Page 21 of Dick Stone, Regency Stud
Good, good. Straightforward and right down to business.
“Then you are willing to be…put in a breeding state by me. A man who is not your husband.”
“I rather like Charley, and if this is what he determines is best, I see no reason not to comply with his wishes.”
“How well do you know your husband?” asked Edward, his curiosity winning out.
“Charley? We grew up together. Don’t be under any misapprehension: our parents arranged the marriage to settle a dispute over some pasture that almost certainly belonged to my family since the time of Henry VII. Our union settled the matter, but now his Papa is making additional demands.”
“And you have no objection to being told what to do?”
“It seems preferable to having to bathe in the Serpentine or fetch one’s own water, don’t you think?”
Edward found he didn’t agree at all. He’d been fetching his own water for bathing since returning to England, and it was among the least distressing tasks his change in status and pursebrought, but that was neither here nor there. He had someone else’s bride to impregnate.
“So you confirm you are of sound mind and willing to take part in this scheme?”
“As sound as the ice on the Serpentine in winter,” she said blithely, which wasn’t reassuring, since that ice had the tendency to break under the weight of skaters.
“Then would you permit me to assess whether your body is in a suitable state for being bred?”
Lady Maria held out her arm as if Edward meant to take her pulse.
“I mean under your skirts.”
She looked at him, scandalized. “Whyever would you need to check there?”
Oh, so it was to be one of those days, the ones when he flipped through every decision leading him to this point and cursed himself for letting his cock get the best of him. He sighed inwardly and set out to deliver the lecture on human reproduction he’d had cause to give more than once to a shocked lady.
“You know where babies come from?” he asked.
“From the mother’s belly. Everyone knows that,” she said, scoffing as if he were the silly one.
Edward moved from his bench and settled beside her on the forward-facing seat. He placed a hand over her belly. She looked up at him, stunned, as if she hadn’t ever been touched there.
“So you understand what happened on your wedding night?” asked Edward.
“Of course I do.”
“Did it hurt?”
“Hurt? I hardly think two healthy young people sleeping in the same bed would hurt.”
“I mean, when your husband inserted himself into you.”
The color drained from Lady Maria’s face.
“You mean to say,” said Edward, realization dawning on him. “That your husband did not penetrate your person on your wedding night? And I’m guessing he did not complete the task on subsequent nights?”
“I should think not,” said Lady Maria, her handkerchief over her mouth as if she was about to be ill.
“In order to be bred, a member must be inserted into your person,” he said. “That’s what I’d need to do to get you with child.”
“A member?”
Edward thanked the heavens, for once, for his tendency to harden at the merest hint of sex. Because of his interested cock, he could easily dispel any confusion.
“Here,” he said, placing the hand that wasn’t clutching the handkerchief in his lap. “That piece will need to enter your…channel.”
