“Five weeks,” she reminded him.

“Yes, yes, of course, but you're going to have to learn that your desires can't always come first.”

Caroline thought that was rather condescending, and she would have liked to have told him so, but instead, the following words erupted from her mouth: “Mr. Ravenscroft, you do not know the slightest thing about my desires.”

He straightened to his full height, and a devilish gleam she'd never seen before appeared in his eye. “Well now,” he said slowly, “that's not entirely true.”

Her cheeks virtually erupted in flames. “Stupid, stupid mouth,” she muttered, “always saying—”

“Are you speaking to me?” he inquired, not even bothering to hide his supercilious smile.

There was nothing to do but brazen it out. “I'm extremely embarrassed, Mr. Ravenscroft.”

“Really? I hadn't noticed.”

“And if you were any sort of a gentleman,” she ground out, “you would—”

“But I'm not always a gentleman,” he interrupted. “Only when it pleases me.”

Clearly, it didn't please him now. She grumbled a few nonsense words under her breath and then said, “I thought we might go outside so that I could compare the height of these windows to those at Prewitt Hall.”

He stood quite abruptly. “That is an excellent idea, Caroline.” He held out his arm toward her. “Do you require assistance?”

After her shameful reaction to his kiss a few days earlier, Caroline was of the opinion that touching him was always a bad idea, but that seemed a rather embarrassing observation to make out loud, so she just shook her head and said, “No, I'm quite nimble with this cane.”

“Ah, yes, the cane. It looks like the antique my uncle George brought back from the Orient. Where did you get it?”

“Perriwick gave it to me.”

Blake shook his head as he held open the door for her. “I should have surmised as much. Perriwick would give you the deed to this house if he knew where to find it.”

She tossed a mischievous smile over her shoulder as she limped into the hall. “And where did you say it was?”

“Sneaky wench. I've had it under lock and key since the day you arrived.”

Caroline's mouth fell open in shock and laughter. “You trust me so little?”

“You, I trust. As for Perriwick…”

By the time they exited the rear door to the garden, Caroline was giggling so hard she had to sit down on the stone steps. “You must admit,” she said with a magnanimous wave of her hand, “that the gardens look quite splendid.”

“I suppose I must.” His voice was part grumble and part laugh, and so Caroline knew he was not truly angry with her.

“I know that it has only been two days,” she said, squinting at the plants, “but I am convinced that the flowers are healthier in their new locations.” When she looked up at Blake, his face held an oddly tender expression. Her heart warmed, and she felt suddenly shy. “Let's examine the windows,” she said hastily, standing back up. She hobbled onto the grass and stopped in front of the window to the study.