Page 136 of Every Rake Has A Silver Lining

Because a child would be part of Simon—and her. Their child. Goodness, what would that combination be? A smile tugged at her lips.

And like the sun breaking through thunderclouds, scattering a threatening storm, and saying,Not today, the answer came to her.

She would march back inside and tell Simon that she loved him. Let him rail and complain all he wished about not wanting a woman to love him. He would have to accept it and live with it. And Roland could go back home—or better yet, to the devil.

Neither her brother nor her husband would bully her out of the one good thing in her life. And if Simon couldn’t love her back, so be it. She wasn’t a greedy woman. He would love their child, and that would be enough for her.

Shoulders squared, head held high, she prepared for battle. But before she could turn to go back inside the assembly hall, footsteps sounded behind her, and a hand clamped over her mouth. The cold tip of a blade pricked against her neck, and hot breath brushed against her cheek.

“Scream and I’ll cut your pretty throat. It’s not you I want. It’s your husband.”

Simon’s stomachroiled as the heat from the assembly room pressed in on him.Damn!Surely, it was too soon for another malaria attack? He bit back a laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Leave it to him to refuse to do anything by halves. Much like his wife.

The bleak truth surrounded him, phantom hands clutching and dragging him under. Was he to lose everything in one cruel twist?

Perhaps this whole mess had a bright side. He couldn’t ache for Charlotte if he was dead. The harsh laugh burst from his lips.

“What amuses you, son?” Rather than curiosity from herquestion, concern shone on his mother’s face. “And where is Charlotte? Didn’t she find you?”

“She did.”

“Well?” The impatience in his mother’s voice reminded him of when he was a boy and she stood, hands on hips, waiting for an explanation for his latest mischief. “Did you tell her?”

Ah.“Not yet. If you haven’t noticed, we’ve received a visitor who’s put a pall over things.” He jerked his chin in the direction of the pompous arse Edgerton.

The man stood off by himself, a handkerchief pressed to his nose and his dark eyes drilling holes into Simon.

“I presumed Charlotte invited him. She had your father post a letter for her the other day.”

She did?

“Why didn’t she ask me?” And why did it bother him that Charlotte wouldn’t come to him for such a minor task? Oh, right. Trust. “You didn’t see the recipient’s name?” From Charlotte’s reaction to Edgerton’s arrival, the letter did not contain an invitation to her brother, but Simon was in no rush to tell his mother that his marriage was about to fall apart.

“No. Shall we ask your father?”

Simon shook his head. “I’ll ask Charlotte later.”

Regardless of who Charlotte wrote to or the reason, why was he allowing Edgerton to slither his way between him and Charlotte? Wasn’t their marriage worth fighting for? Oh, he would still give her a choice, but she needed all the facts before deciding.

Hadn’t he badgered Drake to do the same thing the year before? And the longer Drake waited, the more obstacles rose in their path.

Time to take his own advice. He needed to tell his wife he loved her.

Even if Charlotte rejected his love and chose to live without him, at least he would have tried.

What was taking Charlotte so long?

Unable to wait any longer, Simon made his excuses to his mother and threaded his way through the crowded assembly room. People stopped him, offering their felicitations on his marriage and expressing their admiration of Charlotte. As Simon nodded his thanks, the hair on the back of his neck rose to attention, remembering not everyone wished him and Charlotte well.Where is Albie Mooney?And for that matter, where were Samuel and Hester?

Icy panic trickled up Simon’s spine.

Standing near the door, Edgerton eyed him suspiciously. “Where are you off to?”

Ignoring him, Simon had almost made a clean escape when Hester rushed toward him from the entrance. “Simon. Come quickly.”

As if she had burned him, Simon jerked away from where her hand clutched his arm. “No. I’m going to find my wife and tell her what I should have told her weeks ago.”

---