The Lady Is Mine by Judith Laik

Author:Judith Laik
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, regency, regency era, regency historical romantic
Publisher: Judith Laik

Chapter Eleven

At the knock upon his study door, Beldon frowned. Immediately the door opened and Marianne poked in her head. “May I come in?”

Since she quickly followed by stepping into the office, the question seemed to be rhetorical. He scowled more deeply. “The door wasn’t locked.”

“Oh, was it supposed to have been?” She raised an eyebrow.

Beldon leaned back in his chair and glared at her. “What do you want, Marianne?”

“When do you plan to come out of here?” Her tone was even, but the hand that smoothed the already smooth dark brown knot at the back of her head showed her irritation.

“I have a lot of work to do.”

“Look out the window, Beldon.”

He didn’t need to. “It’s raining. Has been for two days. That’s why this is a good time to catch up on paperwork.”

“You also have a house full, including the woman you intend to marry. Your guests are moping around with this rain. Even a stroll in the garden is impossible. You should be devising activities for their entertainment.”

“I’m no good at that type of thing. You’ve always been far better with games and whatnot than I.” He stared at the paperwork untidily piled on his desk, hoping she would take the hint and leave.

“We’ve performed musical numbers, or played charades and cards, to exhaustion the last two days. We need something new.” She sounded suddenly weary, and a wave of guilt stabbed him.

She sat in the high-backed chair on the other side of his desk with a swirl of her skirts. A furrow on her brow, she leaned toward him and asked, “What are you about, Beldon? You’ll drive your bride away with much more of this neglect. Grandmama has constantly nit-picked at Miss Vernon; Mama and Aunt Matilda are at each other’s throats; Lucy is going into a new decline every half hour because her life is being ruined by your cruelty. And you are not there to deflect any of it.”

He turned in his chair to look at the unremitting, gloomy view outside his window. He could not be within view of Harriet without his desire for her overwhelming him. Since he could not satisfy his lust, he had to stay away. And so he had hid out in his study, pretending to work, all the while castigating himself for his cowardice.

This was exactly what he had hoped for when he devised this house party. A few more days of this and his unsuitable fiancée would run from him and his family. Except he was no longer certain that outcome was what he wanted. His body still hardened in response every time he thought of Harriet half-undressed and more than half-willing in the cottage.

However, Beldon now suspected marriage to him was not what Harriet wanted. He growled under his breath when he thought of her transparent efforts to interest him in her sister Astraea. He didn’t want any damned baby for a wife, and if Harriet thought he could not find a bride without help once she took herself off on her travels, she was mistaken.

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