Текст книги "Truce"
Автор книги: R. L. Mathewson
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Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 18 страниц)
Chapter 26
“Don’t be silly, Robert,” Elizabeth said with a huff as she stood up and headed for the stove. “There’s plenty of food for both us.”
He shook his head. “Just eat, minx. I’m fine,” he somewhat lied.
Although he was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to die, he was starving. The food was simple, but it smelled delicious. The rich aroma of eggs, ham and cheese accompanied by the hearty scents of freshly baked biscuits had his stomach rumbling, but it wasn’t enough to make him steal Elizabeth’s abandoned plate and devour her food.
His wife was obviously hungry and he refused to take any food from her. It pleased him to see her eating, because it meant that she was feeling better. He’d lost count of how many times he’d prayed that she would be okay over the last few weeks. The threat of losing her had hit him harder than he would have liked and it made him realize just how much she meant to him.
Suddenly all the bullshit they’d put each other through over the years no longer mattered, not if it meant that he would lose her. He couldn’t imagine a life without his minx in it, aggravating him, teasing him and making him feel alive for the first time in years. The fact that she’d lied about their baby no longer mattered either.
He wished that he’d handled things differently when he’d found out about the baby. He should have kept the matter between them and done everything that he could have to gain her trust. He should have courted her and done everything in his power to make sure that she chose to marry him. He hated knowing that the only reason that she’d married him was because he’d forced her. He’d do anything to change that.
But, there was no going back. There was no changing what happened. There was no stopping the gossip that had already spread. The damage was done. The only thing that he could do was to offer her the marriage that she deserved and the one that he craved. He wanted her to be his wife freely and have no regrets.
He wanted her to love him as much as he loved her.
So he was going to court his own wife. He was going to convince her to give him a chance, to let him show her that he was the right choice. She’d lost a fortune when she’d married him and, although he would never be able to provide her with the luxuries that she’d lost, he wanted to make sure that she was so damn happy that none of that mattered.
“There’s plenty of food, Robert,” Elizabeth said as she placed a plate filled with food in front of him. Before he could argue, she was spreading biscuits with a variety of toppings and placing them by his plate.
“Don’t worry about me, minx. I’m fine,” he said, forcing himself not to look down at the food out of fear that he’d lose control.
“We can eat while you further explain this truce of yours,” Elizabeth pointed out and when he opened his mouth to argue, she shoved the most delicious biscuit that he’d ever tasted in his mouth.
“Oh, God,” he mumbled in ecstasy as he finished off the biscuit and grabbed another.
“Do you like it?” Elizabeth asked, her tone casual, but he could tell that she was pleased.
“You weren’t lying,” he said, finishing off the last biscuit that she’d given him and grabbing three more. He quickly slathered peach jam on them and placed two of the biscuits by her plate.
“Thank you,” she said, taking a small bite out of one of the biscuits before placing it back down by her plate. “Now, about this truce.”
“Right,” he nodded, taking one more bite of that delicious biscuit before placing it back down by his plate and forcing himself to focus.
“I’d be willing to let the past go if you are,” Elizabeth said, bringing them back where they’d left off.
“I think that’s the best way to start this,” he said, looking across the table at her beautiful face. “I’d like us to start off as friends.”
“I’d like that, too,” she said softly, giving him a small smile that gave him hope. “What else?” she asked, sounding eager to fix this situation between them.
“No more fighting,” he restated his earlier declaration so that she at least knew that he was done with making her life a living hell. “And no more secrets,” he added, before he considered how it might sound.
She flinched as if he’d struck her, but instead of getting upset or making excuses for what she’d done, she nodded in agreement. “No more secrets.”
He nodded as he debated on the best way to continue. After a moment, he realized that he was actually nervous. He didn’t want to make a mess of this. To buy himself a little more time, he picked up his fork and dug into the eggs and nearly groaned with pleasure.
It was so damn good. His wife was an excellent cook and for that alone he thought himself a lucky man. He didn’t give a damn that she wasn’t supposed to know how to cook. A man with his appetite would be foolish to look down his nose at anyone with this level of skill in the kitchen.
“The first thing that we should clear up,” he said, pausing only long enough to take another bite, “is that you can cook whenever you’d like, whatever you’d like.”
“Thank you,” she said, sounding genuinely pleased.
He took a few more bites and decided that perhaps they should get to the basics of their marriage. “We should probably discuss your pin money and such.”
