Page 41 of Suddenly a Bride
Gwyneth gripped his hands even tighter, wishing she could put her arms around him. “Because it wasn’t natural enough for her. One of her friends told her about the ratsbane, how eating small amounts made a woman pale and weak.”
“From illness. God, she was such a fool.”
“And she paid for it with her life. I am certain she was trying to heighten her pallor by taking even more of the poison, and that’s what killed her. But Edmund, ’twas not our fault that we couldn’t save her from it. And you were not to blame. You were out of the country. I don’t understand why people think that you…” She trailed off uncertainly.
“That I murdered her.”
She didn’t answer.
“A loyal villager said they were told that while I was in France, I hired someone to kill her.”
“And no one would say where such a lie came from?”
He shrugged. “They were too afraid. But I have other sources, and I’ve traced the rumor back to one man.”
“Who would do such a thing?”
“Earl Langston.”
She couldn’t help the gasp that escaped her. “Edmund, he knows the truth. He was the first one I ran to when I found Elizabeth’s body.”
“The truth doesn’t matter to him. I was not his choice for Elizabeth’s husband. Surely that is obvious.”
She hesitated, hoping she didn’t hurt his feelings. “I will admit that I wondered why they did not give her in marriage to someone more influential.”
As the current dragged at her feet, he hauled her close. He was as immovable as any rock formation that survived the pounding of the river.
“Did they not tell you why Elizabeth and I were married?”
Holding her breath, she could only shake her head and pray he continued. She so wanted to understand him.
“I did not court her like an honest man. I had a wager with my friend on who could kiss a maiden first. Only I did not stop at a kiss.”
She stared up at him. “You are not telling me everything. I know you could not force yourself on a woman.”
“You think you know me so well in but a week?” he said thickly. “I don’t know you.”
When he pressed her against his body, she stared into his face, seeing the pain he didn’t want to show.
“You made a wager over a kiss.” She kept her voice calm. “But the attraction between you went further.”
“I bedded her,” he said harshly. “In the end it didn’t matter that she was willing that first time.”
That first time?she wondered.
“All that mattered was that her brothers discovered it. She was compromised, and I offered to marry her.” He laughed harshly. “I thought we suited each other. I should have known better, since she tried to blame my friend Alex for her disgrace.”
She wanted to hear more, but his eyes seemed to search the past before they settled back into impassivity, as if he was hiding something from her.
“The earl was furious that his plan for her successful marriage had come to naught. The thought of a scandal kept him from rejecting me outright, but he worked on Elizabeth during our marriage. And then he used her against me in death. There is no one else who hates me enough to see me an outcast. So you can see why her parents might want people to think I murdered her.”
“No matter what the earl thinks he can get away with,” she said heatedly, “we both know ’tis not true.”
He stared back down at her, eyes intent, his grip even more purposeful. She felt his body along every inch of her, felt the hardness against her stomach that he didn’t try to conceal.
Without planning what she meant to do, she raised herself up on tiptoes, slid her hand behind his head, and pulled. Obviously surprised, he bent, and she put her mouth against his.
She had wanted to comfort him, to convince him that she was not like other women, but she didn’t know how a man should be kissed. With her eyes closed, she pressed several gentle kisses against his unmoving mouth. His lips were unexpectedly soft, moist, and a shudder moved through her with the realization that she wanted to taste him too. Could she do such a bold thing?
