His Jilted Bride (Historical Regency Romance) (13 page)

“
I don't know why you deny it so,” Henry said, seeming to be
reluctant to quit their former conversation.

Elijah's fingers tightened on the
paper he held, crumpling the edges. Henry knew. Whether it was his
glib tongue or perhaps something far more subtle, Elijah had
somehow revealed himself to his brother and for a reason he
couldn't explain, being vulnerable right now was the last thing he
wanted. “Stop,” he warned in a low tone. “I have no further wish to
talk about the icicle I married.”

“
Mayhap you just need to seduce her.”

Elijah ground his teeth. “Don't you
think I've tried that already?”

“
No. I envisioned you just telling her to take her clothes off
and get under the covers.”

“
Do you have feathers filling your skull? I told you earlier
that she turns cold at my kisses and pulls away from my
touches.”

“
Then you're doing something wrong,” Henry said simply,
knocking the sides of his leather boots together. “I might regret
asking this, but—”

“
Then don't ask,” Elijah barked, slamming his hand, and
consequently the parchment, on the table.

“—
how exactly are you touching her?”

“
With my hands. The same part of your body that will soon be
holding a pistol at the opposite end of a field from me if this
conversation continues.”

Henry threw his hands up into the air.
“Someone has to give you advice. You seem to be unable to get the
task done.”

“
And what makes you an expert about such matters? Unless I
missed something, I didn't see you sneaking off to any brothels,
either.”

Henry neither confirmed
nor denied his charge as he brought all four legs of his chair back
to the wooden floor with a sharp snap. “Forgive me. I was just
trying to help you lose your virginity before you reach an age
where your concern won't be if your partner is willing, but
if
you're
able.”

Chapter Twelve

“
Oh, there you are,” Edwina said to Amelia as she sauntered
down the hall to where Amelia was standing outside the library
where Elijah and Henry were inside discussing her with no cares or
morals. “You're welcome to go in there if you'd like.”

Amelia cleared her throat. “I already
did,” she lied. She gave an exaggerated sigh. “As it would happen
Alex and Caroline don't keep many books that would hold my
interest.”

“
No?” Edwina asked with a grin. “Do you not find grasshoppers
and honeysuckles as fascinating as those two do?”

Amelia's lips bent into a watery
smile. “No. I'm afraid I don't.”

“
Surely we can find
something
that does.” She looped her arm through Amelia's.
“Come, I'll show you where I hide the novels.”

Amelia dug her heels into
the carpet. The last place she wanted to go was into the library
where Elijah and Henry were discussing her. Or more specifically,
bedding her. Embarrassment flooded her as the snippets of phrases
she'd overheard sounded in her head,
“...I've married an Ice Queen and short of hell itself,
nothing seems to warm her up...My wife has more interest in winning
boons and eating cake than wanting to be intimate with me...I have
no wish to further talk about the icicle I married...”

Tears sprang to her eyes. How dare he
have the audacity to speak of her in such a way? Even if he had no
love for her, she was still his wife. Did that not command even a
kernel of respect? Just enough not to go around and talk to his
brother about the intimate side of their marriage? Shame and rage
boiled inside of her. What must his family think of her that Elijah
thought so little of her to say those damning remarks about
her?

She blinked back the hot tears and
noticed Edwina's head was cocked to the side in interest; her dark
brown eyes, studying Amelia's face. Edwina broke eye contact for
just a moment, long enough to peek through the cracked door and
into the library. When she met Amelia's eyes again, they were full
of compassion.

Edwina gave her arm a gentle squeeze.
“Come with me,” she whispered.

Amelia allowed Edwina to lead her to a
private sitting room farther down the hall.

Once inside, Edwina was the first to
take a seat and then patted the cushion next to her.

Numbly, Amelia sat down.

“
Is my brother being beastly again?” Edwina asked without
ceremony.

Amelia sputtered with laughter. She
had no idea why—perhaps it was her tone, or the blunt question that
brought back memories of when Regina would catch Elijah and Henry
being 'beastly' as she put it and invited her in for tea to talk
about it, or mayhap it was just that her emotions were beyond her
control—but for whatever reason, she couldn't help but laugh. “Yes.
Yes, he is.”

Edwina wrapped her arm around Amelia.
“Would you care to talk about it?”

How could she? There wasn't anything
she could tell her without having to explain far more than she ever
wanted to tell another living soul. “I can't.”

“
And if I told you a secret about me?”

“
Even then,” Amelia whispered, leaning her head against
Edwina's shoulder. She knew Edwina could be trusted. She also knew
Edwina wouldn't be the kind to scorn or shame her. But for some
reason it didn't feel right burdening Edwina with a problem so
large neither could attempt to fix it.

“
I've never seen you so upset,” Edwina commented a minute
later, genuine concern lacing her voice. “How about if I speak to
him about whatever it was he was talking to Henry about in the
library—remind him of his manners.”

Amelia shot up. “No, you mustn't.” She
cleared her throat. “That's to say, I really don't want to get you
involved.”

“
So then you're going to speak to him yourself?”

Oh, she had plans to speak to him all
right. But not about what Edwina might think. “I intend to handle
the situation, yes.”

“
Not by ignoring it, I hope.”

