“I see,” Julia said through numb lips.

They’d made their way to the bottom of the stairs, and Lady Venerton’s eyes lit up. “Oh, look! They’re setting up a game of charades.” And with that, she left Julia’s side with the exuberance of a child, bouncing about on the energy wrought by destroying another’s heart.

If Julia’s mind had not been made up previously, it most certainly was now. When William arrived, Julia would tell him she wished to retire to country once she’d produced his heir. It was the only way to ease her regret at marrying him. As a woman, she had no other options.

Despite her steeled determination, she did not get the opportunity to declare her decision. Not on the first day, nor on the second. However, on the third, after a brisk walk about the frozen lake, Julia made her way into her chamber and saw the very man she wanted nothing more to do with: her husband, William Sinclair, the seventh Duke of Stedton.

And he was only partially dressed.

“OH.”

It was a simple little word, and yet it conveyed so very much to William Sinclair when it came from the wife he had spent the better part of two weeks thinking of. He’d been in the middle of dressing when the door opened, and in she had walked, stunning in her beauty.

Light spilling in from the windows turned her skin to the finest cream and shone on her glossy black hair. She’d been outside recently, as her lips and cheeks were red with the cold and her deep blue eyes sparkled like sapphires.

“Julia.” He smiled at her.

She did not return the gesture. Her stare fixed on his naked chest, seeing it for the first time. He ought to put on a shirt, perhaps, but she was his wife. He wanted her to see him, to love him, to make a family with him.

A family. He wanted one of those again. The sharing, the laughter, the love. All of it. The very idea had seemed impossible for far too long.

He approached her, and she went stiff.

Confound it. He knew the wedding night had not been up to snuff, but he hadn’t realized it was all that bad. But then she was so very petite, and he was so very large. He’d been terribly worried he might hurt her. Had he?

He didn’t take another step in her direction. “I’m sorry I had to leave to leave so abruptly.”

“You had obligations.” Her response was cool.

“I left you a note.”

“I received it. Thank you.”

William glanced back at his valet and found Hodges awkwardly studying a corner of the ceiling, clearly wishing to be anywhere but there at the moment.

“You may go, Hodges.” William wanted the privacy as much as Hodges no doubt wanted to be free of this whole bloody conversation.

The older man said not a word. He slipped out faster than William had ever seen him move in his life, but not before shoving a shirt into William’s hands as he went. The message was clear: Put on your shirt. The little push in which the garment was delivered added an insistent: Now.

William pulled on the thing before striding toward Julia. This time, she put up one small hand. “Stop.”

He did as she commanded. This was most certainly not the welcome he had hoped for from his new wife. He’d anticipated nights of making up for the lost time, mending what he had botched.

“You left me on the first day of our marriage.” Hurt flashed in her eyes. “And I know exactly why you left.”

“There were matters of the country estate—”

“I’m well aware.”

He nodded. Most likely the servants had provided his new wife with details of Maribel. They knew what her sudden illness meant to him. The horse was very dear to him, being one of the few reminders left of his father. He had been grateful to the veterinarian who had made his way to the country to see to her. His prognosis, however, was dire. And while William had missed his wife fiercely, he could not bring himself to leave Maribel’s side. Not until she’d recovered.

Julia took a full inhale and drew herself fully upright, which might well bring the top of her head to the center of his chest were he standing close enough to measure. “This marriage will not work.”

William’s brows lifted. Surely, he had not heard correctly. “I beg your pardon?”

“Once I am in a delicate way, I wish to retire to the country.” She lifted her chin and her cheeks stained with a flush. “You may live your life without the censure of a wife who will not stand by and allow you to do as you please.”

What the deuce?

“I am not my mother,” Julia said with finality. “I will not allow you to make a fool of me.”

God, but this was uncomfortable. He was glad to not have made it in dressing yet to his cravat, lest the bloody thing feel as though it were strangling him. “Julia, the wedding night was less than ideal.”

She huffed.

“You see, you are quite petite, and I am nearly twice your weight, maybe three times.” He shook his head. “You were innocent, of course. I didn’t——I was unsure how best to approach you.” This was going so terribly awful. He ran a hand through his hair and then quickly smoothed it down. “It had been quite a while since I had,” he paused under the weight of the discomfort of his admission. “You know.”

“I’m afraid I do not.” Julia’s eyes sparked with an emotion he had never seen before. Anger?

Bloody hell.

“I do, however, know you are lying to me.” She folded her arms over her chest. “It hasn’t been a length of time since you’ve…” she went a deep red and shimmied her shoulders in a show of angry discomfort “…done that with a woman.”

The offense of her words flashed through him. “What the devil are you on about, woman?”

“I know about the mistress at your country estate,” she exploded. “I know about Maribel.”




CHAPTER 2




THERE, it had been said.

Julia watched the expression on William’s handsome face go from furrowed with irritation to wide and blank. Clearly, he was well aware he had been caught.

