He stood before her, his hands in his pockets. His expression didn’t change. That was the worst. He could at least have shown some small pleasure about the child. If not that, then displeasure. She would have welcomed displeasure at the moment. She would have welcomed the fury he had shown the night she had given him her terms.
“How delightful for you,” he said in the blandest tone. “So your sojourns to my room are at an end.”
“Yes. Unless—”
“Unless?” he cut in deliberately. “Far be it from me to break your rules, sweetheart.”
She bit her lip to keep from damning those rules in his presence. She didn’t know what she had started to say anyway, before he interrupted. But he obviously hadn’t wanted to hear it. And she had been hoping, praying, thathewould insist she forget their bargain, that he would demand she move back to his room permanently. He wasn’t going to. Didn’t he care anymore?
She looked away toward the window, her voice toneless when it should have been filled with excitement, considering the subject. “I will need a room for the nursery.”
“James is leaving in a few days. You can make over his room.”
She had given him the opening. He could have suggestedthisroom. It was certainly more convenient, directly across from his.
She continued to stare out the window. “This is your child too, Anthony. Have you any preferences for color—or anything?”
“Whatever pleases you, my dear. By the by, I won’t be home for dinner tonight. We’re celebrating old George’s last night of sanity at the club.”
His abrupt change of subject hurt. He obviously had no interest in the baby, nor in her, since he had turned to leave without another word.
Outside the room, Anthony’s fist slammed into the wall. Inside, tears were streaming down Roslynn’s cheeks. She started from the noise but didn’t give it a thought.
She had never felt so miserable in her life, and it was all her own fault. She couldn’t even remember the reason for the stupid bargain. Oh, yes. She had been afraid she’d fall in love with Anthony with constant intimacy. Well, it was too bloody late for that, wasn’t it? Nettie had been right.
“Was it the news you were expecting?”
Anthony turned to find James standing outside his room. “It was.”
“Strategy’s not working, then, I take it?”
“Blister it, James. Two days from now isn’t soon enough!”
Chapter Forty-two
“Why don’t you just tell him, Ros?”
“I can’t,” Roslynn replied, taking a sip of her second glass of champagne.
They stood away from the others at the party, which was just a small gathering of Frances’ friends at her mother’s house. The gentlemen weren’t the only ones who could celebrate the night before the wedding. But Roslynn didn’t feel like celebrating, though she had come to accept that Frances was ecstatic about this marriage, and she was happy for her friend. She just couldn’t seem to show it.
Unfortunately, Frances had picked up on her depression and had taken her aside, afraid that Roslynn was still against the marriage. The only way she could convince her friend that she wasn’t was to tell her the truth.
“If it were that simple—” Roslynn began, only to have Frances cut in.
“But it is that simple. All you do is say, I love you. Three little words, m’dear, and your problems will be over.”
Roslynn shook her head. “The difference, Fran, is that those words are easy for you because you know George returns your love. But Anthony doesn’t love me.”
“Have you given him anythingtolove?”
Roslynn grimaced. “No. You might say I’ve been a royal bitch ever since we married.”
“Well, you did have your reasons, didn’t you? Itwas really too bad of Sir Anthony, but you did say you’re reasonably certain he strayed only that one time. It’s up to you, m’dear. You can let him know you’ve forgiven him his one indiscretion and you want to start over, or you can go on as you are.”
Some choice, Roslynn thought, resentment still simmering just below the surface. Why did she have to make all the concessions? Anthony hadn’t even apologized, and he wasn’t likely to.
“A man like Sir Anthony won’t wait forever, you know,” Frances continued. “You’re going to send him right into the arms of another woman.”
