Page 81 of His Unwanted Duchess

“Do enlighten me.”

“I think you are fond of her.”

Stephen shrugged. “It is no lie. I certainly do like Beatrice. She is clever and fairly pretty, and pleasant to converse with. I like her. That is why I married her.”

Theodore narrowed his eyes, leaning close. “That is not the sort offondnessto which I refer. When the two of you came here, I saw how you looked at her.”

“And you expect me to believe that? You could think of nothing but Anna and your new baby.”

On cue, the baby stirred, making a thin keening sound. For a moment, Stephen was sure the tiny creature was about to start wailing. It was remarkable how an entire household could revolve around the whims of such a delicate, little thing.

The baby did not cry. Instead, he waved a small, wrinkled hand in the air, and then succumbed to sleep once again. Stephen let out a breath he did not know he was holding, and tried not to think about the ache in his chest.

Children are nothing but trouble, everybody knows. The desire for babies and progeny is nothing more than instinct. Nothing more. My decision to live and die childless is a sound one. I just need to keep reminding myself of that.

“Stephen?” Theodore prompted, his voice suddenly soft. “I’ve upset you.”

“Nonsense.”

“Don’t try and fool me. I know you, don’t I? YoulikeBeatrice. You care for her.”

Stephen squeezed his eyes shut, biting his lower lip. “I… She… She’s not what I thought she would be. I set rules between us,guidelines, just as you did with Anna.”

“You should have taken a lesson from Anna and me,” Theodore remarked acidly. “It didn’t work for us, did it?”

Stephen sighed. “The trouble is that I have been letting myself get too close. I need more distance between us. With distance, I can think clearly. I can make good, rational decisions. I canmanage. Distance is what we need, more space between us.”

Theodore let out an incredulous snort. “Sometimes, Stephen, I think you are the stupidest man I know. For such a clever man, you do not understand these matters at all.”

“Well, how would you interpret the situation?” Stephen asked, stung.

“You say you need more distance. I say that you needless. You say that Beatrice preoccupies you and weighs on your mind?Well, you are obsessing over her for one simple reason. It is because you have not had her yet.”

Stephen flinched, shooting his friend a shocked glance. “Theodore!”

Theodore shrugged. “I only draw on my experiences with Anna. As you recall,weintended to have a marriage of convenience, too. And—well, look at us now, two children in and counting. Tell me, am I wrong?”

No,was the simple answer. No, Theodore was not wrong. Stephen did think of Beatrice in that way. He could not imagine a time when he had not thought of her as a woman, as a beautiful, clever woman, an object of desire. When had he started feeling such intense lust towards her?

It wasn’t just lust, though. Perhaps it would have been easier to manage if it was. No, Stephen wanted Beatrice near him. He wanted to hold her, kiss her, talk to her. He wanted to show her the stars and all of his favorite plants. He wanted to see her read the book he’d written on botany, and hear her honest opinions.

Beatrice would tell him the truth. She would tell him what she really thought.

And, to his horror, he desperately wanted to hear it.

“You!” hissed a feminine voice from the doorway.

Both men flinched and spun around, automatically lifting their fingers to their lips in a plea for silence.

They needn’t have worried. Anna stood there, her hands on her hips. Mrs. Haunt stood behind her, looking amused, holding Kitty’s hand. It occurred to Stephen that they had certainly heard everything he and Theodore had just said about Beatrice.

Anna strode into the room, waving a finger in his face. “If you hurt my friend, I shall kill you,” she hissed. “Duke Blackheart or not. I shall kill you and throw your body in a pond.”

“How very specific,” Stephen found himself saying. “Although the pond may not be the best location. For instance?—”

“That is quite enough!” Anna’s voice rose a little too much, and the baby stirred.

The four adults all turned their eyes towards the baby, holding their breaths, but he did not wake up. Kitty tiptoed over to the crib, peering down at her baby brother.

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