“No.” That wasn’t an option. Even if he let her, her parents would bring her right back. “I’m done with dinner and don’t wish to stay at this table anymore.”
She couldn’t be sure, but she thought he looked relieved. “By all means, go ahead,” he said then went back to his meal.
Placing her napkin on the plate, she rose to her feet and left the room. She wasn’t sure what she should do to pass her time. After a minute of standing in the middle of the hallway, she figured she should check the rooms on this level more closely. Yes, she’d been given a tour of the whole place earlier, but she’d only glimpsed most of the rooms. At least now she had the chance to examine them in more detail.
Her first stop was the den. This was, undoubtedly, where Logan planned out his evil schemes. Who knew how many wagers he dreamt up here…or how many hours he spent thinking of which lady would give him the most money if none of the wagers paid off? For all she knew, he sat in the chair next to the fireplace, his feet propped up on the ottoman, a smile on his face as he mentally ran through each plan he ever concocted.
With a shake of her head, she checked the books on the shelves lining a wall. Though the furniture in the room was dusted, she caught signs of dust on these tomes. So he wasn’t a reader. Perhaps his father had enjoyed books. She went over to the table and noted the decanter was only half full. So he preferred brandy to books. That didn’t surprise her. Not every gentleman was like Malcolm who was happier with a book than a drink. She only hoped Logan wasn’t the type to get drunk.
She went over to his desk and plopped in the chair behind it. The inkwell and parchment had been used recently. There wasn’t a trace of dust on these items. She wondered what kind of missives he wrote. Perhaps he wrote down ideas for wagers or kept track of different families and the wealth of each household.
She pulled open the drawers of his desk but didn’t find anything of interest in them. Just missives from people, and as she rummaged through them, it looked like most came from his mother and sisters. Well, that was nice. At least he cared enough about his family to hold onto their correspondence. He was still a cad, but maybe there was a small part of him worth talking to. She wasn’t in any way ready to give her body to him, but she didn’t have to feel quite so bad about pretending to like him when they were in public.
She shut the drawers and sat back. With a glance around the room, she decided there was nothing else of interest here. She left the room and went to the drawing room. This would be the room she’d entertain guests in, so she’d most likely spend considerable time here. She went over to the desk and saw it was bare, except for the inkwell. Opening a drawer, she saw unused parchment. Well, at least she knew where to find paper if she wanted to write something.
Tapping her nails on the desk, she scanned the room. There wasn’t much to it. A couple of personal items decorated the shelves. The long green curtains were a nice touch, but since they were an older style, she figured his mother was the one who picked them out. A grandfather clock was in the corner of the room. But that was about it.
It was a bachelor’s townhouse. What could she expect? As her mother once said, gentlemen didn’t know how to make a place comfortable.
The sound of footsteps coming from the hall made her stiffen. It had to be Logan. There was the all-too-familiar sense of doom heading in her direction.
And as she surmised, Logan appeared in the doorway. “Are you making yourself at home?” he asked.
She should have left the room when she had the chance. But where would she go? She wasn’t at her parents’ townhouse anymore where it was easy to run to her bedchamber and be safe from him. He could now follow her all over this place.
Since he was staring at her, she figured she had to say something. “I was just resting.” Before he got the wrong idea and suggested she go to bed—with him intending to follow her, no doubt—she added, “I’m not sleepy. I merely needed to sit for a while.”
“It’s been a busy day,” he replied.
She hoped he might walk away, but he came into the room and sat in a chair not too far from her. Just as she feared, he wasn’t going to leave her alone.
“But it hasn’t all been bad,” he said. “You got some pretty dresses the seamstresses will be delivering in a few days. Then there were the items you bought to decorate your bedchamber.” He paused then asked, “Did you put them where you wanted them?”
“No, not yet.”
She shifted in the chair, wondering if he’d leave, but he remained sitting.
“Don’t you need to do something?” she asked.
“Like what?”
“Reclining in a chair and reading a book?”
“I’m already reclining, but to be honest, I’d rather talk.”
That was just her luck. “Don’t you have some friends you’d like to have some brandy with?”
“Not really.”
“Even at a gentlemen’s club?”
He shrugged. “The gentlemen at White’s probably consider me more of a nuisance than a friend.”
Was he serious? She looked for an indication that he was joking but saw none. “Are you telling me there is no one you visit?”
“I visited you.”
“That doesn’t count. We aren’t friends, and we don’t share anything in common.”
“Maybe we do share some things in common but don’t know it yet. We already have a mutual dislike for Lord Waxman.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You have no reason to dislike him.”
“You’re my wife, and he upset you. Anyone who upsets you isn’t going to win me over.”
“You upset me all the time, yet you manage very well to be with yourself.”
Smirking, he said, “I can’t very well get away from myself, can I?”
“That’s beside the point.”
“No, it’s not, actually. The fact of the matter is, no matter what I do or say, I will always be there. There is no escape for me.”
“Sure there is. Choose to behave better. If you decide to make a change, I believe it will happen, and then people will actually like you.”
“My sweet little bird, you are an optimist.”
