Page 64 of Who Wants to Marry a Duke
“Oh, better, most definitely.”
She toyed with the hair on his chest, and he felt a stirring in his cock. He willed it to go away, even though that had never worked before, especially around her. But he had to try.
“What were you expecting?” he asked, hoping for something to get his mind off the fact that he wanted her again.
“You know—what they always tell young ladies.” She fixed her gaze somewhere beyond him. “That once you’re married, you’ll have painful relations with your husband, but it’s all right because he’ll gift you with jewels and furs and such.”
Good God.Thatcertainly dampened his arousal. “In other words, they tell young ladies they’ll be whores after they marry.”
Her gaze shot to him. “That’s whatIalways said! Why do you think I wasn’t keen to marry? I mean, how is a society marriage any different than being a man’s mistress?”
“For one thing, your children won’t be born bastards.” He smoothed out a lock of her disordered and highly erotic hair. “If ‘painful relations’ was what you expected, why did you let me . . . I mean . . .”
“Because I wasn’t surewhatto believe. And when I’m not sure, I always want to experience things for myself.”
“Like an experiment.”
“Exactly!” She beamed at him.
Sothatwas what it was like to have her beaming at him. No wonder Juncker had been so pleased with himself. Just seeing her like that made Thorn’s chest swell.
He chuckled. “I much prefer that sort of experiment to the kind you’ve been doing.”
“It’s certainly more . . . enjoyable in some respects.” Her expression turned pensive. “And speaking of those experiments, do you think Grey will beterriblyupset to learn the truth about his father’s death?”
“I doubt it. He has suspected it for some time. Besides, he never knew his father, and given what he’d heard from others about the man, the late duke wasn’t a very nice person.”
“That’s rather sad. Forgive me for asking, but if he never knew his father, why does he care if the man was murdered?”
Thorn debated how much to tell her about Grey’s father, but at this point she might as well know the whole of it. At the very least, she’d be testifying at the trial of the murderer, assuming they could learn who the man was. Besides, she might have some insight into the other deaths, too. She was, after all, a clever woman.
“Grey is afraid that the person who poisoned his father may also have murdered my and Gwyn’s father and our stepfather, not to mention Sheridan’s late uncle.”
Her eyes widened. “But . . . but I thought your father died in a carriage accident.”
“He did. I spoke to the local constable this morning, however, and he said it was conceivable that the accident came about because someone damaged the carriage beforehand. Perhaps even loosened the screws on the coachman’s perch, since it was found at a distance from the carriage.”
“Dear heaven. How awful!”
“This is all conjecture, you realize. So we may have trouble proving it. But I’m willing to look into it to see what I can learn.”
“What about the other deaths? Didthosepeople die of poison, too?”
“Afraid not. That would make everything simple. The death of Grey’s father was actually the easiest to prove, which was why we were investigating it first. The manner of death for the others is different. But their deaths did seem suspicious—all were accidents and the like. That’s why this is important to us. Because none of us can feel safe without being sure of the reasons for the deaths of our fathers . . . and for two of Beatrice’s and Joshua’s uncles, one of them being our stepfather.”
She hugged him closer as if to protect him. “That does seem to be a lot of deaths.”
“Especially when all four were dukes. And two of them died relatively young.”
“How shocking! And your poor mother, to be widowed three times. How does she bear it?”
“For one thing, we haven’t involved her in this investigation, as I mentioned before. We don’t want to say anything to her until we’re certain they were murdered.”
“That’s wise. No point in alarming her unless you’re sure.”
“Precisely.”
“But what I meant was how does she bear the loss of three husbands? That has to have been difficult.”
