His Jilted Bride (Historical Regency Romance) (9 page)

Elijah almost snorted. They could
“prod” him all day long, if they'd like, he had no intention of
telling them anything. He shrugged. “There's nothing to
tell.”

“
Sure there is,” Uncle John said. “You're lying to your wife.
Now, just tell us why and we'll help you decide what you should
do.”

Elijah cleared his throat, his eyes
momentarily locking with Henry's. They exchanged a look: a simple
message and understanding, if you will. “My marriage is not up for
discussion,” Elijah said coolly.

“
No matter,” Benjamin said, repositioning a gold pillow behind
his back. “You've already said enough. You've lied to your wife. As
a man who...er...might have done something similar for reasons I'd
rather not say, I might be able to offer some advice.”

All eyes went to the duke. A more
scheming, cryptic individual Elijah had never met—outside of those
he'd been paid to see, that is.

“
Why would you lie to your wife?” Alex asked Benjamin without
a hint of emotion.

Benjamin shrugged. “It was for the
best.”

Sir Wallace, Elijah's brother-in-law
snorted. “I haven't been married nearly as long as you, but even I
know it's not in anybody's best interest to lie to one's
wife.”

Elijah shifted his gaze to Sir
Wallace. Though a little unusual with his habit of counting when
uncomfortable and his somewhat irritating need for perfection, he
seemed a decent sort. Elijah hadn't always thought so, of course,
but he'd had plenty of time to observe and speculate and now
understood just what it was about the man that made Sir Wallace an
excellent match for his sister, Edwina: he was genuine. He didn't
lie or cheat to get his way. He wasn't the type to grow angry over
trivial matters, or even the majority of important matters, either.
But neither did he have a menacing bone in his body. Gossip could
fly about the man faster than a swallow escaping a tabby, and he
wouldn't so much as mutter an impolite statement in response. Yes,
Sir Wallace Benedict was odd, indeed; but his oddness was exactly
what made him a good match for Edwina.

“
Normally, it's not a brilliant idea to lie to one's wife,”
Benjamin conceded a moment later. “But sometimes it must be done.
Perhaps that's the situation in which Elijah currently finds
himself.”

“
No,” Elijah said, giving a lopsided shrug. “It was just a
question. Nothing more.”

Five snorts rang out, leaving Elijah
and Henry the only two who didn't find humor in his
statement.

“
It's never just a question,” Uncle John said. “Especially not
that one.”

“
I don't think it's wise to lie to her about anything,” Alex
said, garnering nods of agreement from Andrew, Paul, Uncle John and
Sir Wallace.

“
You wouldn't,” Benjamin muttered, crossing his arms. “The
fact is, sometimes it's just the way it has to be and if someone
sees a problem with it, then it's because they're too simpleminded
to understand.”

A series of snorts, guffaws, scoffs,
and head shaking by all the other married men in the room followed
the duke's words, but he didn't seem to care. Benjamin Collins was
the kind who didn't care what others thought of him or said about
him. He was who he was, he said what he felt like saying, and did
whatever he wanted; and if you didn't like that, he didn't care.
Except when it came to his wife. Madison's opinion seemed to be the
only one he cared a whit about. Apparently she didn't mind his
fibbing or he wouldn't be advocating it so much.

“
Tell me, Benjamin, how exactly did your wife feel when she
learned the truth? And don't think for one minute that I'll believe
that she never learned of it, I know my daughter better than that.
All three of my daughters can sniff out the truth even if it's
buried under a thousand pounds of manure,” John mumbled.

Benjamin shrugged. “She didn't care so
much and I expect that Lady Amelia won't, either.”

“
Didn't care so much,” Andrew muttered, shaking his head.
“From what I heard from her sister—who just so happens to be my
wife—I'd say she might have cared more than you'd like to
believe.”

“
Well, that might be what she told Brooke,” Benjamin said with
an overdone frown. “But I don't think so. Madison has no qualm
telling me when I do something she doesn't like. If my omission had
displeased her that greatly, she'd have said so. Besides, she's the
one who insisted I lie to her.”

Elijah's interest was piqued, but he
kept quiet. In all of his travels he'd learned that in situations
such as this that one gains far more information by being silent
than by asking questions.

“
How the blazes did you reach such an illogical conclusion?”
Alex burst out, taking the words straight from Elijah's
mind.

“
She said she didn't wish to discuss a certain matter, so I
didn't. Therefore, she had no one but herself to blame for my
omission.”

Elijah nodded slowly as conversation
went on around him. His situation had many similarities, but was
still different. He chanced another glance over to Henry. Everyone
said they were identical, and perhaps they were with their father's
blond hair, blue eyes, and tilted grin, but their personalities
were not so identical. Never mind the fact that Henry would not
have made the decisions that had led Elijah to this situation, but
if he had, he'd just do whatever he felt was his duty without
worrying about hurt feelings or damaging a friendship. Henry was
more like their father and Alex in that respect. Henry relied on
logic and duty to make his decisions while Elijah had a tendency to
let his heart interfere—a trait that seemed to be leading him into
more trouble with each passing day.

He resisted the urge to scowl at the
realization and pushed to his feet. Amelia had not looked overly
pleased about being forced to join the ladies for a bout of drawing
room chitchat. Surely by now she would certainly be in need of
rescuing.

Chapter Nine

“
Cake?”

“
Cake,” Amelia repeated with a nod as she removed her bonnet
and tossed it over the back of the leather chair that was
positioned in the middle of the common room in the hunting cabin.
“I think you should treat me to a slice of the best cake Bath has
to offer tomorrow.”

