Page 20 of The Captain's Midwinter Bride
“Well, I look forward to making their acquaintance.” A sudden thought occurred to him. “Say, has Oliver ever invited blokes home from London? Perhaps one of them will snag Beth’s eye, and she will be saved from having to marry that insufferable prat who’s too cowardly to defend her to his mother.”
A pensive look crossed her face. “Perhaps we can encourage him to invite his friends to dine with us for the holidays.”
Phillip debated whether to press her. Her expression tempted him to, but instead he nodded. “A superb idea, my dear.”
After considering her for a moment longer, Phillip smoothed his waistcoat and exited the carriage. Annalise lifted her hem and took his extended hand, allowing him to help her from the conveyance. She paused on the walk, staring up at the townhouse with an indecipherable expression. Annalise finally turned to him, her brows raised in question as if she were waiting on him and not the other way around. Still, he offered a quick nod, tucked her arm around his, and escorted her to the door.
Just when Phillip thought he had a grasp on who his wife was, she surprised him.
* * *
Several long hours later, Phillip helped his wife back into the carriage. Annalise had once again charmed the other guests with her friendly demeanor, but Phillip knew something was wrong. His wife was always genuine in everything she did, and yet her smiles that night had seemed strained. Her laugh had rung false. And when he pressed her for a cause, she waved away his concerns in the same manner in which one would shoo away a bothersome insect. He was troubled. And annoyed.
Phillip settled onto the squab across from her and tried to make out her features in the near darkness. Twenty years earlier, he may have been able to catch a glimpse of her expression, but now all he saw were shadows.
He coughed into his hand. “Well, I enjoyed myself much more with the Pellinghams than I expected.”
Annalise’s answering laugh was low. “I enjoyed myself as well. Their gatherings are always interesting.”
“How so?”
Phillip thought she may have shrugged but couldn’t be certain. “Their guest lists are always varied. Sometimes they invite artists, sometimes politicians, sometimes those who run charities. I always learn something new when I attend.”
“And you attend frequently?”
She turned to look out the small window. “When I’m invited, yes.”
His wife was being modest. Phillip had noticed almost immediately that Annalise was a favorite of their hosts. Mr. and Mrs. Pellingham treated her as an old and dear friend, and they plied her for information about Beth’s upcoming wedding and how Oliver was liking his position with the railway. But it was when they turned their attention to him, inquiring how Phillip was adjusting to life on land, that he realized they truly cared for his response because they were fond of Annalise.
And because of that, he had wanted to be honest with them. He wanted to tell them the adjustment had been difficult, especially considering the fact his wife was a popular and lovely woman who was much in demand as a guest and shared her attention and presence with everyone when he increasingly found he wanted her all to himself. Phillip wanted to tell them of his plans to depart to the solitude and quietness of the estate in Wales, and his fear that Annalise would choose not to accompany him and instead stay where the society was interesting and varied and she learned new, exciting things. Even if such a place reminded her daily of how his father had taken advantage of her misfortune.
But in the end, Phillip was too well bred for such a confession, even though his heart desired nothing more than to rid itself of the burden of caring more for his wife than she cared for him. Whatever his reply, it had seemed to satisfy the Pellinghams and, more importantly, Annalise, so he was relieved.
Which is why when he opened his mouth, he couldn’t believe the words he uttered were,
“Why did Mr. Thompkins upset you the other night at the Newells’?”
Chapter Six
Phillip’s question had come out of the clear blue sky…or perhaps it hadn’t, now that Annalise thought about it. Anytime she attended an event at the Pellinghams’ home, her mind automatically drummed up images of the first time, no matter the years that had passed.
Annalise shrugged, aiming for blitheness. Yet, the hair along her arms and across the back of her neck stood at attention. “I find him rather unpleasant.”
“As did I.” She sensed Phillip cross his arms over his chest. “Do you find him unpleasant because of the manner in which he looks at you?”
She forced down a swallow. “I’m afraid I don’t know of which manner you speak.”
“I’m certain you do, Lise-dear.”
A gasp escaped her mouth before she could contain it. Her father had called her Lise-bear before changing it to Lise-dear as she grew older. She could still hear his voice in her mind, as if nearly twenty-five years hadn’t past since she had last heard anyone utter those words to her. Annalise clamped her jaw at the wash of memories the endearment roused.
That Phillip had used such a term, had remembered it and adopted it despite—or because of—the poignant history she had with it, left her defenseless. The walls she had erected around her heart tumbled down at his softly voiced words. Such defenses had been necessary for a young girl who had just lost her father and then found herself married to a military man who was often away from English shores. Her status, heraloneness, had made her vulnerable to so many men intent on taking advantage of the fact that her husband was away.
Men like her late father by marriage who wanted her money. Or the odious Mr. Thompkins who wanted…other things.
Annalise didn’t want to tell him, had never dreamed of sharing her history with the horrible man with anyone, let alone Phillip. Could she trust him not to think poorly of her? Would he blame her? Knowing Phillip as she now did, she did not think it possible, but fear made her uncertain. Matters between her and her husband had been going so wonderfully, even in the aftermath of his family’s betrayal, and she refused to allow the craven Mr. Thompkins to ruin their potential for happiness with his venom.
Not when seeing Phillip and smiling into his startling blue eyes had become the delight of her day.
