“You’re sorry?” she repeated. “Well, not sorry exactly,” he said in that unfamiliar rough voice, fumbling for the words. “It’s just…I shouldn’t have done that…taken advantage of you like that. Not that I didn’t want to—oh, bloody hell!” He took a step toward her and put his hands on her shoulders, holding her at arm’s length, clearly exasperated. “You’re a proper young woman, and I’ve a responsibility to send you to your aunt in the same condition I found you.”