“I thought we’d already discussed that,” she said with a shrug. “Besides, I don’t have a dowry.”
“You don’t need one. I’ll take care of you,” he said, because he would. He might not be a rich man, but he could afford to keep his wife happy, at least he hoped that he could.
She looked like she was about to argue, but instead nodded. “Thank you, Robert.”
“You’re welcome, minx,” he said, finishing off his food.
“Where do you expect us to reside?” she asked with a touch of hesitation.
He cleared his throat nervously. He wasn’t exactly sure how to approach the subject, but he knew that he could no longer put it off, not since he’d announced barely ten minutes ago that there wouldn’t be any more secrets.
“I sold the estate that I bought a few months ago,” he said, deciding to break the news to her as easily as possible. He hoped that she took the news well and didn’t refuse to leave with him, because he’d really hate to resort to kidnapping his own wife since he refused to live without her.
“The one that our parents have been talking about?” she asked, sounding confused, but not terribly upset, at least not yet.
“Yes,” he answered slowly before adding, “I’ve bought a new estate in the country.”
“I don’t much care for London,” she said with a shrug, taking him by surprise and reminding him of their conversation that night in the orangery. “Where in the country is it?” she asked, sounding genuinely curious.
“Bridgewater,” he said, trying not to cringe as he waited for her response.
She started to nod only to pause with a frown. “I’ve never heard of it before. Is it up North?”
“You could say that,” he said, shifting nervously on the bench.
“How long will it take to travel there?”
“About six weeks,” he admitted with a grimace.
“We’re staying for another six weeks?” she asked, appearing confused and for good reason.
Thanks to their hasty marriage and the scandal that had accompanied it, the majority of the ton had already cut them off. Invitations that had been extended to both of them weeks ago were now being rescinded. They’d had no visitors or notes congratulating them on their marriage or anyone wishing Elizabeth a quick recovery. Their parents were surviving the scandal, but just barely.
From what he’d heard, his mother had been given the cut direct by Lady Penelope yesterday in a ribbon shop and it probably wouldn’t be too much longer until that happened again. The longer they stayed, the worse it would get for their families and neither one of them wanted that. It would be best if they left as soon as possible. He was just waiting until he was assured that Elizabeth was able to travel.
“No, we’re not staying for six weeks. Perhaps another week or two,” he said, hoping that it would be quite a bit sooner than that, but he wasn’t going to rush her until she was well enough for the trip.
“I don’t understand,” she finally admitted.
“I bought a home in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. We’re moving to America, minx,” he said, preparing himself for a fight since even his mother would have taken issue with that announcement.
“America?” she repeated slowly as though she were testing out the word.
“Yes,” he said, clearing his throat awkwardly, wondering what he should say to convince her that this was for the best.
“Really?” she asked after a moment, eyeing him suspiciously.
“Yes.”
When her lips turned up into a pleased smile, he felt himself relax. “I’ve always wanted to visit America,” she admitted, appearing excited.
“We won’t be able to travel back here too often,” he admitted, realizing that she at least deserved to know the truth of the matter. He had money, but he wasn’t rich enough to afford a trip to England too often. It actually made him feel horrible when he realized that he was taking her away from her family and everything that she knew.
She merely shrugged. “Our families are well off enough that they can come visit us.”
“You’re not upset?” he asked, more than a little surprised.
“Why would I be? You know how I feel about London and, if we’re going to try to start fresh, what better way then to start over somewhere new?”
“You’re a remarkable woman, Elizabeth,” he said with a wink.
“Now,” she said, pretending that she wasn’t pleased by his words, but he could tell by the way that she did her best to bite back a smile that she appreciated the compliment, “what else do you have in mind for this truce of yours?”
When she placed her fork down on the table and pushed the rest of her food towards him, he didn’t hesitate. He picked up his fork and made quick work of finishing off her meal. Once he was sure that no crumb had escaped his notice he pushed on.
“There will be no separate bedrooms,” he announced, deciding that it was only right to let her know that she was expected to warm his bed for the rest of their lives.
“Agreed,” she said with a firm nod as though she would accept nothing less, which explained her next announcement. “And no other women.”
He had to bite back a smile. Leave it to his minx. No other woman would dare set down such a proclamation to her husband, especially when she’d brought nothing into the marriage and relied solely on his generosity, but then again, Elizabeth wasn’t like other women.
“Don’t want to share me?” he couldn’t help but tease.
