12/02/2026 05:14

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She shook his shoulder, but he still didn’t wake. Nicholas looked down the front of her nightgown, and when he put out a hand to touch her shoulder, his hand trembled. “I will need a cot put in here,” Dougless said, indicating the sitting room. As Dougless watched him, he walked to the mirror, then glowered at his image.

When he finally emerged, he was wearing only a towel about his hips and rubbing his wet hair with another towel. On the street, Dougless handed Nicholas the bag of coins plus the modern bills. “Come with me,” she said softly, as though speaking to a child about to step over a cliff. He liked the challenge of winning a difficult woman, and he liked the sense of power it gave him when he walked away from her.