“What are you going to do about Sussex?” Griffin asked as he lay holding his wife in his arms.
“Nothing,” Alyssa replied. “I’m a very happily married woman.” She rolled to her side, within the circle of his arms, and faced him. “The question is: What are you going to do about Sussex?”
Griffin eyed her suspiciously. “Why do you ask?”
“Rumor has it he desperately wants to become a member of your Free Fellows League. Are you going to allow it?”
“Probably,” Griff admitted. “So long as he proves his worth.”
“I’ll wager his future duchess isn’t going to like that,” Alyssa murmured. “Unless you do something about that horrid clause in the charter.”
Griff arched an eyebrow and tried his best to appear annoyed. “What clause in what charter?”
“As if you didn’t know,” Alyssa retorted. “You talk in your sleep, Griffin. You agonize in your sleep. And a great deal of that agonizing could be remedied if you’d just get together with the other Free Fellows—whoever and however many there are—and amend the clause in the charter that forbids Free Fellows from loving their wives.”
Griffin was astonished. He still suffered frequent nightmares and he knew he talked in his sleep, but he had no idea that he’d been so forthcoming and coherent. Alyssa had never breathed a word of the secrets he spilled in his sleep—until now. “Do I mention specifics?”
“Incessantly.”
“And what exactly are they?”
Alyssa shrugged. “The fact that you love me with all your heart and the fact that it goes against the charter and the blood oath you swore to uphold.”
“Any idea what clause I’m agonizing over?”
Alyssa smiled. “The fifth one. You know the one that states that you shall never be encumbered by sentiment known as love or succumb to female wiles or tears.”
Griffin blushed. “And you think I’d sleep better if I call a meeting of the Free Fellows League and propose an amendment to that clause in the charter?”
“Most definitely.”
“Any suggestions?”
“Why not simply amend it to read you shall never be encumbered by sentiment known as love or succumb to female wiles unless, of course, you want to be encumbered because the female in question is a wife who loves you to distraction and is dearly loved in return?”
“That’s perfect,” Griff said.
“I’m glad it meets your approval.”
Griff laughed. “I’m easy to please. I have a vested interest in amending that particular clause to suit my purposes. I’m not so sure about the others.”
Alyssa ran her fingers through the hair covering his chest. “I’d say you have an unvested interest in amending that horrid clause to suit your purposes.” Her fingers inched lower. “And given time and the right incentive, the other Free Fellows will gladly approve the amendment you’re going to propose.”
“Have you any idea who’ll be providing the other Free Fellows with the right incentives?” If his wife was playing matchmaker for Grantham or Shepherdston, Griff thought it prudent to have some warning of it.
“Only for Sussex,” she answered.
Her answer piqued Griffin’s curiosity. “Have you a future duchess in mind?”
“Lady Miranda,” she said.
Griffin laughed. “That will never happen. They hate each other.”
Alyssa smiled knowingly. “The same way we hate each other.”
“Really? This I’ve got to see.”
“Wait and you will.” She traced the line of hair on his abdomen. “In the meantime…”
“Yes?”
“You tend to your garden and let Sussex tend to his.” Griff covered her hand with his and guided her to the place she’d been inching toward. “Now that you mention it,” he teased. “I do have a few seeds that need planting…”
Alyssa giggled. “Then you’ve come to the right place for I happen to be an excellent gardener…”
Griff nibbled her earlobe. “Duchesses do seem to have the finest gardens,” he allowed. “And my duchess has the finest garden of all.”
The End
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Book 2 in the “Free Fellows League” Series
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Hardly a Husband, Book 3 in the “Free Fellows League” Series
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Truly a Wife, Book 4 in the “Free Fellows League” Series
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