He did not allow her to go to her own room first to change into her nightgown. When she protested, he informed her that she would not need it. And he proved his point as soon as the door was firmly shut behind them by unclothing her one garment at a time, including her stays and her shift and her garters and stockings, until she was standing naked before him, bathed in the light of what seemed like a million candles. He had a good look too while he was playing lady’s maid, and he made no effort to stop his hands from brushing against her skin. Indeed, he was probably making an effort to see that they did touch her. What surprised Chloe most was the fact that she hardly felt embarrassed at all. It would have been a bit silly to do so, of course, since she had been his wife for longer than a week and had already lost an exact count of the number of times he had had relations with her. But even so, standing naked before a fully clothed man with all her imperfections ought to have been more disconcerting than it was.
