Page 53 of The Miracle of Love
Deklan was playing the role of doting husband to perfection and giving the older woman a thrill.
Sighing, Grace closed the door behind him.
This was the perfect opportunity to attend to her necessaries. She had just finished by the time Deklan returned, his manner all business and none of the doting husband.
“The inn is full, Grace. I think we had better take all our meals in here. I don’t want you to be seen in the common room.”
“What about you? The other guests have noticed you now.”
“Yes, some have.” He nodded as he closed the door.
“And? Do you think any of them are a threat?”
He seemed not at all concerned as he stretched back on the bed, his head casually propped on his hands. “No threats, just ordinary travelers passing through. Mrs. Harcourt will be along in a few minutes. She’s finishing up in the common room and will bring something for us when she has a moment. Seems you are a particular favorite of hers, not that I am surprised.”
“I am certain you are the one she admires. She adores the sweet way you behave around me. You can be very convincing in your role, as though you are a man in love. Very well done. Truly.”
He shrugged. “While we are on the topic, where did we leave off in our love lessons?”
“We were about to discuss the stupid mistakes you should avoid when choosing your mate.”
He grinned. “Me specifically? Or men in general? But I think my attitude about marriage has you peeved. So I expect I am the idiot you fear will make a stupid mistake. Go ahead, Grace. Tell me why I am wrong.”
“It isn’t a question of right or wrong. Your problem is that you are not using your five senses properly when it comes to women. In other respects, I think your senses are more finely honed than anyone else’s. You use them every moment of every day for your survival and have been quite successful. However, I think this success has given you false confidence. You think you know what you are doing. But when it comes to finding the perfect wife, you deliberately ignore the very senses that have served you so well.”
“I disagree, Grace. I do use them and know what pleases me and what doesn’t. It isn’t something I can turn on and off. So what else is there besides the five senses I am misapplying?”
She gave thought to what he was saying before responding. She really was no expert and could not claim better knowledge simply from reading that book just the once. “The point you miss is that merely finding a woman who pleases all your senses is not the final step on the road to a happy marriage.”
She picked up the book again and opened it to the chapter on expectations. “You ought to read it yourself.”
“I will, but I want to hear your thoughts first.”
“Why? The book addresses these issues so much better than I ever could.” What could he gain from her inexperience?
“But you have definite opinions and I want to hear them.”
“Oh, all right, I’ll try my best.” She took a deep breath and continued. “There are many reasons why two good people who like each other and find each other pleasing to all their senses will still end up unhappy if they marry. Expectation. Bonds of connection. Flaws we can or cannot tolerate in each other. They do not even have to be major flaws such as excessive drinking or gambling. Or womanizing.”
She glanced at him and was surprised to find him regarding her with a contemplative expression on his face.
She had seen him toss rakish smiles and thought him handsome then.
He was also handsome when standing taut and alert in furtherance of his agent of the Crown duties.
But she thought him utterly devastating to her heart as he looked just now, serious in thought and demeanor.
She ignored the butterflies now fluttering in her belly. “Let me start with the chapter on expectations. Success or failure has to do with the expectations a wife and husband have when going into the marriage. Take us, for example. And I only make mention of us for this scientific purpose. Do not make more of it than it is. I am not suggesting we are a couple.”
“All right,” he said, now casting her a lazy smile that shot tingles through her. “Tell me what is wrong with us?”
“You mustn’t approach this as a question of who is to blame. There is no party at fault, just differences we can or cannot accept in each other. You know I want a husband who will love me and make me an important part of his life. You want a wife who will leave you alone to do whatever you have always done. Do you see how this can become a problem?”
He nodded. “Yes, for one of us.”
“For both of us,” she insisted.
“But I think it is a bigger problem for you. Mine is solved if I married someone who will not mind spending large stretches of time apart from me.”
