Page 60 of Sinful Persuasion of a Lady in the Making
Chapter Twenty-One
Alison knocked gently on the study door, her shoulders hunched and an attempt at an appeasing smile on her face. She had noticed his tension when they had come back in from the garden, and she wanted more than anything to see him smile again. He had been working incredibly hard, ever since he had met Lord Denninson, really. And his worry for Jenny sent him reeling more often than he cared to admit.
“Come in,” Luke called.
She peered around the door of the small room and smiled at him. Luke was sitting behind his desk, his brandy untouched in front of him. His hair was tousled—he had obviously been running his fingers through it—and he frowned with distress.
“What happened?” she asked, stepping fully into the room and closing the door. She sat in the chair opposite him. “Are you all right?”
Luke sighed loudly and looked around the room, scoffing with disbelief.
“I’m not really sure what just happened,” he said. He laughed mirthlessly, and his eyes were full of sadness when he looked at her.
“Oh, my darling,” she said, reaching over the desk and taking his hand in hers. “Talk to me.”
“Jenny and Lord Hartwood are to be… married,” he said, shaking his head.
“Oh, lovely,” Alison said, instantly brightening up. “A wedding, how exciting!”
“Really?” he snapped.
“Really,” she said. She chuckled. “Honestly, Luke, you’ve had quite the bellyache for days now. What’s going on?”
“You know what,” he said. Then he sighed, looking away briefly before turning back to her. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t mean to be so ill tempered. I know I have not been the best man to live with of late.”
“I would never say that, My Darling,” she said, getting up from her seat and walking around to his side of the desk. She leaned down, putting her arms around his shoulders, and kissed him gently. “It is quite normal, when you have so much on your mind.”
“You are a good wife,” he said, smiling at her.
“So why are you so unhappy? You have agreed for them to marry, even after such a short amount of time. They must love one another.”
Luke made a non-committal sound, but he leaned in and kissed her again, then brushed the errant hairs from her face.
“Is that not a good thing?” Alison asked, gazing down at him.
Luke sighed, letting his hands drop back to his sides and looking away from his wife. She wandered back to her own side of the desk, running her fingertips over the wood as she went, then settled herself back on the chair, her legs crossed, her elbows leaning on her knees.
“What is it, My Love? You know you can talk to me about anything.”
“He is not a good match for her, Alison,” Luke bemoaned, meeting her eyes again. “She could have done so much better, if only she had put a little effort in, and not fallen for the first man she came across. But it seems they are quite keen on one another and I don’t know what to do about it.”
“There’s nothingto doabout it,” she said with a chuckle. “They’re in love, let them enjoy it.”
“But he is unsuitable!”
“Luke,” she said softly, but a tease in her tone. “If you remember rightly, it was not that long ago when you were the unsuitable match.”
“That was different,” Luke said, looking away. She could see the mixed emotions fighting across his face and she fell in love with him just a little bit more.
My Darling Luke.
“Was it all that different?” she asked, leaning forward in her seat, a grin stretching across her cheeks. “Was it really?”
She urged him to understand, raising her eyebrows and nodding.
“Of course it was!” He turned back to her aghast. “Lord Hartwood is nothing but a—”
“You are beginning to sound very much like my father.”
