Beloved Virago by Anne Ashley

Author:Anne Ashley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2003-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Katherine awoke to find herself in unfamiliar surroundings yet again. Having had little choice but to lie on a dirt floor, with a thin pile of leaves beneath her, she had passed possibly the most uncomfortable night of her entire life. Yet she clearly remembered that, when they had quite by chance stumbled upon the woodcutter’s rustic shelter, she had been too tired to care where she had bedded down, and had fallen asleep almost from the moment her head had touched the ground.

Easing herself into a sitting position, she glanced about the rough wooden structure, which, boasting three sides only, was open to the elements at the front, and was surprised to discover herself quite alone. She immediately experienced a moment’s unease, not because Daniel was no longer propped in the adjacent corner, where he had settled himself the night before, but because she suddenly recalled that he had seemed strangely quiet, subdued almost, after they had left the small market town the evening before.

They had been obliged to walk quite some distance before they had chanced upon this shelter, nestling in the wood. Throughout the lengthy trek Daniel had not uttered above a dozen words. At first she had put his unusually subdued state down to the fact that he had been compelled to put a period to their stalker’s existence in order to effect an escape. That, however, could not account for the fact that he had seemed disinclined to be near her, to so much as touch her. Why, not once had he offered a helping hand over the rougher ground, which he had not hesitated to do earlier in the day. Furthermore, when they had finally discovered this shelter, he had settled himself as far away as possible from her, when it would have made more sense to have lain side by side in order to share bodily warmth.

Sweeping her hair back from her face, Katherine stared through the wide opening at the surrounding woodland, wondering now if his odd behaviour was not a means to an end: an attempt to protect himself. Perhaps he had no intention of placing himself in a position whereby he would feel obliged to offer her the protection of his name?

She recalled with embarrassing clarity the passionate interlude outside the inn. She hadn’t found kissing him, or holding his strong body next to her own, in the least distasteful. In fact, the opposite was all too embarrassingly true. Perhaps Daniel had sensed this and it had put him on his guard? Perhaps, also, he was afraid that she would expect him to do the honourable thing by marrying her once this venture was over? If so, she would swiftly disabuse him, she decided, experiencing a resurgence of that ever-present fear. She had made up her mind years before that marriage was not for her. She had no intention of ever putting any man’s life at risk, especially one of whom she had grown so inordinately fond. It had

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