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СКАЧАТЬ himself physically the moment he had got what he wanted from her, not to mislead her into thinking that!

      She had also added, ‘Persons of quality have the luxury of enjoying privacy, not granted to the lower orders. Very few husbands and wives would share a room, let alone a bed, were they given a choice.’

      It had been a shock to realize just how much information she must have relayed to her aunt. Although she was glad she had let slip that she was concerned about the ramifications of their sleeping arrangements. Because her aunt’s reply had certainly made her look at that particular issue in another light. The fact that Hugh and Amanda had shared a bed certainly had more to do with lack of space at the Brambles than any desire they might have felt for each other. Her three stepbrothers had all had to share a room, and she had been tucked away in a tiny space under the eaves. And Amanda had been so scared by the Gypsy’s curse that she would never have consented to remarrying if there had been any risk of getting pregnant again, only to see her baby die.

      She pulled herself back to the present with an effort, smiled brightly and said, ‘I could visit my aunt.’ She had no other female relative in whom to confide, and she was beginning to think there was much more she could learn from Lady Callandar, could she only discuss her concerns face to face. ‘We could do all that shopping you deprived her of before the wedding,’ she joked. And then added, more seriously, ‘Honestly, Monty, do you think I would expect you to dance attendance on me when the future of Europe is at stake?’

      He set the loaded toasting fork onto the tray, pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. ‘It is useless even talking about it,’ he breathed into her hair. ‘My duty lies here now.’

      Midge’s fleeting feelings of loneliness and resentment were swept aside by a surge of sympathy for him. He had done his duty all his life. But nothing he did ever seemed to satisfy his father.

      ‘I am not ready to give up yet.’ He smiled sadly. ‘The tenants, at least, are beginning to believe that I am nothing like Piers and that I won’t turn a blind eye to their petitions. And every day you spend with them, I see the twins becoming more like civilized human beings and less like savages.’

      She reached up to smooth her hands over the bunched muscles of his shoulders, kissing his throat, his jaw, the corner of his mouth.

      ‘Tease,’ he growled, turning his head to take control of the kiss.

      Then, just when she was beginning to think they were going to make love in front of the fire, he surged to his feet, swept her into his arms and carried her into her bedroom where he disposed of her clothing with an efficiency born of much practice.

      Midge had not had to send for Pansy to brush her hair, or unhook her gowns or untie her stay laces since the night she had got married. Monty was extremely keen to perform all these services for her. And get her into bed.

      But not to stay there, once he had got what he wanted.

      She knew she ought not to let his reluctance to spend an entire night with her bother her so much. She told herself that he was just not the kind of man who would want to hold anyone close all night. His mother, who her aunt had said was a cold, proud woman, had abandoned him at Shevington by all accounts. And then his father had packed him off to school, while keeping his older brother close. Experiencing that kind of rejection as a little boy must have made him harden himself.

      Army life, too, must have made him become even more self-sufficient. A soft-hearted man would have been in agony watching friends and comrades dying all around.

      But she just could not shake the yearning to get closer to him. To break through all those barriers he had built around himself, and become, well, if not the love of his life, then at least his bosom friend.

      He was beginning to open up to her, about his past and what had made him the way he was.

      She had also heard, from Pansy, who’d got it from Cobbett, who had got it from a parlour maid who’d been just outside the door, that Monty had demanded that his father show her more respect. There had been a heated argument, apparently, but the outcome was that the earl did now accord her the common civilities any gentleman should extend to a lady.

      All that had to mean something, did it not?

      Summoning up every ounce of courage she possessed, she waited until Monty had stripped her completely naked, and was backing her towards the bed, before ducking out of his embrace.

      ‘Where are you going?’ he asked, mystified, as she darted over to her bedroom door.

      She looked at him coyly over one shoulder. ‘I should like to try something different, tonight.’ She crooked her finger, beckoning him to follow her as she sashayed across the sitting room.

      ‘My God, Midge,’ he croaked, tugging off his cravat and tossing it aside as he stalked after her. ‘What you do to me!’

      She opened his bedroom door, and nervously entered his domain for the first time since their marriage. She could hardly believe she had brought herself to walk around stark naked, but she had been sure that only acting so brazenly would excite her husband to the point where he would not argue about the spot she had chosen for their coupling.

      What happened afterwards would be another matter. She knew that she might still be wanting more from him than he was willing to give. But she just missed him so much every second they were apart, waking or sleeping.

      The worst that could happen would be that he would carry her back to her own bed once she had fallen asleep, and she would wake alone, as she had done every morning since she had married him, with the feeling that yet again, she was not quite good enough. That she was not the kind of woman a man would want to hold close to his heart all night.

      He caught up with her, put his arms round her and drew her back against his chest. On the way through the sitting room, he had got rid of his shirt. She flexed her spine against the hair-roughened skin, butting her head up against his chin like a cat, as she gazed round his room.

      There were no candles lit, but an enormous fire blazed in the hearth.

      ‘It is—’ she gasped, as he nuzzled the nape of her neck ‘—very warm in here.’

      ‘And it is about to get even hotter,’ he promised, taking one breast in each hand and squeezing rhythmically.

      For the next few minutes, she lost the power of rational thought entirely as she gave herself up to Monty’s ministrations. And it was not until a long time later, when they lay, sated and panting on his bed, that she reflected, with great relief, that he had not seemed to mind her invading his sanctuary at all.

      Perhaps all she had needed to do was ask. He was the product of a loveless marriage. Perhaps it had simply not occurred to him that a wife might want to sleep in her husband’s bed.

      ‘May I stay?’ she murmured drowsily, as he tucked her into the crook of his arm.

      ‘Hmm?’ He was dozing himself, now.

      She raised herself on one arm, propping herself on his chest so that she could look into his eyes.

      ‘All night. I want to stay here. With you. May I?’

      ‘Not a good idea,’ he grunted, reaching up and twirling a strand of her hair round his forefinger. ‘I am bound to disturb you.’

      ‘What СКАЧАТЬ