“Not unless you want to share me,” she shot back, sounding smug as her words hit home and erased every last ounce of humor that he’d been feeling.
“If any other man so much as looks your way, minx, I will-”
“So, we’re agreed that we’ll be faithful to each other,” she said, cutting him off and dismissing his murderous rage with a careless flick of her hand. “What else?”
He couldn’t help but frown at that as he stole the last biscuit. “That’s actually all I have for now,” he admitted with a shrug.
She sighed softly as she stood up, picking up their plates before heading to the counter. “Well, at the very least it should be enough to keep us from killing each other.”
“Probably,” he mused as he finished off the last bite of his biscuit and moved to help his wife. If he couldn’t make her fall in love with him, at least she probably wouldn’t kill him in his sleep.
Chapter 27
Dear God, it was still poking her!
Sometime ago she’d woken up to discover that something rather hard was poking her in the side. Not thinking much of it at the time, she’d shifted onto her side, facing away from Robert and started to drift off when Robert pulled her back against him and that hard thing shifted until it was poking her in the bottom.
It wasn’t until she’d tried to move away from it that Robert’s sleepy moan clued her into the identity of the hard object pressing firmly against her bottom. Once she’d realized exactly what she was dealing with, she had a difficult time thinking about anything else.
Should she move?
Perhaps she should wake him up so that he could point that thing in another direction?
It was probably better if she didn’t wake him, she decided, as she tried to shift her bottom forward so that his manhood was no longer pushing her cotton nightgown where it had no business. She moved quickly, shifting forward and then pushing back. She nearly sighed in relief when his manhood ceased its poking and instead lay flush between their bodies with her rumpled nightgown providing a barrier.
She closed her eyes, deciding that it was probably for the best that they both caught up on their sleep while they had the chance when Robert shifted behind her. When he shifted back, taking his manhood with him, she couldn’t help but sigh in disappointment. Although she wouldn’t mind a little more sleep, she had to admit that she had been enjoying the feel of it pressed against her body, that is, once it stopped stabbing her.
Her disappointment abruptly ended when she felt the tip of his manhood touch her bare thigh. The silken head slid up her leg, sliding beneath the bunched up bottom of her nightgown and continued up in one long sensuous move that ended with Robert’s hard, hot manhood cushioned once again between their bodies, but this time her cotton nightgown didn’t protect her from its touch.
It felt good.
Very good, she decided, biting back a moan as she closed her eyes and struggled against the urge to move against it. She couldn’t believe that such a thing could be stimulating, but it was. She enjoyed the feel of it against her skin, the way it made her body tingle in anticipation and the way that it-
“M’lady! You need to wake up!” Jane, her maid, rushed in her room to explain.
“What the hell is going on?” Robert demanded as his hold around her tightened and he pressed a sleepy kiss against the back of her shoulder.
“Your father is downstairs, Mr. Bradford,” Jane explained as she rushed around the room, picking out her clothes. “He needs to speak with you, sir.”
“He can wait,” Robert said as he pressed another kiss against her shoulder and snuggled closer to her.
She opened her mouth to suggest that Jane go downstairs and tell her new father-in-law that they needed a few more minutes when the man himself came storming into the room with her father close behind him.
“No, I can’t,” Robert’s father announced as he stopped in front of the bed. With an impatient gesture, he sent Jane scrambling from the room and making her wish that she could follow.
“We need to talk,” her father said, looking decidedly unhappy with finding Robert in her bed.
“And my wife needs her sleep,” Robert shot back sleepily as he sat up, making sure that she remained covered as he did. “Give me ten minutes and I’ll meet you in your study to discuss the matter.”
Her father stubbornly shook his head. “We can discuss the matter here.”
“Elizabeth is still recovering,” Robert argued, gesturing for the men to leave when his father said, “And that’s exactly what’s going to save you both.”
“Save us?” Elizabeth repeated, frowning in confusion as she sat up, careful to keep the covers pulled up to her neck.
“From what exactly?” Robert asked, leaning forward and lazily resting his arms across his upturned knees.
“From each other,” Harold explained as her father made sure that the door was sufficiently shut.
“I don’t understand,” Elizabeth found herself mumbling distractedly as she watched her father turn back around, open the door and peer out into the hallway before shutting the door, locking it and returning to the front of the bed where he shared a look with Robert’s father.
“Oh, I have a pretty good idea,” Robert said coldly as he glared at the men shifting nervously in front of them.
“It’s for the best,” her father said, giving her a reassuring smile that set her nerves racing.
