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“Unless that lady were his wife,” Robert shot back.

She began to remove his overcoat, her movements sharp and frantic.

“Can you at least wearthis?” she hissed, thrusting the coat at him without facing him.

He chuckled. “Very well, I shall put it on and sit on the stone by the fire, so it too can dry off. Now, how about you come and sit beside me so that you get the benefit of the flames?”

She let out a high, disbelieving laugh. “Don the coat first,” she said, still turned away from him.

“I have. You can face me now.”

Slowly she turned, blinked at him once, and then got to her feet.

He was indeed wearing his great coat though he had not bothered to button it up. He sat with one leg crossed over the other, on the stone ledge in front of the fire, the flames heating his back. It would get uncomfortable soon, but for now, it was perfect.

She crossed over to him, hesitated for a moment, and then sat by his side.

“You see. That was not terribly hard, was it?” he asked teasingly.

She favored him with a glare and sat rigidly by the fire.

“You said the publican would bring us food and drink…and a bath?” Georgiana mumbled.

Despite Robert’s state of undress, Georgiana soon grew comfortably warm by the fire. She swayed a bit, her eyes closing until she was involuntarily leaning against his arm.

When she realized how close she was to laying her head on his shoulders, she jerked away, shuffling away from him and blinking rapidly to wake herself up.

“Yes but…” he leaned forward, cocking his ear to listen, “by the sounds of the downpour outside, I do not think it will be soon. You should go and lie down.”

“I am all right,” she said sharply, just to stop his urging.

She had no intention of taking off any of her clothes in front of him. She could not believe she was sitting next to his near-naked body. She could not remember ever seeing him unclothed. It had been impossible for her not to look at his manly area. The dimness of the room, however, had made it so she had not gotten a proper view, much to her mortified regret.

“How is it that you did not at least pack a change of clothes for this trip?” he asked.

“I was in a hurry. I do not see you with a suitcase.”

“It is still in the chaise. I left it there thinking we might set out again today but at this point, I see that it is impossible. Never fear, I shall fetch it in a short while, together with our supper and a bath for you. I simply thought to get warm first.”

Georgiana opened her mouth to thank him, hesitated, then closed it again. The feeling of being in uncharted territory would not leave her and she had no idea how to behave.

She pondered the notion of asking Robert if they could concoct a protocol of behavior so she would know what was expected of her.

She was quite sure that he would laugh in her face if she said such a thing. A man who stripped naked with no hesitation in front of a lady clearly did not set much store in decorum.

Do I? Do I set a lot of store in it, or am I simply used to adhering to it to hide my family’s shortcomings?

Georgiana did not know but, at that moment, she found that she missed her family. Things might have been hard, and they were constantly teetering on the brink of ruin before Robert’s dowry had saved them; but at least then, Georgiana always knew what was expected of her.

She always held her head high as she convinced the butcher to extend their credit, while the milkmaids were to be pleaded with for just half a pail of milk,for the young ones, please. She bargained hard with the market women for their groceries and bartered with the modiste for a used gown for her stepmother.

Now she was adrift in a sea of unknowns, never sure from one day to the next what her new role as a wife and a duchess encompassed. Robert got to his feet and shrugged out of his coat.

He turned and faced her. “Well, I shall be going now.”

She stared unblinkingly at his groin, her mouth agape and her throat tinder dry. “Uh…” she said.

He smiled. “I shall see you presently.” He turned, reaching for his breeches and pulling them on, followed by his shirt, stockings, and boots.