In fact, Rhys was far from indifferent to the presence of the lady close behind him.
Rhys was aware of Madeline’s beauty as he had never been aware of a woman before. It had been with considerable effort that he had kept himself from reassuring her with his touch. It had taken a fortitude he had not known he possessed to restrain himself from kissing her soundly in his relief that she was unscathed.
He had been afraid when Kerr took to the gorse. He had been terrified that the wily mercenary would rape Madeline before he could come to the lady’s aid. He had left too much distance between them in his determination to not be observed and he had been certain that his lady would pay the price of his miscalculation.
He had not overstated his relief that she had attempted to escape.
The eau-
