Chapter Thirty-Five
Could there be a more fortunate man in the world?
As his wife drifted about the breakfast room, Charles paused, his teacup at his lips, to let his gaze wander over her delectable form—the slender neck he’d peppered last night with kisses, the curve of her throat, the delicious breasts with their rosy nipples that seemed to get fuller as each day passed, and…
Desire heated his groin at the sight of her rounded hips, discernible through the fabric of her skirts when the sunlight shone at that particular angle.
She really ought to position herself in front of the window more often at that time of day.
Perhaps she’d be willing to engage in a bout of loving on the breakfast table, spread before him like a feast for him to devour while she screamed his name…
The teacup slipped in his grasp, and he drew in a sharp breath as hot liquid splashed onto his hand.
Devil’s breeches! He’d have to be more careful to suppress such notions, especially now Jacob was taking his meals with them in the main house.
The footman rushed over, and Charles waved him away, his cheeks warming with embarrassment.
It was the same young man—Colin, his wife said his name was—who’d almost caught them outside when, after a morning of anticipation in which they’d circled each other for almost an hour with lingering looks, almost-kisses, and a game of hide-and-seek, Charles found Olivia waiting in the garden wearing nothing but her chemise.
Unable to contain the inferno of need, he’d torn the garment apart and taken her swiftly among the bushes, coming to shattering pleasure the moment he’d entered her while her body rippled and clenched around his cock as she sobbed with ecstasy.
What a fool he was to have believed that a coupling was a mere physical release to meet a man’s baser needs!
Over the past weeks, since his wife had first taken pleasure from his newly acquired skills, she had encouraged him to hone those skills in almost every room in the house. And who was he to object?
Finally, he understood what all the fuss was about—why some men were driven mad with desire over a woman, driving themselves to ruination to meet a doxy’s increasing demands for coins and trinkets just to have a taste of her again.
But rather than a grasping doxy, he had a willing wife who not only permitted him to indulge in her body, but actively relished the experience herself.
But it wasn’t merely the needs of his body that she satisfied. Each time he buried himself inside her warm, welcoming heat, her eyes flared with desire and deepened in color to reveal her soul…
Save for a tiny part of her that she kept from him. He’d not noticed at first, but as they continued to explore each other’s needs and desires, celebrating each other’s bodies, a shadow occasionally clouded her expression, and she turned from him as if she could not give herself fully.
As if she did not yet completely trust him.
She approached the side table, eyeing the dishes, then spooned some eggs onto her plate and returned to her seat.
“Lady Devereaux, may I serve you some kidneys?” Colin said. “Mrs. Groves ordered them in special for you. It would be a shame for them to go to waste, though Master Jacob is fond of them also.”
She shook her head and pushed her plate to one side.
“Some tea, perhaps?”
She nodded, then lifted her gaze to Charles and smiled. But the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, which still carried a flicker of pain.
Are you well?
She stared at Charles’s hand gestures, then nodded.
“Perfectly so, Charles, but I-I find I’m not hungry. I’m a little tired.”
And well she might be, given how little sleep they’d had last night.
He’d brought her to pleasure three times, then woken her just before dawn to slip inside her once more while she writhed beneath him.
Then he’d fallen asleep in her arms before rising the moment he heard his valet wandering about.
Olivia had looked at peace when he left her in her bed.
But now, she looked strained, lines creasing her forehead and a pale hue to her cheeks.
Will you join me for a ride today?
She frowned.
“Something about riding?” she said. “You’re going riding?”
He gestured to her.
“You want me to come?” she said. “I-I’ve arranged to take a walk with Nicola today.”
That harridan! Pretty enough, always trotting after Jacob with her tongue hanging out. But there was a look of cunning about her that made Charles uneasy.
Perhaps you should remain inside if you’re feeling tired.
He gestured, slowly and deliberately this time, and she smiled.
“I think a walk will do me good,” she said. “Dr. Cheam is an advocate for fresh air and exercise, and this is the only day that suits both myself and Nicola. Perhaps Jacob might accompany you? He’s a better rider than I.”
Charles suppressed a snort, and his wife’s smile slipped.
“You disapprove of my friend.”
The tone of her voice made it clear that it wasn’t a question.
