“How are you?”His softly spoken question slowed her heart.
He’d ask her this periodically now, looking protective and gentle, but also fierce. “Will you be up to Vauxhall in two nights’ time?”
“Oh, yes!” She was grateful for something else to discuss. “I’m quite looking forward to it.” There would be no parents on hand to embarrass her, or to harass him. The Marquess of Greystone had arranged for an elderly cousin to attend as chaperone. Lady Posy and Lady Cordelia would be there as well.
Since both Bethany and Tabetha had yet to have returned to London, Felicity was grateful to have met Lady Cordelia and was looking forward to acquainting herself with Lord Greystone’s distant cousins.
Because, of course, Axel had not been courting the younger one. She was embarrassed that she’d allowed herself to be bothered by the idea.
“At least tonight is over.” Axel pulled her into a warm embrace, and she rested her cheek against his chest. When had his arms become such a place of refuge?
He dropped a kiss on the top of her head, and even such an innocent gesture sent a flood of heat to her core. When had she become so wanton?
She had even told Axel how much she’d liked it, and why she’d been able to like it, but he didn’t know the worst of it. He didn’t know the thoughts she’d had while lying in bed the night before, or how she’d touched herself while imagining it was—
Whore.The word echoed in her head and she drew back. She’d quite forgotten who she was: a proper lady, a woman of breeding and culture. Banns had been read the day before and they would marry in just under three weeks.
Axel tipped her chin up and studied her, his gaze shifting slightly as he searched hers. And then he stroked a fingertip just below her eyes.
“You aren’t sleeping well.”
“I’m fine.” She could not tell him what it was that had kept her awake the night before. In that moment, the weight of the evening fell like a giant stone on her shoulders. “I just want all of this to be over with.”
“Soon.” He touched his lips to hers. Nothing like what she wanted. Not nearly enough. “I wish I could help you sleep. You had no trouble in the park two days ago.”
“Please, don’t tease.”
“I’m not.” He tightened his arms around her. “I would help you sleep if I could.”
Felicity laughed weakly.
“I am quite looking forward to escorting you and Cordelia shopping tomorrow afternoon,” he reminded her.
“I like your sister.”
“Louisa will come around as well.”
Hearing her parents returning, Axel released her a moment before her father appeared in the doorway, looking grim with more than a single line of worry etching his brow.
Even her mother’s eyes showed unfamiliar concern. She met Felicity’s stare apologetically. “I’m terribly sorry for mentioning it. I thought they knew.”
Felicity, herself, hadn’t bothered to verify what her fiancé had told his parents. Why would her mother not make such an assumption?
“My fault, my lady.” Axel, being Axel, would put her mother at ease. “And please accept my apology for this.”
“You were not the person to blame,” Felicity’s father ground out before glancing in her mother’s direction. “Nor are you, my dear.”
“But it is over.” Felicity didn’t want to talk about this anymore. All she wanted was to put it behind them and curl up beneath her covers. Because those people were going to become her in-laws. Axel had said they would not live on the family estate but when two people married, families joined. She was not going to be able to avoid them forever.
The thought was an exhausting one.
“In that case,” Axel straightened. “I’ll see myself out so that Lady Felicity can have a well-needed rest.” He was always thinking of her. He’d told her he wasn’t good enough for her, but Felicity had long since decided it was the other way around. “Lady Brightley, my thanks for a delightful meal.”
“Mantis?” Felicity’s father broke in.
“Yes, my lord?”
“My door is open if you need it.”