“What’s for the best?” she asked, looking between the two men in front of her, but it was Robert who answered her question.
“They want to annul the marriage,” he said evenly, his tone void of any emotion as he turned his head to look at her.
For a moment she could only sit there as she struggled to wrap her mind around what he’d just said. Annulled? That wasn’t possible. He’d taken her innocence and they’d lost a child. She didn’t know much about annulments, because it was one of those subjects that was only mentioned in hushed whispers, but she knew enough to know that they didn’t qualify for an annulment. The marriage was consummated. It didn’t matter if it had been done before they took their vows; she was no longer a virgin. Thanks to the gossip spreading through every household in London, everyone knew the circumstances of their hasty marriage.
Her father, on the other hand, saw things a bit differently than she did. “You’ve been ill since your wedding night and haven’t been able to leave your bed. The servants have been in and out of this room at all hours of the night and know that you’ve slept alone. Gossip has spread of your illness and many others know that you’ve been deathly ill.”
At that she had to frown. “I haven’t been deathly ill.” Depressed? Weak? Tired? Yes, but she’d never been close to death.
Her father waved that off as though it was of little importance. “The only thing that matters is that you didn’t have a wedding night, my dear. We’ve both called in some favors and we can have this marriage annulled in just a few hours and your engagement to James announced by the end of the day.”
Robert didn’t say anything as he continued to watch her, but she knew him well enough to know that he was furious. All the muscles in his arms and chest were flexing as though he were struggling with the urge to throttle someone, his lips were pressed in a thin line and if that didn’t give away his mood, the way he glared her way certainly did. It was then that she realized that he was waiting for her response, but she didn’t have much of one other than confusion.
“Why exactly would you assume that I wanted to marry James or that he would want to marry me for that matter?” she asked, focusing her attention back on the men standing in front of them.
Her father released a heavy sigh as he focused on her, his smile looking more stressed by the minute. “I don’t want to see you hurt, Elizabeth. I don’t-”
“I would never hurt her,” Robert said firmly beside her.
“Not on purpose, my boy,” he said, shaking his head slightly as he continued. “I don’t want to see either one of you hurt. I understand what happened. I do, but you have to agree that a marriage between the two of you is not a wise decision. Given your history it wouldn’t take long before the two of you were at each other’s throats and making each other’s lives a living hell,” her father said, taking her by surprise as he swore in front of her for the first time in her life.
Before either she or Robert could argue, his father took over. “I’ve already spoken with James. He understands that things between the two of you simply got carried away. He’s willing to marry you as soon as possible and make things right.”
“Really? He’s willing to marry a woman without a quid to her name after she’s left the bed of his brother?” Robert drawled lazily, but she didn’t miss the threatening edge to his tone. “That doesn’t sound like James.”
“Yes, well,” his father said, clearing his throat and looking noticeably uncomfortable. “We had a meeting with the solicitors yesterday afternoon and they believe that by annulling this marriage and marrying James that Elizabeth will meet the conditions of the will and the inheritance will once again be hers.”
She would have her inheritance back, she thought as relief soared through her. All of her plans for the future would be saved. She could help so many people. She would-Never be with Robert again, she abruptly realized a moment later.
She would never fall asleep in his arms again. Never freely enjoy one of his smiles again and that wasn’t something that she was willing to give up. She loved his smile, loved being the cause of it and she didn’t want to give that up for anything.
Besides, James would most likely refuse to allow her to open even one school with her inheritance, she told herself, desperate for an excuse to turn down this plan without hating herself for being completely selfish. One day she would make her dreams a reality, but she didn’t want to do that as James’ wife.
“It’s going to cause a scandal,” Robert said, drawing her attention back to the men looking almost eager at this point.
“James’ title and reputation will be able to guard against that,” his father explained with a pleased smile.
“And me?” Robert asked, shifting slightly so that his bare leg was touching hers beneath the safety of the covers and giving her the support that she desperately needed.
Robert’s father cleared his throat, suddenly looking uncomfortable as his smile became forced. “We thought that perhaps you would leave town and give the gossip a chance to die down.”
“I see,” Robert muttered, sounding thoughtful.
“We realize that this situation is not ideal and that it’s unfair to put you in such a situation, Robert,” her father rushed to explain. “That’s why your father and I believe that you deserve compensation for your trouble.”
“And how much is that?” Robert asked, voicing her curiosity.
“Forty thousand pounds.”