“Or do you disapprove of your brother—the fact that he now dines with us? He’s your heir, is he not?”
I don’t disapprove of him.
She frowned as she watched his hands. “So, it’s Nicola you disapprove of. Why? Is it because she’s in love with Jacob? Do you not want your brother to marry beneath him—as you did?”
Her eyes glistened with moisture.
Surely she didn’t still harbor fears that he resented her birth?
Do not speak so foolishly.
Her lip wobbled and a tear splashed onto her cheek. Charles rose from his seat then approached her and took her hand. Her fingers were cold, and she trembled. Was she sickening for something?
He caressed her fingers then brushed his lips against her hand.
“I…” She hesitated and caught her breath, as if she were about to faint.
“I miss Eleanor,” she said. “I-I didn’t realize how much I would.
Eleanor says little, but I took much comfort from her quiet presence.
Nicola isn’t Eleanor, but she’s pleasant enough and I want to be kind to her.
Her mother died, you see, not long ago. You must understand how painful that is. ”
He kissed her knuckles again.
“She was her stepmother really, but Nicola told me how devastated she was when she died in childbirth. I fear that…”
She broke off and leaned forward, trembling more violently, and Charles caught a flash of fear in her eyes.
Shall I invite your sister to stay?
“I—I don’t understand.”
He gestured to the sheaf of papers on the side table.
The footman brought it over together with a pencil, and Charles scribbled on the top of the page.
A visit from Olivia’s sister-in-law might cure her melancholy, whatever the cause of it was.
And it would have the added benefit of reminding her that there were better female companions to be had than an ambitious young miss with a little too much envy in her eyes.
Olivia read the words, then shook her head and another tear spilled onto her cheeks.
“I-I cannot invite her yet. I’ve lost her necklace—the one she gave me as a wedding gift—and she’ll think me awfully foolish.”
That was unlikely, given how much the duchess loved Olivia.
“She was kind enough to send me a pair of earrings to match it,” Olivia continued, “so she’ll expect me to wear them. I-I cannot…” She shook her head. “She might think I care little for her if I’ve been careless with her necklace.”
He set the pencil down and gestured with his hands.
Of course not. She and I…
Love.
Charles paused. How was it that he had no hand gesture for love? Had his life been so devoid of love that he’d seen no need for it, that he’d never stopped to think that he might love another person enough to want to tell them?
“She and you…what?”
He picked up the pencil, his hand shaking. To make such a declaration, not as an ephemeral utterance, but written down such that it could never be unsaid…
I…
Charles jumped as the door opened and his hand jerked to one side, leaving a thick pencil line across the paper.
Jacob stood in the doorway, his mouth curled into a grin.
“Late again, aren’t I?” he said, mischief twinkling in his eyes. “I forget the need for punctuality when eating in the house. But you must forgive me, brother, for I was just exercising caution.”
“Caution?” Olivia said.
“A husband and his wife must never be interrupted, just in case,” Jacob said with a wink.
A little color returned to Olivia’s cheeks, and she lowered her gaze.
“Forgive me for embarrassing you, sister,” Jacob said, “but I see nothing to disapprove of in a healthy marriage, eh, brother?”
He winked at Charles this time, then approached the side table.
“Devilled kidneys!” He spooned some onto his plate, then sat at the table and began to eat.
“Have you seen Nicola this morning?” Olivia asked. “She’s meeting me here at eight for our walk today.”
Jacob shook his head. “She’s not my keeper.” He swallowed a mouthful of tea and muttered something else that sounded remarkably like thank fuck.
“Jacob, Nicola is my friend,” Olivia said.
Jacob set his cup aside. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to insult her. I just need a little respite.”
“From Nicola? I thought you wanted to marry her.”
He let out a snort. “Told you that, did she? Then you’re a fool to believe her.” Charles frowned at his brother, and Jacob let out a sigh. “Forgive me, Olivia. I’m a little bad-tempered this morning.”
“Is Nicola here? Is that why you’re in an ill temper?”
“She’s in the kitchen, yes. I told her to remain there after she…”
“After she what?” Olivia said.
“After she demanded that I propose to her. She says that now I’m recognized as my brother’s heir I must take a wife to continue the line.”
