Page 68 of Sincerely, the Duke
Amusement danced in his expression. “Did you just say you should have trusted me?”
Edwina smiled sheepishly and cleared her throat. “I might have misspoken,” she said teasingly before lowering her head to kiss the corner of his mouth.
He rose on his forearm and leaned over her. “You don’t ever have to be frightened of anything again.” He placed a soft kiss on her lips.
“I don’t know that’s true,” she said, feeling more concern than she wanted to after such a glorious experience. “The countess has probably spread the rumor she heard to half the ton by now.”
“She hasn’t said a word, nor will she,” he said, winding a strand of her hair around his finger.
“You sound so sure.” Edwina was not.
“I saw the look on her face when she realized who she was talking to and what she was saying to my wife in front of me, my mother, two other dukes, and another duchess. All of them defended you. She will keep the rumor to herself, or else she knows she will have ostracized herself from all of Society.”
Knowing his assurance would be tested if she should have more than one babe, she asked, “Do you think I am with child now?”
He chuckled softly. “I doubt it. It usually takes many times.” His eyes narrowed. “You are all right with that, aren’t you?”
“Very,” she answered, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks.
Their coming together had been perfect and she hadn’t wanted it to end. Still, she had worries. She laid her hand over his heart. “What will you do if I have triplets?”
His gaze swept up and down her face as if he were searching for something he’d lost. With the back of his palm, he slowly, softly caressed her cheek. “It’s very rare. Do you have reason to think you might?”
“I’ve had much anxiety over the prospect. My father always said I was more like my mother than either of my sisters. What will you do if I have three sons at one time?”
He shrugged and brushed her hair away from her shoulders. “I suppose I’d have reason to be quite boastful. A man gaining three sons at once. I think that would impress even my mother.” He smiled and so did Edwina. “And, of course, I’d have to leave it up to you to keep upwith which of the three babes was the oldest and heir to the title.”
Rick couldn’t have said anything that would have pleased her more. Edwina pressed a soft kiss to his lips as he pulled her into his arms again.
CHAPTER 22
THE ART OF BEING A FINE GENTLEMAN
SIR DUDLEY SAMSON PEMBERTON FINE
It is essential for a gentleman to learn the art of answering a question without answering it at all.
Rick pushed the dull ache in his temples to the back of his mind as he stepped down from his carriage and headed for the stone pathway that led to his mother’s house. A lot could be said about the marriage bed. All good things he found out. He hadn’t expected kissing, touching, and becoming one with someone you had tender feelings for to be different from being with other women. He could never have imagined it would be more satisfying. Odd as it was to him, he was content in a way he never had been.
To his surprise, he had easily accepted Edwina snuggled close to him, sleeping with him all through the night and waking beside him each morning. He’d never wanted or needed that with any other woman. Giving and taking pleasure and then leaving was all he ever needed. With Edwina he wanted to linger in bed with her in the mornings and by the end of the day as her sisters were settling down for the evening, he was impatient for the nights and his time alone with her to begin. After thehouse was quiet, he felt as if he and Edwina were the only two people in the world. It reminded him of when he was a boy and would manage to slip away from his mother and the staff that was paid to constantly watch him.
However, bliss with his wife wasn’t without misgivings. After the first ball a few nights ago, he’d had the perfect opportunity to tell her about his fevers. And many times since. He’d considered it when she’d suggested there were things in his past he had not told her. Yet, he hadn’t uttered a word about the sickness. Mainly because he hoped he’d never have another one. Why try to explain something that might never happen again? Besides, Edwina had enough worries of her own and didn’t need any of his. Whenever she became in the family way, he’d have his physician and a midwife check her often. They would know if she was carrying more than one babe. He just hoped they’d know what to do if she was.
Then there were days like today that madehimworry, which was the reason he saw his physician before coming to his mother’s house. He woke with a blasted headache again. That was troublesome.
The visit was futile. With no other signs of the fever, no chills one minute and sweats the next, the man suggested all he needed was a tonic of willow bark for the ache in his head. So far the mixture was working. Thankfully, his headache was better and he didn’t feel any of the usual feverish symptoms.
Rick had received several messages from his mother, Wyatt, and Hurst during the past week and answered them all the same way. He would see them soon. He assumed they were eager to hear more about what Lady Middleton had said at the ball, but he’d come to a conclusionabout that. They wouldn’t hear any more from him or anyone else on that subject. The fear Edwina’s father had instilled in her about how some people might react was still very real to her.
It was his responsibility to protect her. Rick didn’t want the gossip talked about even among his best friends and mother. He would keep Edwina away from any talk of triplets, oddities, or anything else that might cause her pain. For that reason, he’d purposefully taken Edwina and her sisters to small dinner parties in the evenings and kept them away from the elaborate balls where they were certain to see his mother and his friends. Unfortunately, his plan hadn’t kept Matthew Malcolm from seeing Eleonora. He seemed to make an appearance for a chat with her at almost every house they entered.
Rick handed his hat and gloves off to his mother’s butler, Webster. “Where is she?” he asked.
“Waiting for you in the drawing room.”
He nodded and made his way there. She was in her usual spot on the chair she considered the only comfortable one in the house.
“Good afternoon, Maman. I trust you are well?” He bent over and kissed her cheek.
