Free An Undomesticated Wife by Jo Ann Ferguson

as pretty as a spring morning.”
    â€œThank you,” he said as he stood. When Regina stared up at him, wondering what was amiss, he put his hands on the back of her chair. “Madam?”
    Even though a dozen questions filled her head, she rose compliantly. Her first pulse of dismay at having made a grievous mistake passed when she saw that the other women were getting up from the table as well. She watched them parade from the room like dandelion fluff floating on the breeze.
    â€œMadam?” Lord Daniston asked again.
    â€œDo you wish me to leave?”
    The duke said softly, “Son, I think you should escort Regina to where the other ladies are.”
    Regina bit back her curiosity as Lord Daniston offered his arm again. Letting him lead her into the hall, she could not ignore the sensation of every man watching her. She had wanted for sense to delay when the other ladies had departed, but she understood none of this.
    â€œThe ladies will be in Grandmother’s sitting room,” Lord Daniston said when they stood in the hall. It was deserted, but the sounds of conversation came from the dining room and the sitting room farther back on the same floor.
    â€œI do not understand why I should withdraw at this time.”
    â€œBecause that is what the ladies do.”
    â€œBecause they have no interest in the conversation the gentlemen are sharing.” She snapped her fan against her palm. “But I am interested in the conversation. Mr. Clay was making some very intriguing points on the present situation in the Mediterranean. I would enjoy speaking with him further.”
    â€œMadam, you are excused.”
    When she grasped his sleeve, Marcus had to bite back his curse. Had any man ever been shackled with a more bothersome woman? Carefully he lifted her fingers off his arm and turned to go back into the dining salon.
    â€œI shall not be ignored as if I had no more value than the table,” she said with a serenity that somehow added to his exasperation.
    If Jocelyn had been the one denied what she wished, she would be screeching by this point and throwing things—preferably breakable things—at whatever offended her the most. Not more than a fortnight ago, it had been at him. A slow smile creased his taut lips as he recalled how they had spent the hours after she had calmed herself.
    His gaze swept along Lady Daniston as he pondered what fires were lying dormant in his wife. Some of them he had discovered already, but he had had just a sample. A sample that made him yearn for more.
    â€œIt is being noted,” Marcus said, reminding himself that he must concentrate on the problem at hand, “that you are paying more attention to a guest than to your new husband.”
    â€œI thought that making guests feel comfortable was a hostess’s duty.”
    â€œNot when it appears you are doing so in order to ignore your husband.”
    â€œMy lord,” she said, “that was not my intention. I had hoped I would make your family proud by being a good hostess. Although I could do nothing to help in the arranging of this gathering, I could offer Mr. Clay some conversation.”
    Marcus locked his hands behind his back. Blast his fingers which urged him to touch her rosy cheek so he might discover if it was as deliciously soft as it appeared! She was his wife, after all. If he wished to caress her, there was no one who should deny him that pleasure. Again, as he had before, he reminded himself that it was better that she was not bracket-faced. When the time came for consummating this marriage, being attracted to his wife would make the predicament more bearable.
    â€œIf you would heed my lead, I will help you to understand how you should act tonight,” he said quietly.
    â€œYou will tell me how to act?” Her eyes flashed a warning.
    â€œYour education on a woman’s rôle has clearly been inadequate.”
    â€œOn a wife’s rôle, you