An Heir of Deception by Beverley Kendall

Author:Beverley Kendall [Kendall, Beverley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Season Publishing
Published: 2012-04-22T07:00:00+00:00

“I’m very happy for you.” Charlotte also envied his sense of belonging.

He studied her intently as if trying to read her thoughts or trying to decipher more from her words.

“Do you often wonder about your mother?”

Charlotte blinked. They’d never spoken of this and he was now giving her the perfect opportunity to explain. Would he listen to her now?

“Yes I have.”

He angled himself more toward her. “Would you like to have known her?”

Charlotte’s throat closed up on her response and she felt the tears smart her eyes. “Yes, I would like to have known her.” And that was the truth. She would have done, but had her mother lived, how different her life would have been. She and her sister would never have come to know James, she’d never have met Alex and she wouldn’t have Nicholas.

For a moment it looked as if Alex would continue on in that vein of questioning, but he seemed to think better of it and fell silent, turning to gaze off in the distance at the fire burning in the grate. He looked unaccountably forlorn for a moment, his defenses down.

“Alex.”

He turned to her.

“I did love you,” she said softly, but unwilling to lay her heart completely bare to let him know her feelings had not changed. “Please believe me when I say I never meant to hurt you.”

Some emotion flickered in his eyes. “What happened in the past is done. I accepted long ago it can’t be changed no matter how hard I may wish it could.”

Did that mean he now had it in his heart to forgive her?

“But we can’t resurrect long-dead emotions. Our love affair was in the past and there it shall remain.”

Charlotte bit her lip in an effort to override the pain of his words. While it appeared his bitterness was at an end, what seemed to have replaced it was indifference. He no longer felt enough for her to even elicit his anger. She’d never thought she’d ever prefer the former, but at that moment, she sorely did. Better he rage at her in anger and hurt than resign their faux marriage to the fate of complete indifference.

But he wanted her and that he hadn’t been able to hide. A physical relationship would be better than nothing at all.

“I should like to have another child.” If he would only but give her a chance, she was almost positive she could make him care for her again.

Alex’s whole form stiffened at her words. “Another child? With you? I thought I made my feelings on that clear.”

It wasn’t so much his words but his tone that felt like blows raining down on her. Sharp blows that had the power to bruise a person’s skin and destroy their soul.

“If we are to stay married…”

“Dear God, Charlotte, do not ask that of me. Even if we were to engage in marital relations, I fear another pregnancy would be too stark a reminder of everything I missed before, which would only cause me to resent you more.

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