She frowned. Did that mean he had no intention of behaving better? It probably did. He was a cad. And cads had no intention of being good. “Well, in any case, I’m sure you can find somewhere to be.”
“Unless it’s with you, no, I can’t.”
The feeling of dread she’d successfully managed to suppress up to now was rising to the surface, though she struggled to appear calm. “I’m not interesting.”
“That’s not true. I happen to find you very interesting.”
“Granted, the battle of wills we share would be an amusement to you, but I don’t care for it.”
“If it bothers you, then why not be more agreeable?”
Her lips formed a thin line. “I can’t be agreeable with an ogre.”
His eyes widened. “You consider me to be an ogre?”
“Indeed, I do. Between you and Lord Waxman, I don’t know who annoys me more.”
“It’d be him, of course. I’m your husband, and that puts me a little higher on your list of people to admire and respect.”
At that, she snorted. In any other situation, she might have been appalled she let such an unladylike sound escape her lips, but Logan had a way of bringing out the worst in her. “There’s nothing to admire or respect about you.”
He gasped and pressed his hand to his chest in mock horror. “I’m shocked. Shocked, I say. I let you soil my handkerchief and one of my favorite frock coats with all those senseless tears today. I was ever the gentleman for doing so.”
“I wouldn’t have had to cry those senseless tears had you not disrupted my life.”
“You can’t pin those tears on me. They were shed over Lord Who-Can-Do-No-Wrong Waxman. They weren’t shed over a scoundrel like me.”
“You’re proud of the fact that you’re a scoundrel, aren’t you?”<
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“I just got through telling you, I can’t get away from myself, no matter how horrible I get, so you tell me,” he said, a challenge in his voice.
She let out a long groan and rose to her feet. “You are impossible. There’s no reasoning with you. I might as well be talking to myself.”
He stood up, and as she feared, he followed her out of the room. “Do you ever do that?” When she glanced at him, he added, “Talk to yourself? I’ve done that. Not all the time. Just once in a while and only when I’m alone.”
She stopped in the hallway and turned to face him. “Stop it.”
“Talking to myself?”
“No. Stop following me.”
“But I was enjoying our lover’s tryst.”
“This isn’t a lover’s tryst,” she snapped. Then, remembering servants had a habit of lurking nearby, she lowered her voice. “The most I can ever feel for you is apathy. But with the way you consistently annoy me, that will never happen. Now, I bid you farewell.” She shooed him away. “Go on and bother someone else.”
She whirled around and marched for the stairs. Maybe she’d luck out and find there were locks on the doors to her bedchamber. But if there weren’t locks, she might be able to tuck a chair beneath the doorknob and prevent him from coming into the room that way. She made it halfway up the stairs before she stopped and faced him.
“Since you insist on coming up here with me,” she began, keeping her voice low so as not to attract undue attention, “I can’t do it tonight.”
“Talk?” he asked.
“The other thing.”
He stared at her as if he had no idea what she was talking about.
“It, you dimwit,” she muttered. “The heir.”
“Oh! That.” He paused then asked, “How much do you know about it?”
“Enough. But I can’t because the lady’s time is upon me.”
She waited, holding her breath. Would he believe her? Would he insist they do it anyway?
“My darling lily, that doesn’t matter,” he replied. “What matters is that we’re together. We’ve been bound by law before God and man in holy matrimony.”
She fidgeted, not sure she liked the way this was going. “It’s disgusting.”
“Marriage?”
“No. Well, to you, yes. But as a general principle, no. I mean the lady’s time of month. I won’t give you details, but I assure you, it’s gross. Very messy, in fact. Believe me, you don’t want to be with me under these circumstances.”
He took her by the arm and guided her up the rest of the stairs.
She gulped. He didn’t really intend to… He couldn’t… He wouldn’t!
“You misunderstood me,” he said. “I understand that the nature of your situation will mean delaying the inevitable. I’m not a hard-hearted gentleman. I have a mother and sisters. One sister is still too young for it, but the other started last year. I know how these things are. No wonder you didn’t have an appetite at dinner. I’m surprised you managed much of anything at breakfast. All my sister and mother do is nibble on foods throughout the day. But I am wondering, are you in pain?”
For a moment, she felt bad about lying since he seemed far more sympathetic to the monthly curse than her father or brother ever were. But the feeling only lasted for a moment because her fear of being in bed with him overrode the guilt. “No, I’m not in any pain.” She was fortunate that way. She heard some ladies experienced great discomfort during their monthly flows. “Thankfully, that’s not something I have to put up with.”
“That’s good. My mother and sister do, and they need medicine to stop it.”
They reached the top of the steps. She hoped this would end the evening on a somewhat positive note, and that he would allow her the luxury of spending her first night as a married lady alone. But he led her to her bedchamber.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her steps slowing.
“I’d still like to be with you,” he replied, stopping once they were in her bedchamber. “You’re now my wife, and I want to share a bed with you. We won’t do it. We’ll just enjoy holding each other.”
She frowned. “I don’t know.” Was such a thing possible?
“I’m a patient gentleman. I can wait.”
