Page 37 of The Lovers
“My dear Lord Asher,” Dr. Fisk began, “inability to conceive within the first few months of marriage hardly qualifies as infertility. Your wife is a healthy young woman. With regular visits from her devoted husband, she should become pregnant in no time at all.”
Elise stole a peek at Edward. Dr. Fisk clearly didn’t know of Edward’s inability to perform his husbandly duties and assumed that Edward was applying himself diligently to begetting an heir.What would he say if he knew that the mighty Lord Asher was using his baseborn son to impregnate his wife?Elise wondered bitterly.
“You are right, of course, Dr. Fisk, but I would like to be sure that there’s nothing physically wrong with my bride. She has been tired and wan lately. I only wish to make sure that she is hale and hearty and able to bear children. Please, proceed with the examination. Lie back, Elise.”
Elise did as she was told. It was no use protesting since Edward would probably hold her down and force her to submit to the dreaded examination. She squeezed her eyes shut as the doctor began to touch her. He started with her throat and made his way down, squeezing her breasts, palpating her stomach, and thenpushing her legs apart and forcing his cold fingers deep inside her until she gasped with pain. He seemed to be touching her very womb, and the sensation was most unsettling. The doctor finished his examination and patted Elise on the thigh before turning to her husband.
“Is something wrong?” Edward asked, his voice anxious.
“On the contrary, my lord. Your lady is with child. About a month gone, I’d say. I offer my most heartfelt congratulations to you both,” Dr. Fisk said, his smile more of a grimace. It reminded Elise of a gargoyle, grinning from its perch atop some church for eternity, completely indifferent to the suffering of the people who passed beneath it.
Elise felt as if she were going to be ill. She’d been tired and out of sorts, but it never occurred to her that she might be with child. She wasn’t familiar with the symptoms of pregnancy, so she attributed the fatigue to low spirits and lack of purpose. Elise closed her eyes, desperate to be alone. She couldn’t allow her husband to see how devastated she was by the news, so she turned her face away as tears slid down her cheeks and into the down of the pillow. The two men paid her no heed and continued to talk about her as if she weren’t even there, discussing her health like a mare’s.
“She’s got narrow hips,” Dr. Fisk was saying with some concern. “It might prove to be a difficult delivery.”
“She’s shaped just like her mother, and she delivered six children in quick succession,” Edward replied. He sounded gleeful and proud, just as an expectant father would.
“Did you know Mistress de Lesseps?” Dr. Fisk inquired as he washed his hands and dried them on Elise’s towel. Neither man spared Elise another glance as they continued to converse, likely forgetting about her presence in the great bed altogether.
“Oh, yes,” Edward answered bitterly. “I knew her before she married that buffoon, de Lesseps. Threw herself away on a man of no consequence. She was quite a beauty in her day and could have made an advantageous match had she allowed herself to be guided by the advice of her father, but the old man doted on her and gave in to her whim. Elise resembles her greatly, actually, but only in looks, not temperament,” Edward remarked, leaving Dr. Fisk in doubt that Edward would not tolerate any rebellion from his bride.
“Sounds to me like you got the better end of the bargain, my lord,” Dr. Griffin replied. “There’s nothing like a young, beautiful bride to make a man feel virile again.”
The two men turned to leave, and Elise heard Edward’s voice just before the door closed: “Saving the child is a priority, Dr. Fisk. I can always get another wife.”
Elise buried her face in the pillow as the tears began to flow in earnest. She was with child—Edward’s child—James’s child. It would be some time before her belly began to grow, and she knew that some women might take advantage of that and proceed with their plans, but how could she deceive Gavin? He was already willing to take on more than most men. He was prepared to take on another man’s wife and have his children be born out of wedlock, but to accept another man’s child was asking too much. Had Elise already had a child, as many widows did when remarrying, the situation would be different, but coming to Gavin newly pregnant with James’s child would be a gross abuse of Gavin’s love and trust.
