He paused, obviously expecting comment.
“That’sallyour sins?” she asked.
He laughed again. “No.”
“I didn’t think so. Go on. I’m anxious to know how you can be so sure that Charlie is not your son.” She made certain that no hint of doubt lingered in her words.
He let out a breath. “To edit drastically, then, I left the masquerade with Molly, not attempting to be discreet, but I never did that for whichamoris not the right word.”
It was her turn to chuckle. “I told you I knew them all, butswivedwill do.”
“Rather too matrimonial, but if you wish, I did not swive Molly Carew.”
She moved slightly so she could look at him. “If you are about to confess to being a eunuch, I will be much surprised.”
He rubbed his cheek against hers. “You have only to explore,pandolcetta mia, to correct that impression.”
She stirred, sensing the truth despite layers of skirts. A deep ache trembled, but she said, “So why?”
“Because I realized she was trying to hook me. It was just a sense, an instinct, but as we traveled to my house in my coach, and she pleasured me in ways she knows well, I knew. I remembered that she was a widow who might have different intentions from when she’d been a wife, so though I returned the pleasure,it was not in the way that might create a child. And then I took her to her home.”
“But then….” Genova said. “She made it all up?”
“Not entirely. I assume she was already pregnant, but not by a man who could marry her, or perhaps not a man she wanted to marry. It’s typical of her boldness that she pursued her plan anyway. Perhaps she thought I was too drunk to know.”
“Were you?”
“No.”
His tone was a friendly rebuke and she said, “Sorry,” knowing her smile would sound in her voice.
It was a scandalous tale, but she loved that he was telling it to her, and that he was somewhat uncomfortable about it.
This was the man, not the marquess.
They were friends.
Chapter Thirty-four
“The devil of it was,” he said, “that when I denied it no one believed me. Was I supposed to protest and plead? I certainly couldn’t prove my account. I ignored the woman, assuming she would give up. She never did.”
“Even to abandoning another man’s baby on you. Perhaps she’s the Loki in this tale.”
He brushed his lips against hers. “You are a remarkable woman.”
“Because I’m not shocked by your tale? Some of the younger officers were like brothers to me, and because we’d been on ships together, the barriers were down. They often came to me with tales of woe, and most of them were to do with women.” She shook her head. “It must all have been infuriating.”
“Especially as one cannot prove a negative. I need to, though. I need to force Molly to tell the truth, or…”
“Or?” she asked, freeing a hand to touch his face, to guide it so he looked at her.
“Or force Rothgar to use his influence with the king. His Majesty would probably believe him, especially as our enmity is well known.”
She flexed her hand against his warm skin, feeling the slight roughness of his beard. “That wasn’t the whole truth.”
“You’re a terrifying woman.”
“Tell me.”
