Page 114 of The Duke and Lady Scandal
“But at least we’d be on the sea with plenty of fresh air.”
“I’m game if you are, wife.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then let out a concerned hum.“You are quite warm, love. If you’re feeling unwell, we can ask the driver to stop for a bit.”
She’d noticed that she ran hotter of late, especially when queasiness overcame her.
“I’m all right. We should arrive soon and then we can walk or rest or do whatever we please.”
He used his free arm to reach for a flask of brewed tea that had long gone cold but that had proved oddly soothing to her stomach. She took a few sips and then drew in a few deep breaths. Which caused the oddest stitch in her middle.
Ben noticed her distress—he noticed everything where her needs and well-being were concerned.
“Tell me what’s wrong.”
Allie looked into his green eyes, so full of tenderness, love, and concern, and though it was not the moment she’d hoped for, she could not hold back anymore. She wanted to share everything with him. Always.
“I’m not ill, Ben.”
He frowned and then let out a relieved sigh. “Well, thank God for that, love, but you seem ill at ease. Is it just the confines of the carriage?” He lifted her hand that still lay against his lapel and kissed her fingers. “Is it just being trapped in here with me for hours on end?”
Allie laughed and swept her fingers along his stubbled jaw. “Don’t be silly. I love being with you anywhere we are, and you’re so busy of late that it feels quite decadent to get you all to myself.”
His private detection services were in high demand, and he relished the autonomy to handlecases on his own without the machinations of someone like Haverstock above him.
“Then what is it, Alexandra?” His voice held a note of concern that she immediately wanted to soothe.
Nibbling her lower lip, she clasped his hand and lowered it to her belly.
“I suppose it’s not entirely accurate to say I have you all to myself,” she told him, capturing his gaze to see if he’d read her meaning. “If one wishes to be thoroughly accurate.”
He dropped his gaze to her stomach, then arched one brow, followed quickly by the other.
“Are you saying...?” He swallowed hard and his brow furrowed even as his mouth began to curve in a smile. “A child?”
“Yes.” Allie couldn’t help beaming. She’d waited weeks to speak to Helen about her suspicions, and they’d only been confirmed two days before beginning their trip.
She’d planned to tell him over their first dinner on the west coast of Ireland, but now she wondered why she’d waited at all. The joy should be shared.
But the longer she smiled, she couldn’t help but notice that Ben’s had already begun to falter. A flutter of fear skittered through her.
“You are happy to hear the news, aren’t you?”
He reached for her then, and Allie went into his arms. He buried his face against her neck and left a trail of kisses along her neck, behind her ear, against her hair.
“I am happy, love.”
But Allie could hear the hitch in his voice. She arched back to meet his gaze.
“Then why do you sound so worried, Ben?”
Rather than answer, he cast his gaze out the window a moment, his brow still furrowed.
In the six months since their marriage, Allie had come to realize that he was a pensive man at times. His brand of cleverness required time to mull, assemble clues and sometimes his thoughts, before he was ready to explain an idea or a conclusion he’d come to.
Allie strove for patience in those moments, and even now when she so desperately wished to know what he felt about the news that their family of two would soon grow.
“I never knew my father,” he finally said, turning a pained look her way. “And the men who took up with my mother never came close to earning the title.”
Everything in her yearned to rush in with reassurances, but she could see that there was more he wished to say. She squeezed his hand but said nothing as she waited.