Elise pressed her hands over her ears to block out the cheerful singing of the birds. She wished she could just die and put an end to this miserable existence. Maybe she’d die in childbirth, as Dr. Fisk feared, but then she would be leaving her child behind, and she couldn’t do that. She’d been aware of her pregnancy for nomore than ten minutes, but already the seed of mother love had been planted. It was her baby. And James’s.
James was just coming out of the stables when he saw his father striding purposefully toward him. Edward looked pleased, which was surprising so soon after the death of Lady Matilda. Edward had never shown his mother much affection in public, but James had been at Asher Hall long enough to know that Lady Matilda had been the driving force behind everything Edward did. She had been manipulative and harsh, but most of all, she had been cunning. Edward likely didn’t even realize how his mother played him, and James was sure that she was manipulating him still from beyond the grave.
Edward stopped in front of James and looked around, as if checking if anyone was within earshot. “You are to leave today,” he said without any preamble.
“Where am I going?” James asked. He’d been taken completely by surprise. His father had said nothing about sending him anywhere.
“Suffolk. My estate has been neglected for far too long, and that fool of an estate manager can use a swift kick in the rear; he’s gotten too comfortable. I wish you to take up residence. You are to oversee the spring planting and examine every tenant’s farm. Let me know if they can afford to pay higher rents. My coffers need replenishing.”
“Has something happened?” James asked carefully. His father was not normally an impulsive man. He thought things through and formulated a plan. This mission seemed utterly contrived since there was a competent man in charge of the Suffolk estate. Master Grove would not welcome James’s interference, oreven his presence, since he was hardly more than a servant. But it seemed that Lord Asher wanted him out of the way—and quickly.
“Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Be off with you,” Edward barked. He turned on his heel and strode back toward the house. James had no choice but to obey. He followed his father into the house to collect his belongings. If he left within the hour, he’d get to Asherton House before nightfall tomorrow, with a stopover for the night along the way. James was just walking up the stairs when he saw Lucy emerging from Lady Asher’s room. She was flushed and nervous.
“All right, Lucy?” he asked, pausing on the landing. He liked Lucy, more so because she had such a transparent face and couldn’t keep a secret if her very life depended on it. If James had learned anything from his father, it was that information always had value, and servants’ gossip was not to be ignored since they always had their finger on the pulse of the household.
Lucy nodded but refused to say anything and rushed off, leaving James standing outside Elise’s door. He knocked softly and let himself in. Elise was lying in bed, her pale face nearly translucent in the harsh light of the spring afternoon. Her eyes looked puffy, and she stared listlessly toward the window, as if she were still alone.
“Elise, are you ill?” James asked as he approached the bed, belatedly realizing that he called her by her Christian name, which was inappropriate under the circumstances. He had no business being in her bedchamber, but since the death of Harry, he felt a bond with Elise and couldn’t just ignore her despair. She hadn’t ignored his.
Elise shook her head but failed to meet his gaze. She looked so forlorn that James thought someone might have died. He knew she had two younger sisters whom she loved dearly. Perhaps one of the girls or her father had taken ill.
“Did something happen?” he asked again, hoping she’d talk to him.
Elise finally turned to face him. “You mean he hasn’t told you? He hasn’t patted you on the head and thanked you for a job well done?” she demanded, her cheeks blooming with anger.
“Are you…” James stopped. Why was she so angry? Getting with child was the ultimate objective for any young bride. It was a wife’s duty to produce an heir, and if she were indeed with child, she’d no longer have to endure his unwelcome visits. Elise nodded miserably and turned away again, her attention fixated on a gnarled branch just outside her window that was moving in the breeze like a waving hand.
“Congratulations,” James said. “I hope you will resign yourself to the idea of motherhood and that all will go well for you and the babe.”
Elise turned back toward him, her eyes narrowed. “Are you going somewhere?” she asked, studying him intently. She no longer looked angry, just defeated.