Olivia drew in a sharp breath and held her hand to her mouth.
Charles smacked his fist into his palm. How dare you distress my wife!
Jacob shrugged. “I’m only repeating what Nicola said. But I don’t want to marry her. She’s always known that, despite what she might have said to Olivia.”
“And—I take it you don’t want her as your wife because she’s not a lady,” Olivia said.
Jacob gave a mirthless laugh. “You think I care for that? No—I want to marry a woman I love, and until I find her, I’ll not be asking anyone.”
“Are you so na?ve as to think that men and women marry for love?” Olivia said, her voice tightening. “I—Oh, sweet Lord!”
She let out another cry and clamped her hand over her mouth. Then she leaped to her feet and ran out of the room.
Charles rose to follow, but Jacob placed a hand on his arm.
“Leave her be, brother. Let her calm down—women can be harridans when they’ve distressed themselves. I’ll reckon there’s a reason why she’s been temperamental of late.”
Charles stared at his brother. What reason?
“You’ve not noticed how she’s changed?” Jacob said.
“Perhaps it’s because I don’t see her every day that the change is more apparent to me.
They do say that you can withstand having your hand in boiling water if you’ve had it in from when the water’s cold because you don’t notice it getting hotter. And your little wife’s fit to boil.”
Is she unhappy with me?
Jacob laughed. “You’re a fool if you think that, given how many times I’ve heard her screaming your name.
Last night as I was retiring…the other day in the billiard room…
and, if I’m not mistaken, yesterday in the garden.
Only a wife truly in love with her husband would let him rut her from behind with her skirts around her waist while she’s—”
Jacob broke off as Charles thumped his fist on the table.
“What?” He shrugged. “You’re a fortunate man and, I suspect, soon to be even more fortunate.”
Charles raised his eyebrows.
“You really are a simpleton, aren’t you, brother? Is it not obvious? Poor Lucy was the same.”
Who the fuck is that?
“Mr. Faulkes’s late wife—Nicola’s stepmother. When she fell pregnant, she was unwell almost all the time, sickening in the mornings. Nicola said it was enough to drive her insane—but then, Nicola detested Lucy.”
Sweet heaven—Olivia was pregnant?
Charles caught his breath as a nugget of joy ignited in his heart.
She’s expecting my child?
Jacob grinned. “I’d say so, though perhaps you should wait until she tells you herself.”
No wonder she’s distressed, given that Faulkes’s wife died in childbirth.
“In childbirth?” Jacob said, frowning. “Who told you that?”
My wife.
Jacob shook his head. “Lucy Faulkes fell down the stairs and broke her neck.”
Like Mother…
“Dr. Cheam delivered her child, but it was too late. The baby was stillborn.”
Dear God Almighty!
Jacob took Charles’s hand. “Forgive me, brother, I ought not to have mentioned it. Lucy Faulkes slipped on a stone, or a marble, or something, at the top of the stairs.”
Then why had Olivia lied about it? Or had Nicola lied to Olivia?
“It was an accident,” Jacob said. “You needn’t fear for Olivia. But if you’re concerned, you can always send for her family—she’s always speaking fondly of her sister-in-law.”
You care for her, don’t you?
Jacob laughed more softly. “Only as a brother cares for his sister. You’re the one who loves her.”
He was right. And when Charles next saw his wife, he had every intention of finding a way to tell her exactly that.
I’m going for a ride. Would you care to come?
Jacob’s smile broadened and a flicker of delight shone in his eyes.
“There’s nothing I’d like more.”
The two of them exited the breakfast room and Charles made his way upstairs in search of his riding gloves and his wife.
The former were in his dressing room, but the latter was nowhere to be found.
Then he heard laughter outside and peered through a window to see Olivia, arm in arm with her friend, a basket over her arm, moving along the path toward the forest. He might disapprove of Nicola, but if she lifted his wife’s spirits, then he’d tolerate her for Olivia’s sake.
He pressed his hand to his heart and stood watching while they wound their way along the path then disappeared into the forest.
Then he made for the stairs, pausing at the top to glance at the longcase clock. He blinked and the image formed in his mind, the memory of the marble he’d retrieved from beneath the clock some weeks before.
What had Jacob said?
A stone…or a marble.