Page 28 of A Bride for the Rakish Duke

His brother gave him a pointed stare. “Did you?”

“No, and no onewilltell her,” William said. “I realize you are naïve to the ways of women, Anthony, but if I give her any sort of information or power over me, she is going to use it against me. It is in their nature. Either she will meddle, thwart me, or reveal that information to others.Thatis why she must believe I am simply leaving.”

Anthony rolled his eyes. “I might be naïve, but I am not as narrow-minded as you. Not all women are untrustworthy,William. She married you, did she not? She has been dutiful and obedient, has she not? She did not embarrass you or flee. I suspect that warrants some respect, which you are not giving to her.” He shook his head slowly. “And let us not forget that she is just an innocent young lady whomyoutrapped into this marriage—you owe her.”

“Owe her?” William laughed. “I will never be beholden to any woman. As for her innocence, trust me, she is far from the shy wallflower you think she is.”

His shoulder prickled with the memory of how she had clung to him, how she had pulled him closer and kissed him with the sort of fierce abandon that could make a man lose his mind. He almost had as he had gripped her thighs and longed for what was between them with a madness he had never experienced. A need so all-consuming that if she had not shoved him away and forbidden it, he would not have been able to resist the temptation.

“If you will excuse me, I have a legacy to save,” he said, riding off before his brother or Lydia could stop him.

“And where have you been hiding, my precious one?” Lydia cooed, falling to her knees to scoop the enormous ball of black fur into her arms.

Snowy licked her face with a vengeance, his tail wagging so furiously that she feared he might wag it right off. She had hopedto have the beautiful dog attend her wedding, dressed in the little tailcoat and cravat he had worn for her sister’s wedding, but her mother and father had forbidden it. In truth, she had assumed that he had been left behind at her sister’s estate.

Emma laughed. “He has been living a life of luxury in the servants’ quarters, where I do believe he has been given the choicest cuts of meat and all the affection his heart could desire.” She tapped the side of her nose. “Silas snuck him into our chambers last night, but he has been howling for his new friends all morning. He adores the cook, most of all.”

“Is that why you did not come down for breakfast, or are you still feeling unwell?” Lydia asked, scratching between Snowy’s floppy ears.

Emma grimaced. “A little of both.”

“What excuse do you have?” Lydia feigned outrage as she looked at Marina and Nancy, who had just approached arm in arm. “I did not realize I would be left alone with just my husband and his brother for company. If I had, I might have asked for a breakfast tray too.”

Marina and Nancy exchanged an amused look, but it was Nancy who spoke first.

“In truth, dear Lydia, we assumed that youwouldbe taking a breakfast tray. Youandyour husband. I think everyone did.”

Lydia canted her head. “Why would you think that? Breakfast is served in the breakfast room.”

“Because it was yourwedding night,” Marina replied, smiling. “And the two of you seemed rather comfortable with one another during that glorious waltz. It is not outlandish to think that you were content to be comfortable in… another sort of dance. One that takes place beneath the bedlinens.”

Heat rushed into Lydia’s cheeks, forcing her to concentrate on Snowy to spare her blushes. “There was no such dance,” she muttered, resisting the impulse to daydream of his hand on her thigh, his ragged breaths, and theneedshe had felt thrumming inside him.

“You mean, your husband did not visit your chambers last night?” Marina’s voice held a note of pity that bristled down Lydia’s spine.

Married or not, Lydia was still to be treated like a dolt who knew nothing, or so it seemed.

She shook her head, unwilling to admit that she kicked him out and set a stupid rule. They would think her twice as foolish, and she would feel twice as silly. He had mentioned nothing about London last night, and likely, he would have stayed if she had not been compelled to match his commands with her own.

Unless I have been looking at this all wrong.

A thought came to her, a spark of inspiration that she wished she could say was intentional.

What if he broke her rule? She had warned him that there would be consequences, same as he had warned her. What if that consequence could be annulment? All she would have to do is seduce him before the end of the month. It could not be that difficult, could it?

There was the current distance to consider, but that could be easily remedied. The surprise of a visit might even work in her favor.

“How does one seduce one’s husband?” she blurted out. Even Snowy looked surprised, tilting his head from side to side.

Emma, Marina, and Nancy all blushed and stared at her wide-eyed.

She pulled a face. “Oh, come now. You speak of this all the time in metaphors and allusions and innuendo, but when I ask outright, you are shocked? Who else am I to turn to for help?”

Emma crouched down, stroking Snowy’s soft fur as she whispered, “But I thought you wanted to get the marriage annulled?”

“Trust me,” Lydia replied, mustering a nervous smile.

But Emma’s frown of concern merely deepened. “Are you reconsidering?”

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