Page 76 of Not his Marchioness
Couldn’t what? Why? Why run hot and cold?
She would demand answers. And if she couldn’t get them, she would demand that they separate once and for all, because her heart could not take this anymore.
She wanted him—lovedhim with every inch of her being. She didn’t know what exactly had happened, but it had happened, and now it consumed her whole.
No, she decided as she tucked her fingers beneath the pillow. She was not going to take this anymore.
The following day, the two of them would hash this out. And then, they would either be truly married or part ways, because the only thing she knew with certainty was that she would not live like this anymore, in the same house as a man who might love her as much as she loved him, but who could never—for reasons he refused to divulge—be the man she needed him to be.
CHAPTER 29
Rhys wasn’t coming. He just wasn’t coming.
Charlotte sat at the breakfast table, the porridge still before her, long grown cold and congealed.
Her husband wasn’t going to come. Was he hiding from her? Had he locked himself in his bedchamber?
Surely not.
He was a fool, not a coward. Or so she had thought.
“Has His Lordship taken breakfast yet?” she asked one of the footmen who had come in to clear away her plate.
“He has not. He departed early to attend a meeting with his solicitor,” he informed her.
His solicitor? Rhys had mentioned nothing of that to her. Then again, he didn’t offer any explanations, did he?
Still, why hadn’t he said anything? Surely, after something as momentous as what had happened the previous night, he would have sought her out. He would have come to speak to her.
But no. He had gone out as though nothing had happened.
Charlotte took a deep breath, unsure how to feel, when the footman returned.
“He left this for you,” he said, and handed her a folded piece of parchment.
She opened it, her heart fluttering unpleasantly. Her husband’s handwriting had a flourish, personality. Just as he did.
She read:
I do beg your pardon for having to go out early. I must meet my solicitor. I am expecting news of my business associate’s decision regarding continuing our partnership. Today, we shall find out whether our charade has worked or not.
I shall see you tonight at the ball. I will not be able to return before the ball, I am afraid. I have other commitments after my meeting with the solicitor. I must meet Windsor again, but I shall see you there.
He had signed it simply with the letterR.
Tonight.
She sat up. What was tonight? She racked her brain, but nothing came to her.
Unsure what he meant, she rang the bell for her lady’s maid.
The young woman appeared almost at once, as though she had been waiting just outside the door. “Yes, My Lady?” she asked.
“Do I have an engagement tonight?” Charlotte asked, feeling foolish for asking her maid.
“You do. The ball at Lord and Lady Woodhaven’s.”
“Perdition!” she exclaimed.
