Free The Duke's Bride by Teresa McCarthy Page B

crumbs
on the seat opposite her and frowned. “Perhaps it is what you are eating.”
    Her eyes rounded in disbelief. If he only knew!
    Roderick took her hands in his, almost reluctantly. “I think
you should curtail some of the cakes you have been eating, sweetheart. Perhaps
there has been too much fuss lately. After all, you have had a hard time of it
the last month, after…well…you know…”
     “I want a baby,” Jane said, her blue gaze clinging to
his.
    Roderick dropped her hands as if they were on fire. “We’ve
had his conversation before. I do not wish to have it again.”
    Pain lanced through her, but she was determined to have this
out with him. “You don’t love me, do you?”
    His face hardened. “Why the devil would you ask such a
foolish thing?”
    “Why?” she replied, her voice rising. “Because you don’t
want to touch me anymore. That’s why. Are you afraid you may give me a child
that you don’t want?”
    She thought she caught a flash of vulnerability in his gaze,
but his dark scowl told her otherwise.
    “That’s it exactly,” he replied sternly. “I do not want you
carrying any more babies. Do I make myself perfectly clear? It’s too dangerous.”
    “And that is your answer then?” she asked coolly.
    “I am a duke, if you have forgotten. My edict stands.”
    Ooooh, she wished she had Agatha’s parasol in hand. “Your
edict makes no sense. I want a baby. You don’t even want to try again. Is it too
dangerous for you or me? I won’t die, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
    He set his jaw. “No baby, madam. My answer is final.”
    She stiffened in outrage. “You are insufferable!”
    He pursed his lips, as if waiting for her to calm down. “Besides,”
he finally said, in an almost soothing manner. “The way Marcus and Milli were acting
at their wedding last week, I can only imagine there is going to be a baby soon.
We won’t have to worry about an heir.”
    He smiled at her as if that solved all their problems. The
oaf!
    “An heir?” she shrieked. “What if Milli has a girl, then
what?”
    “She can try for a boy,” he snapped, irritated. “Or Elizabeth
and Stephen can try, or Briana and Clayton.”
    “And not us?” she asked, her heart in her throat.
    His face seemed to soften. “We can work through this Jane.
You will see.”
    Work through this! He had no idea what he was saying!
    “No, I think you will see, Your Grace. If you do not wish to
live as a married couple, I am no longer going to live with you at all.”
    His gray eyes glittered with fury, and she realized the
carriage had stopped. “What the devil are you saying?” he said in an ominously
low tone.
    She lifted her gaze and pulled her shawl about her, ready to
depart. She could not fail to catch the way his gaze strayed over her body. So,
he was not immune to her after all. But if he was trying to be noble, so be it!
“I am saying that I will be leaving Bath first thing tomorrow morning.”
    Roderick’s laugh was without humor. “You believe you could
hide from me?”
    Jane’s brows went up. “Hide? I will not be hiding. I will be
staying with Agatha at Hemmingly Hall.”
    “I forbid it.”
    She waved her hand in the air. “Forbid away, Your Grace. But
you will not imprison me. I will do what I have to do.”
    A dull ache lodged in her heart. No longer could she allow
this animosity to go on between them. Their child deserved better from the both
of them. She had no idea what the future held, but she could not stay near him
and continue this charade.
    He looked toward the Paxton mansion, then back to her, his
eyes as hard as steel. “Argyle best not approach you today or any other day.”
    “What in the world are you talking about? The captain is my
friend.”
    “That man is infatuated with you, and I won’t have it.”
    Jane clenched her teeth, trying to curtail her anger. “You
won’t have it? Any more edicts? You might as well have your say now, for soon,
I will be gone.”
    He