“Let me see,” he said as he crossed into her room in three long strides and sank to his knees at her feet.
He slid his hands under her skirts and tugged, dragging down her stocking by force, ignoring the ribbon tied beneath her knee. It hurt.
“William, you’ll ruin them.”
“Purchase a replacement tomorrow,” he bit out.
However, he gentled as he finished drawing off her stocking. He caressed her skin, then lifted her foot into the light. He swallowed and tightened his fingers around her ankle.
“It’s nothing,” she promised him as she attempted to pull her foot back.
He released her to stand, punching his hands to his hips. “Do not dance with Cobb again.”
Matilda was only too happy to comply. Mr. Cobb’s conversation had made her uneasy. “I will try to avoid him if possible, but he is your friend.”
“My friend should have learned how to dance properly by his age.” He stood quietly a moment, then glanced around and knelt back down at her feet. He removed her other silk stocking with less haste and far more care. “What did Lady Fox say that unsettled you so much?”
“Nothing.” Matilda tucked her feet back under her seat when he was done.
He rubbed her knee slowly. “You were pale after you met her.”
Matilda winced. “You know her well?”
A muscle in his jaw twitched. “Yes. We met a long time ago.”
There was a strange gleam in his eye as he slid his hand down to her leg and tugged her bare feet into view again. He held her ankles, and her breath caught. His fingers were warm as he tightened them around her limb the way he often did with her wrists.
She was curious about him and risked a question that he might not like to answer. “Did you court her?”
His brows rose. “Why do you ask that?”
“She seemed very pleased to see you. She invited you to dinner.”
“She invited us.”
Matilda shook her head. She had not mistaken Lady Fox. “She invited just you.”
“She likes to make an impression.” He glanced up at her, a wry smile on his lips. “She was testing you. Seeing how you react to a rival.”
So there was something between them. Matilda’s heart sank at the discovery that William was involved with a married woman. “Lord Fox didn’t seem to care that his wife was arranging an intimate dinner with you.” Matilda stared. “Is this how you always behave with other men’s wives?”
“Not since… Not for a very long time.” He nodded slowly as his palm moved up her leg beneath her gown, and his fingers teased the crease at the back of your knee. “The Foxes are a very liberal couple and quite the reverse of most marriages in terms who has the authority.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Lady Fox is the dominant one of the pair. It works for them. Lady Fox and I clash often.” He tilted his head. “A woman like Lady Fox could never suit me. We are too similar in temperament.”
“I can see no similarity between you at all,” Matilda insisted.
“Lucky me.” His lips quirked a little as if he was highly amused. “I have a favor to ask.”
Matilda glanced down at his hand where it caressed her leg. She should stop him, but her heart was racing very fast all of a sudden. He had not touched her in this manner before—nor so gently. “Of what nature?”
“It is most likely something you will not want to do.” He shook his head then and found his feet quickly, putting a distance of half the room between them. He was almost to the connecting door before he spoke. “Forgive me. ”
He started to leave, and with a start she realized he was too uncomfortable to continue. Matilda was so tired of whatever great secret her husband meant to conceal from her. She called him back. “What is it you want from me now, William?”
“A friend said something tonight that annoyed me, but afterward I couldn’t help but wonder if he might have a point. It is something I had not considered might be a problem.” He touched the scar on his face. “I don’t know if I can kiss well anymore.”