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bride already looked better. A little color had seeped back into her cheeks even as they spoke. Very odd. “I shan't keep you, then. Sleep well.”
    “Thank you, Ledbetter. I do hope I shall.”
    He had already turned away when he felt a strong compulsion to kiss her. She was, after all, his bride. This was, for better or worse, his wedding day. He turned back and was considerably startled to see a single tear sliding down her cheek. “My dear, you are in some pain,” he protested, crouching down beside the bed. “Please tell me what I can do.”
    “No, no, it is just the upset,” she whispered, not meeting his gaze. “Really, it is nothing, Ledbetter. You needn't concern yourself.”
    “My dear girl, who should be more concerned than your husband? If there is nothing I can get for you, perhaps I should stay until you sleep.”
    “Please don't,” she pleaded. “Truly, I will be perfectly fine if only I am left alone to recover myself.”
    Slightly offended, Ledbetter rose once more to his feet. “As you wish, of course. But please don't hesitate to call me should you need me during the night. I will leave the connecting door open so that I may hear you.”
    Her sigh looked almost like a shudder, but she nodded and thanked him. Ledbetter decided he would not, after all, kiss her. What was the point? Better not to tease those expectant loins of his any further than they had already been tempted by the knowledge of this being his wedding night. Tomorrow was soon enough to satisfy the craving that roiled in him. If he were a patient man, it would hardly have bothered him at all.
    In his own room he disposed of his dressing gown and climbed between the icy sheets. He left his candle to burn itself down in a misguided effort to provide his new wife with a reassuring beacon in the dark. Sometime during the night he must have heard the faint click as the door between the two rooms was closed, but it did not disturb his sleep.
    * * * *
    Prudence slept little, mainly because she was distressed with herself for her foolishness. Had she not agreed to marry the baron? Did she not know full well what that meant? Of course she did, and she was being the greatest beast in nature to pretend to an illness that she did not feel. At least, what she felt was not a physical illness.
    Her distress, and fear, and grief had all seemed to tangle together when she looked up to see Ledbetter standing there. Not until she said it did she have any realization that she was going to send him away. And then to have him see her shed a tear! Really, she was beyond hope.
    In the middle of the night she had risen to close that offending door, and subsequently wander about her room feeling wretched. The night outside was dark, with not even a quarter moon to light the stable yard over which her room looked. She could hear the occasional sounds of an owl or some creature of the wild, but within the inn there was total silence. The taproom must have closed long since, and even the Grangers gone to their beds.
    Ledbetter's room had been dark when she gently pushed the door closed. Doubtless he was sleeping soundly, after wondering briefly at his bride's odd behavior. Tonight she would do better, Prudence promised herself as the first stray glimmers of dawn lit the sky. Tonight they would be at Salston, where she would have to prove herself a good and proper wife. Prudence groaned and climbed back into bed, where sleep finally overtook her.
    When she awakened again, she felt disoriented. The bed was not familiar to her, nor the room. And the daylight seemed to indicate that the day was much advanced beyond the early hour at which she normally arose. Frowning, she sat up in bed, only to be overwhelmed by the realization of where she was—and who she was. The newest Lady Ledbetter.
    Her gaze flew to the connecting door between his room and hers. It remained tightly closed, and she could not hear sounds issuing from the next room. Surely Ledbetter would be