Page 104 of The Duke's Inconvenient Bride
“No, thanks.”
“Ashford,” Longley warned. “Out with it.”
Vaughan huffed. “Fine. You were right when you told me weeks ago that Emma wanted love. She told me when we married that she was happy with what I had to offer, but a couple of days ago, she asked for me to be receptive to the possibility of…well….”
“Loving her?” Longley suggested.
“Yes. That.”
He nodded. “And you said….”
“I told her about my parents.” Vaughan extended his legs in front of himself and crossed them at the ankles.
“You did?” Longley sounded surprised.
“Yes, so she would understand why I don’t want the same things she does. I had to make the boundaries clear again.”
He had to protect himself.
Longley shook his head. “You’re a fool, man. You’re allowing your parents’ unhappy marriage to interfere with your own happiness.”
Vaughan shrugged. His friend couldn’t understand. He hadn’t been there. He hadn’t seen what Vaughan’s father had endured or what a disaster the marriage turned him into.
“God’s teeth, you’re an idiot sometimes.” Longley swirled Vaughan’s brandy. “Just tell me this: do you love her?”
“I don’t know.” It was the most honest answer Vaughan could give. “I don’t know what love looks like when it isn’t warped and twisted. Now, may I have my drink back?”
“No, you may not.” Longley watched him steadily. “Do you care for her at all?”
“Of course I do.” Vaughan considered whether he should just get up and leave. He didn’t want to mull over his feelings with Longley. He’d rather go for a midwinter dip in the Thames.
“Why?” Longley asked.
“Because she’s an incredible woman.” As should be apparent to anyone who interacted with her. “Her hair is like spun gold, and it’s so soft.”
He recalled how it had felt slipping through his fingers and willed himself not to harden.
“I could look into her eyes forever, and she has the sweetest sprinkle of freckles over the bridge of her nose. She’s thoughtful in ways I never expected. Did I tell you she brought gifts to our tenants on her first day there?”
Longley ran his finger around the rim of the glass. “You didn’t.”
“They adore her,” Vaughan said. “But being kind doesn’t make her timid. She can hold her own against unpleasant company. She even got the better of Miss Snowe.”
“Did she?” Longley grinned. “Well done.”
“She’s patient, and clever, and—”
“Good heavens, Ashford.” Longley cut him off. “You’re absolutely smitten.”
Vaughan gaped at him. “I am not.”
“Oh yes, you are.” Longley seemed delighted. “Now you just need to get a bloody hold of yourself and do something about it.”
“No.”
That wasn’t the message his friend was supposed to have taken from this conversation. Vaughan picked up a pack of playing cards and began shuffling them so he had something to do with his hands. He glanced around the room, wondering if anyone might be up for a game. Anything to take the focus off his marriage.
“Anyone for whist?” he called.