“
No.” She'd ignored certain things for too long as it was. She
had no intention of ignoring what she'd heard him say about her in
the library. “Please, don't fret, Edwina. I'm not the docile
creature everyone thinks me to be.”

“
I never said you were,” Edwina countered,
frowning.

“
I wasn't talking about you. I was saying that more for my own
sake.” She sighed. “See, as you might have already guessed, Elijah
and I...well, see, er...” How did she explain the circumstances of
her marriage to her sister-in-law who seemed to be convinced they'd
run off to Gretna Green to marry?

“
Are just friends?” Edwina suggested softly.

“
That, too,” Amelia agreed automatically. There was no use in
denying it.

“
Have an in-name-only marriage,” Edwina guessed
again.

Amelia's face flooded with heat.
“That, too,” she said again. “But it's more than that.
See...uh...it wasn't because of any great love either of us had for
the other that we married.” That was true enough. “It was more that
he was doing me a favor.”

Edwina showed no sign of shock or
pity. “I see.”

“
And it's because of that favor that I've become so...so—” she
waved her hand through the air— “well, a spineless, ninny.” She
dropped her hand into her lap and took a deep breath. “But not
anymore. He may have done me a favor by sparing me the humiliation
of being jilted and becoming a pariah, but that's no excuse for
what he's done.”

“
And you plan to tell him this?”

“
No,” Amelia said, shaking her head. For the first time she
could remember in the immediate past, a genuine smile took her
lips. “I have other plans for him.”

Chapter Thirteen

It took every ounce of strength Elijah
possessed not to beat his head against the table. He'd been staring
at the same blasted five lines for more than four hours and hadn't
come close to understanding its meaning.

“
Perhaps we're thinking about it too hard,” Elijah said,
spearing his fingers through his unkempt hair.

Henry unfastened the cuff of his
sleeve and rolled it up toward his elbow. “Or perhaps you've been
thinking about the wrong thing.”

Elijah sneered at his brother then
turned his attention to where he'd discarded his coat and cravat
more than two hours ago. “I have no desire to discuss my
relationship with Amelia again.”

“
Interesting, that wasn't what I was suggesting,” Henry mused.
“I was merely suggesting that you're only looking at the words that
rhyme, not the whole of the riddle. But since you brought up
Amelia—”

“
No,” Elijah barked, straightening in his chair. “I'm done
speaking to you about her.”

“
That's all right. I hadn't planned to ask you anything more
about her.”

“
Then why did you say anything about her?” Elijah asked,
exasperated.

“
I didn't. You did.”

Elijah put his head in his hands and
groaned. Marriage to Amelia was going to be the death of him.
“Well, forget I said anything,” he muttered.

“
I can't now. You've already brought her name into this
conversation.”

“
And I beg your apologies for doing so. Now what was it you
were saying?”

Henry put his hand over the letters
that had been scratched on the parchment. “Go.”

“
Go where?”

“
Go to her, Elijah. It's becoming quite clear that you're
unable to think about this until you...you...” He cleared his
throat. “Just go.”

“
And do you think you can solve this while I'm away?” he
scoffed. Henry might be better at making his expression unreadable
and separating his feelings from his tasks, but Elijah had always
been the one to find the clues and solve them. Except this time,
dash it all.

“
No.” Henry snorted. “I couldn't even solve the last
one.”

Elijah nodded slowly, the
words of the last missive sounding in his head:
under and over the cliffs and clover.
It took him all of five minutes to realize that a person of
interest would be found at Lord Nigel's scandalous costume party in
Dover where the party's guests could choose to engage in activities
on the ground floor or in the basement. That was simple to puzzle
out. This nonsense about praying and a lady fair? Not easy at
all.

“
Elijah, go,” Henry urged him again.

“
And say what to her?”

Henry's eyes narrowed on Elijah's. “I
never said you had to actually tell her anything. Just go...you
know.”

A sharp bark of laugher passed
Elijah's lips. “If it were that easy, don't you think I'd have done
it already?”

“
As I said before, the problem must lie with you.”

Elijah abruptly slid his chair from
the table with an ear-piercing screech as the four legs scraped
against the stone floor. “I cannot wait until the day you have a
wife. I've no doubt your interactions with her will be quite
fascinating to watch.” He shoved to his feet and scooped up his
discarded coat and cravat. “Perhaps I'll finally become as
interested in science as Alex seems to be and spend my days
observing how the two of you get along.”

Henry grinned. “Perhaps you ought to
do just that. You might learn something.”

“
And what would that entail? How to be allusive and
indifferent toward one's wife?”

“
You seem to have that particular lesson down perfectly,”
Amelia said, gliding into the room through the open
door.

Elijah's gaze snapped in
her direction. There was no way to mask the surprise on his face
this time. Despite the blood that was draining from his face faster
than Henry's prized horse Knight could run, he straightened and
inclined his chin.
Just what exactly had
she heard?
“Surely you don't find me to be
a snob, do you?” Elijah said with far more grace than he
felt.

Amelia snorted and ran her gloved hand
over the top of the mahogany bookcase closest to her. She looked
rather fetching in one of Caroline's green morning dresses.
“Actually, I do.” She adjusted her glove and dropped her hand at
her side. “But my opinion is of no account, really.”

Yes, it is. More than you
might think.
“And why would you say that?”
he forced himself to ask.

She shrugged. “Caroline has
asked—”