And then his mouth flinched at the corners. Was he smiling?

Julia simmered with rage. No, he wasn’t just smiling. He was laughing.

He threw his head back and bellowed revealing every one of his perfectly white, straight teeth.

He crossed the room in two great strides of his long legs and opened his arms to her. Not that she would step into them, even if he had finally donned a shirt.

“You don’t understand, my darling.” His mirth faded into something gentle, and he gazed at her with the affection that had once made her heart do flips. “Maribel is my horse.”

“Your…horse?” Julia asked in a small voice.

“Excuse my laughter.” He stroked a hand down her cheek and a ripple of pleasure followed in its wake. “You must see the humor in your words.”

She certainly felt like an absolute fool, but she gave a light chuckle nonetheless. “Forgive me. I saw a note from your steward bidding you to come to the estate for Maribel, and then Lady Venerton told me that everyone knew you had a mistress in the country.”

“Lady Venerton?” He scowled. “Please tell me that odious woman is not in attendance.”

A genuine laugh rose up in Julia. “I’m afraid she is.”

“Had I known that, I might have found an excuse to stay longer in the country.” He peered around Julia to regard the door, as if expecting the topic of their conversation to sweep in at any moment. “I’ll wager she told you I flirted shamelessly with her as well, probably begged on my knees for her to be my lover. Perhaps even set up a tent below her window just to be near her?”

“I believe it was the townhouse next to hers, not a tent.” Julia grinned up at her husband.

“The truth of it is she put herself in my path on countless occasions, until I finally threatened to tell Lord Venerton of her behavior. It did the trick. Nothing works like the threatening of tightened purse strings with women like that.” He touched Julia’s chin, tenderly tipping her face up to his. “You know the woman, and you know me.”

“But I don’t know you,” Julia admitted. “Not really. We had such a fast courtship. I hadn’t realized that until, well, until I thought you had a mistress, and then it struck me how little I actually know you.”

“That is my fault. I wanted you from the moment I saw you. I hadn’t given you enough time.”

Julia’s pulse quickened. “Did you?”

“I did.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “Tell me what you wish to know about me, and I’ll answer.”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Blue.”

“What’s your favorite food?”

“Roasted venison.”

“Do you prefer petunias or hyacinths?”

“I’ve always been partial to tulips myself.” He remained perfectly sincere in his reply, though his twinkling eyes gave his playfulness away.

Julia forced herself to keep her face impassive. “Do you prefer being out of doors, or indoors?”

“Out of doors when it’s pleasant; indoors when the weather is dastardly.”

She nodded. “Fair enough.”

“My turn.” He ran his thumb over her lower lip. “Lips, or tongue?”

Her breath caught. Oh my.

Immediately, she recalled those heady kisses before the consummation of their union. When his mouth had burned like fire against her own, when the simple brush of his tongue made it seem as if the world had enveloped her in the most exquisite conflagration.

She glanced shyly down before returning her gaze to boldly lock with his. “Both.”

His slow smirk indicated he clearly approved. “Shirt on, or off?”

Oh yes, that. Angry though she might have been when she first saw him, the strength of his broad chest, and the tight bands of muscle making wonderful ridges along his stomach, had been impossible to ignore. She had never seen a man without his shirt, though she knew well enough that such a physique as William’s was not common.

“Most definitely off.” She let her eyes fall closed and waited for the brush of his lips against hers.

A rap came from the door, followed by a singsong, saccharine voice. “Julia, dear, will you walk down with me to the drawing room?”

Julia sighed. “Lady Venerton.”

“Julia?” William arched a brow.

Julia rolled her eyes. “We haven’t been friends for ages. Not since my father—”

William released her and pulled the door open to face Lady Venerton. “Her Grace,” he said with obvious stress on the title. “Is still readying herself and will be down momentarily.”

“I hadn’t realized you had arrived, Your Grace.” Lady Venerton’s tittering giggle suggested otherwise.

“Indeed,” William replied dryly.

“Do send Her Grace down when you’re done with her.”

William said nothing more and shut the door. “That woman is vile. How did you ever consider her a friend?”

“It was a foolish mistake to let her see you in such a state of undress.” Julia indicated his untucked shirt, the collar open, baring the base of his throat and the hint of his powerful chest beneath.

“She’ll no longer be calling you Julia, of that you can be certain.” He put his hands to her waist and carefully pulled her toward him. “And you needn’t worry about me with Lady Venerton or any other woman. I don’t even see any other women besides you.”

He lowered his face to hers, and the flutter in Julia’s stomach teased up into her heart.

A hearty knock came from the door. “Stedton, you devil, you’ve kept me waiting nearly three days for good company.” Lord Bursbury’s voice boomed from the other side of the door. “Let’s get a solid match of boxing in before the ladies finish whatever it is that they do in their drawing room. Knit scarves for puppies or paint pictures of lace doilies, or something of the like.”