“Well…” It didn’t seem like she had a choice. Not really. But at least he was only going to sleep with her. He wasn’t going to press her for more than that. That being the case, she figured she’d give her consent. “All right.”
“Good. I’ll change into my nightclothes and be back shortly.” He kissed the top of her nose then left through the door connecting their rooms.
She released her breath. She was spared tonight and at least a couple more days. The days of a lady’s flow were more than one, thank goodness. Relaxing, she pulled the cord to call for her lady’s maid.
Chapter Fourteen
Logan didn’t believe Melissa was having her lady’s time of month. She’d say anything to get out of their wedding night, but this was something she knew he couldn’t verify. Well, he could verify it if he really wanted, but quite frankly, he didn’t dare risk it. There was a very small chance she was telling the truth, after all. But even as he looked at her, he could tell she wasn’t ready. Her face was a little too pale and her eyes were a little too wide. A gentleman with common sense would allow her the night off, and fortunately for her, he happened to have enough sense to do so.
But even then, there was no reason why he couldn’t spend the night in the bed with her. The sooner she got used to the idea of being intimate with him, the better. There was no way he was settling for a marriage of convenience. A marriage like that might suit Lord Roderick who resented being with his wife early on, and word around White’s was that Miss Giles had been so upset with Lord Davenport when they married, he had to settle for a marriage of convenience right away, too.
Now, both gentlemen had heirs, so everything must have worked out. But they had to go through some time where they couldn’t be intimate with their wives, and quite frankly, Logan wasn’t up to such nonsense.
After Logan got ready for bed, he tested the knob on the door connecting their bedchambers. He wouldn’t have put it past her to lock it. However, she hadn’t, and this came as a pleasant surprise.
“What are you doing here?” someone asked.
For a moment, he thought it was the lady’s maid who spoke, but when he saw Melissa alone in the bed with the covers pulled up to her chin, he realized she’d asked the ridiculous question. He stared at her for a moment, wondering if it was even remotely possible she might be teasing, but her eyes were wide and her face pale. Good heavens. Of all things, he didn’t take her for a weak female who was afraid of her own shadow.
“I told you I’d be back,” he said. “Don’t you remember me telling you I’d be in bed with you tonight?”
He didn’t think it was possible, but her face turned even paler. “You took so long, I thought you changed your mind.”
“I’m your husband. Why would I change my mind about something like coming to your bed to hold you?”
“Well, you’re a cad. I wouldn’t put it past you to run off to someone else, especially since it’s my lady’s time of month.”
Noting she emphasized the last part of her reply, he grinned at her in amusement. “If I really wanted to have my way with you, I wouldn’t let a silly thing like the time of month stop me.”
She gulped and clutched the blanket tighter. “You wouldn’t?”
He laughed. “As you so eloquently pointed out, I’m a cad. I doubt cads care about the comfort of others.”
He went over to the bed and was even more amused when she scooted to the edge of it, nearly falling off. “Be careful. You don’t want to end up on the floor.” Then he slid into the bed. He would have scooted over to her if he didn’t think she just might topple on out in order to avoid him. He patted the spot next to him. “I promise I won’t consummate the marriage tonight. I just want to hold you.” When she didn’
t budge, he patted the spot again. “Come on.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine over here.”
He shot her the best pout he could manage. His mother had once commented it was hard to say no to him when he looked at her that way. With any luck, Melissa would be equally weak to this strategy. “I’m hurt. I gave you my word as a gentleman. I’ll be good and hold you. Nothing else will happen.”
Since she didn’t look convinced, he fluffed his pillow then settled into the bed until he was comfortable. “You have a nice bed.” As he suspected, she didn’t respond. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll fall asleep, and when you are assured I’m not awake, you can relax and go to sleep. All right?”
Once again, she remained quiet, still studying him with that adorable skeptical way of hers. With a shrug, he closed his eyes and folded his hands over his chest. The truth of the matter was he was wide awake. Even if nothing was going to happen in this bed tonight, being so close to her with so little clothes on was the most exciting thing that’d ever happened to him up to this point in his life.
He hadn’t thought it’d be the case, but it might take longer to fall asleep than he’d imagined. But he was determined to see this through. She needed to get used to being with him. The sooner she did, the sooner they could actually consummate the marriage. As long as he kept this goal in mind, he would manage through the night just fine.
After what was probably a half hour, he felt the bed shift next to him. Peeking out of the corner of his eye, he saw she was finally lying down, though she was still hovering way too close to the edge. He resisted the urge to chuckle in case she caught onto the fact that he was still awake.
From there, there was no denying things were awkward, even for him. And he didn’t give into the feeling of uncertainty often. Still, even in the middle of it, a spark of arousal was there—at least on his end. He’d have to be dead not to be excited about having a lady in bed with him. Any other male would experience the same thing.
But he was good. He kept his hands to himself all through the night. Granted, no one was going to applaud him for his great show of restraint. Melissa wouldn’t believe it if he told her it took amazing self-control to resist her. She’d either think he was lying or trying to make her feel guilty. So he didn’t say anything.
Ruined by the Earl (Marriage by Deceit Book 3) Page 11