Page 53 of Suddenly a Bride
Edmund frowned and started to say something, but Geoff was already leading her across the courtyard. What the hell was that about?
Then his mind went back to the kiss, and he sat in the hay feeling bemused and uncertain. He had only done what she’d expected. She thought he was giving her a chance, getting to know her better, maybe even courting. To her, kissing was part of that.
He was a selfish man, touching her for his own pleasure, instead of the reasons she thought. He was only using her, craving the feeling of knowing she wanted him. But he wasn’t going to give her anything back but heartache. Even if he found out she was innocent of the earl’s plot, he would still annul this marriage.
Yet he couldn’t stop himself from imagining how she’d feel naked, how she might clasp her legs about his hips.
“Edmund?”
He looked up to see Geoff leaning in the doorway, arms folded across his chest.
“The hay in your hair carries implications,” Geoff said.
Edmund shrugged and got to his feet to curry the General. “Thank you for Gwyneth’s cloak, although it was probably a bit too late.”
“If I’d have gotten here any earlier, I might have had quite a show.”
Edmund glanced at him and reluctantly smiled. “I mean that you were too late to keep her dry.”
Geoff didn’t answer for a moment, only studied him a bit too closely. “She’s getting to you.”
Edmund hesitated, then said, “I cannot allow it.”
“Why?”
“You know why.” He had to remind himself that he hadn’t told his friend about his plan to annul the marriage. He looked about and lowered his voice. “Some things have happened that cast doubt on her connection to the earl.”
“I believe she’s innocent, Edmund.”
He lifted a hand. “I know your thoughts, but I have to be suspicious of everyone. The earl will only be happy with my defeat. But today, Gwyneth talked to Prudence Atwater about my marriage to Elizabeth. She could have kept this a secret and continued to inquire about me behind my back. But she just…told me. And then the other day, she said things about Elizabeth’s death, things the earl swore me to secrecy over.”
“And what was that?”
“I cannot tell you—and it isn’t because of my oath to the earl about her death. Elizabeth deserves some peace instead of being the butt of cruel jokes.”
Geoff walked toward him. “How does this relate to Gwyneth?”
“If she is under the earl’s control, I cannot believe he would have confided in her the details he most feared would become public.”
“Then you believe she’s innocent too,” Geoff said with a relieved smile.
“I did not say that. She’s simply given me cause to wonder, and I’ll remember that.
“You’re giving her a chance, Edmund. Maybe that’s all she’s asking for now.”
When Geoff left him alone, Edmund dropped his head to the horse’s flank and tried to push away the pain and pleasure he felt when he thought of Gwyneth. They were all mixed up inside him.
~oOo~
Two days passed, and whenever Gwyneth came upon Edmund, she would give him a secretive smile, and to her pleasure, he returned it. It was time for her to step up her efforts to seduce him beyond simple kisses. She needed this marriage to be real, for her family—but mostly for herself.
And when a daring idea came into her mind, she spent the night awake and trembling, uncertain if she could do such a thing. Just before dawn, she thought she was too much of a coward to try it. But when the sun came up and she looked out her window over the grounds that she already considered home, her courage reasserted itself, and she ran to find Lucy.
~oOo~
As Edmund strode through the great hall after breaking his fast, Lucy caught up with him.
“Sir Edmund!” she called.
