Unfortunately, while Lisa could avoid Findlay by staying home, Robert was going to be a bit trickier. She could stay in her room of course, but there was no guarantee he wouldn’t come harass her here. He had knocked at her door three times already since she’d charged up here after their tumble in the stables. She’d refused to speak to him each time, and there had been little he could do but leave her alone with Richard and Christiana in the house. She suspected, however, that he wouldn’t be quite as accommodating without them here.

“Very well,” Christiana said finally, and turned to walk to the door, but paused there to ask, “Is there any message for Lord Findlay? He’s sure to ask where you are.”

“No,” Lisa said on a sigh. “Just say I was not feeling well. Better yet, say getting caught in the rain has given me a cough or something.”

Nodding, Christiana turned away and slid from the room.

The moment she was gone, Lisa turned and paced to her window to look out, her mind seeking some way to avoid Robert. He would come, she was sure. Probably the minute Christiana and Richard had left and the last thing she wanted was another argument with him. Her resistance to the man was pretty much completely absent at this point. The idea of marrying and enjoying the pleasure he stirred in her for the rest of her life was tempting. It was the time in between such sessions that worried her. The days of silent suspicion and accusation.

Lisa knew she couldn’t bear that. Perhaps she should just head home to Madison, she thought suddenly. She could not marry anyone now. Men wanted their wives to be pure on their wedding nights, not slightly used and possibly expecting. The thought made her grimace. There was now twice the chance that she may be carrying Robert’s child. She didn’t want to make it thrice. But if she stayed here, Lisa had absolutely no doubt that it would happen again.

Good Lord, her body was already hungry again for more. Now that her body had experienced the pleasure to be had, it was insatiable. Turning abruptly, she glanced to Bet.

“Unless you want to be trapped up here all night with me, I suggest that you leave now,” she said and then turned to grab the chair by her window and began to drag it toward the door.

Bet’s eyes widened and then she headed for the door. “I’ll be downstairs if ye need me.”

“I won’t need you until morning,” Lisa assured her and waited for her to slip out before jamming the chair firmly under the doorknob. Satisfied that she had done what she could, Lisa then turned and paced back to the window. She hadn’t been there more than a moment when a knock sounded at the door.