“
You are a very strange young lady; did you know that?” he
asked, chuckling. Who knew Amelia had a hankering for cake? No
matter. If cake is all she demanded of him for having to endure his
female relatives for the better half of an evening, cake is what
she'd get.

“
Well, now that I'm an old married matron, it won't matter
what I eat,” she said as cool as could be as she set her unneeded
red scarf on the edge of the pale blue settee.

He removed his grey coat and set it
next to her discarded scarf. “And it did before?”

“
Of course,” she murmured, running her hands down the front of
the pink gown she'd borrowed from Lady Templemore.

Without meaning to, Elijah's eyes
followed the path her hands made over her ample bosom, down to her
slim waist, then flared out with her hips.

He cleared his throat to tell her
something reassuring, but it would seem nothing worked to relieve
himself of that strangled feeling. “Amelia, it wouldn't matter if
you weren't married. You're...er...” The invisible hands that were
strangling him finally choked him tight enough to end his
words.

Her lips formed a half-smile. “It's
all right. I don't expect you to compliment me.”

He loosened his cravat,
whether because he needed to in order to take it off for the night
or because it seemed to suddenly be choking the life out of him, he
might never truly know. She was his oldest friend. He'd
complimented her many times when she'd found some clever way to
best Henry at a game and even a few weeks ago he'd complimented her
dancing at his sister's wedding. He cocked his head to the side.
How strange. He had always complimented things she did, never
actually
her
.

“
Amelia?”

She smoothed her skirt and kept her
eyes trained on whatever it was on the floor that had managed to
capture her attention. “Hmm?”

“
You are a very beautiful young lady.”

“
Thank you.” Her cheeks turned the palest shade of pink and
she kicked off her cream slippers. “Don't worry. I shan't
overindulge too often.”

Elijah sighed. “I'm not worried about
you gaining a few pounds, Amelia. I just wanted to tell you—” He
shrugged. “Well, I already said it, so now you know.”

Amelia twirled a tendril of her fallen
hair around her finger. “Thank you.”

“
You're welcome.”

Amelia gave her head a little shake,
almost as if she were shaking off his words, then she bit her lip.
She'd been acting most strange since they'd entered the cabin.
Surely she wasn't afraid to be alone with him.

“
Amelia?”

“
Hmmm?”

Elijah ignored her half-hearted
response and took a step closer to her. She'd been able to put him
off for two nights. But tonight she wouldn't have an excuse.
“Amelia,” he murmured, leaning in to kiss her.

She swallowed audibly and stood
stock-still.

Slowly, Elijah brushed his lips across
hers, hoping to fan some internal flame she had.

“
I—I'm not ready,” she blurted. She cleared her throat and
took a step away from him. “This is all so sudden.”

He stared at her. Sudden? How could
she even think to claim his actions were sudden? They'd been
married, or on their way to marry, for the better part of three
days, surely she understood that most ladies were expected to share
their husbands' beds within hours of being married. It didn't seem
sudden at all as far as he was concerned. “You were prepared to do
this with Lord Friar two days ago, were you not?”

Amelia's eyes widened at his frank
words, then she clasped her hands in front of her. “Of
course.”

“
Then I see no reason for you to have any reservation when it
comes to me.”

“
Of course you wouldn't,” she murmured.

He lifted his eyebrows.

“
As you know,” she said, taking another step backwards. “I was
promised to Lord Friar for a fortnight. It gave me plenty of time
to prepare for...”

“
Coitus,” he supplied for her.

Her cheeks turned crimson. “Yes,
that.”

“
Well then, you had two weeks to get accustomed to the idea of
sharing your body with him and an additional two days to rejoice
that you don't have to. That doesn't sound sudden at all, if you
ask me.”

Her silver eyes bore into him.
“Perhaps it doesn't to you. It seems to me you're rather willing to
jump between the sheets with anyone in a skirt.”

“
That's not true.”

She crossed her arms and held his
gaze, a glint of fire in her eyes. “Isn't it?”

He studied her. Why did she appear so
angry? Had she heard some undesirable rumor about him? He nearly
scoffed. There wasn't such a rumor to be heard. As much as he'd
hate to admit this publicly, he'd followed right in his father's
and brother's steps and had managed to avoid any type of scandal
whatsoever.

“
I still don't see the problem.” He crossed his arms. “You've
had plenty of time to 'prepare yourself', as you so delicately
termed it.” By the shade of red her face had now grown, she was
about to combust with fire if he didn't stop, but an observer of
their conversation would have never known she was uncomfortable
about their conversation by her next words.

“
Yes, well, as charming as you might think you are, I require
more time to accept that you'll be my lifelong bed
partner.”

He ignored the sharpness in her tone
and the way the meaning of her words hit him like a punch in the
gut. Turning his head to the side a fraction, he lifted his chin a
notch and looked at her through his lowered lashes. “I am charming,
aren't I?”

“
Not as much as you seem to think,” she said, lacking any
sense of emotion.

Elijah straightened. What the devil
was wrong with her? He'd expected her to giggle or at least crack a
smile at his nonsense, not be so dismissive of him. He stared at
her for a moment. If she were anyone else treating him this way,
he'd let loose the scathing retort that was on the tip of his
tongue.

“
Very well.” Elijah nodded, then taking care not to brush her
crushed skirt, he exited the common room and entered the
bedroom.

***

Amelia inhaled a deep
breath, then blew it out. She'd never been one to keep a secret
from Elijah. Perhaps she ought to tell him? She bit her lip and
resumed twisting a lock of her hair around her finger. She could,
she supposed. Actually, no not could, she
should.
He deserved to know. Her
teeth bit harder into her lip. What would he think of her? Even if
she weren't carrying another man's child, would he lose all regard
for her for giving away her virtue so easily?