Page 145 of The Lyon Whisperer
When dawn broke,Chase awoke with his warm, soft wife still in his arms. From nowhere, a puzzle piece he hadn’t known was missing clicked into place.
Of course.Of course.
How had he missed the signs?
No matter. He could use this,woulduse this to solve all their problems. It was so simple, he nearly laughed aloud. But he resisted the urge. He could not share his revelation with Amelia, not without explaining a great deal more that she never needed to know.
He extricated himself from her and rose, somehow managing not to wake her. He padded to his chamber and closed the door.
He had preparations to make before riding into London later today.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Amelia descended thestairs, summoning courage for what lay ahead. She would put the question to her husband directly and clear up the matter of their hasty marriage once and for all.
She had gone to bed heartsick, convinced Lady Tully had somehow unearthed details of her marriage which she herself had not.
Then she woke from that horrid dream and found her husband watching over her like an archangel from above.
He cared for her. He had to.
The idea he had married her merely to satisfy someone else’s gambling debt seemed more and more far-fetched.
She entered the breakfast hall in time to see her husband rising from the table, his plate and coffee cup cleared. He sent her a dazzling smile and pulled out her chair. “Good morning, Amelia. You appear much restored after a night’s rest.”
She approached him but did not sit. “You ate early.”
He arched a brow. “Is that a problem?”
“No, but…” The change in his routine wreaked havoc on her plan to ease into the conversation. “I wished to breakfast together.”
“I apologize, my dear. I rose early, plagued with the realization I neglected a rather urgent matter in town. I did not wake you in the hopes you would sleep in.”
“I see.”
He ran his fingertips over her jawline and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial tone. “I do not mind telling you your extreme fatigue last night gave me a scare. I hazard to wonder what might cause such malaise.” His dark eyes locked with hers. A clear question lurked in their depths.
Frustration mounted within her. She could tell him right now what bothered her last night, but to do so with him all but chafing at the bit to depart did not sit right. No, she refused to settle for a buckshot approach to her questions.
Shewouldhave a civilized, adult conversation with her husband about the things Millicent had told her, and if that meant she must wait ’til her husband returned from London later today, so be it.
She lifted her chin and lowered herself into the seat. “I have no notion what you mean, sir. Now, off with you if you must venture off to London. I have many things to see to today and would like to have my breakfast before it grows ice-cold.”
He snorted softly. “By all means.” He bent and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
The show of affection shocked and delighted her. Before she could find her tongue, he was gone.
Later that day,Amelia and Sally strolled along a shady clearing through the nearby forest marking Warren House’s perimeter.
Amelia called over her shoulder to the lone, recalcitrant puppy. “Roddy, come along. Your master is not at home. You shall have to make do with us.”
With a last baleful look at the manse behind them, Roddy gave up his vigil and trotted to catch up with his siblings.
Amelia could not wrap her mind around the idea that two of her precious dogs would soon be gone. She knew, of course, which two Lady Frommer would take—Rose and Fergus. In other words, not Roddy.
The one-eyed pup was far too attached to Chase, and vice-versa—not that her husband would likely admit as much. Still. No one could miss how the hound followed him with his eye. How he glued himself to Chase whenever the chance arose.
As for her husband, he not only laughed at the pup’s antics, he seemed disinclined to notice when Roddy found his way into Chase’s den—if, indeed, he had not been led into the chamber as Amelia suspected happened on more than one occasion.
