,’ she replied. ‘They took them and gave me this robe to wear.’
‘The garments were thought tainted by the Devil’s touch,’ Willoughby explained. ‘They were taken away and burned.’
‘Get me a blanket,’ Rothmore ordered.
When the three men lingered, he scowled at them. ‘Leave. Now. All of you. Find me a blanket and leave it in the vestibule.’
As soon as they were gone, he turned to Katrina. ‘I already have a housekeeper and two maids, but I need a woman to see to my personal needs. If you want the position, I’ll take you with me. If not, I’ll leave you in the next village, and you can find your own way from there.’
Panic seized Katrina as the meaning of his words sank in. Her gaze darted over the man standing before her, took in the handsome features and the physical handicap that he couldn’t hide. She recalled the dark shadows of suffering she’d glimpsed at in his eyes, and a wave of sympathy swept over her.
He had shown her kindness, had saved her life.
The need to repay the gift by easing his pain swelled in her heart.
Beneath her silent scrutiny, the stranger’s mouth twisted into a bitter smile. ‘I’m not going to change however long you keep staring at me. I’m only half a man, and always will be.’ He shuffled his weight on his infirm leg. ‘Well, what’s it to be? Are you accepting my offer or not?’
Katrina flinched. His angry tone told her more clearly than eloquent words might have done that Rothmore needed affection, the comfort of a woman’s touch. She expelled a long sigh as the choice took shape in her mind. She had fled her father’s estate to avoid an unwanted marriage to a man she despised. Being burned on the stake would have been too high a price to pay for her freedom, but becoming another man’s mistress was not.
‘Yes,’ Katrina said. ‘I’ll come with you.’
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