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A knock on her door awakened her. Startled, she sat up. She must have slept for a long while, for the sun streamed in through the room's small window. "Just a minute," she called. Dear heavens! Thorn would be furious that she'd overslept. Weren't servants supposed to rise at dawn to tend fires, cook breakfast, clean and do whatever else servants do? |
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Never mind that she often slept till ten or later in her own timeafter staying up into the wee hours to work. |
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She didn't seem to be in her own time. And her work was to be done during the day. |
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Ignoring the corset, she threw her pink dress back on and was buttoning it over her chemise when she pulled open the door. |
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Thorn stood there. She didn't mean to smile at him, but no matter; her grin disappeared as his thick brows knotted and he frowned down at her. His dark, uneven hair hung against his face and shoulders in wet clumps; did people in these days take baths on awakening? His broad jaw looked set, as though he had locked it to keep from yelling at her, and she cringed despite herself at the thought. |
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"Sorry I overslept." She tried to sound nonchalant. "My only excuse is that yesterday was a big day. A lot happened. I'll just get ready and see what René wants me to do." She began to sling the heavy wood door shut in his face. |
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He blocked it with the toe of his moccasin, and she stopped pushing, not intending to hurt him. "Here." He lifted two sopping cloth bags from the floor and handed them to her. |
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"Th-thank you," she stammered. They appeared to be the bags that the vagabonds claimed had been left for her by Pierce. The bags those men had dumped into the river. |
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"You're welcome." He watched her with those cool brown eyes that so unnerved her. |
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Stopping herself from biting her lip, she asked levelly, "Is there anything else you want?" |
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Was that a twinkle in his eyes? Surely not. But a comer of his mouth seemed to lift as he said, "The kitchen fire |
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