Page 60 of How To Tempt A Bodyguard

"That laugh. It's too..." He gestured vaguely. "Refined. Musical. Like bells."

"My laugh sounds like bells?" She straightened up like a lady, momentarily distracted by the compliment.

"Like expensive bells. In a fancy church. That no peasant woman has ever set foot in."

She pressed her lips together, trying not to smile. "How should I laugh, then?"

"Louder. Rougher. From your belly, not your throat." He demonstrated a harsh bark of sound, more cackle than laugh. "Like you've just heard a filthy joke about the vicar and his sheep."

"That's revolting."

"That's authentic."

She tried. The sound that came out was strangled, somewhere between a cough and a honk.

Matthew actually smiled. A real smile, creasing the corners of his eyes and curving his wide mouth.

"What in God's name was that?" he asked.

"My peasant laugh. You said from the belly."

"I said laugh, not die."

She tried again. Worse this time, which made the fake laugh collapse into real giggles, which made Matthew shake his head in mock despair.

"We're doomed," he said. "Carrick's men will hear that laugh and know immediately that you're—"

A gust of wind swept across the road, carrying dust and grit. Florence turned her head too late. The particles hit her face, her eyes, her nose.

She sneezed. Violently.

Instinctively, she reached for her kerchief and dabbed delicately at her nose, the way she'd been taught since childhood. Gentle pats. Refined. Ladylike.

Matthew sighed.

"What?" she asked, her voice muffled by the cloth.

"You just dabbed."

"I sneezed. What was I supposed to do?"

"Not that." He plucked the kerchief from her hand and shoved it back into her pocket. "Peasant women don't carry kerchiefs for dabbing. You use your sleeve."

"My sleeve?"

"The inside of your wrist. Quick swipe. No one looks twice."

Florence stared at him in horror. "That's disgusting."

"That's survival. Do it."

She looked down at Nell's rough wool sleeve. Thought about dragging it across her nose. Her entire body recoiled.

"I can't."

"You can. You will." His voice was patient but firm. "Carrick's men will notice a woman who dabs. They won't notice a woman who wipes."

She closed her eyes. Thought about everything she'd sacrificed to get this far.