She could still feel the blade’s resistance as she’d pressed hard through cloth and flesh, the shock on Finch’s face, his sharp intake of?—
Arthur brought her hand to his lips. “I’ve things t’ attend to, luv. Get some rest.”
“Arthur…”
“Hush now. We’ll discuss all once you’ve slept.”
“Arthur, stay with me, please?” She couldn’t bear to be alone. Not yet.
He met her eyes with kindness, then slipped under the bedclothes and wrapped her in his warm, strong arms. Only then did she feel safe, burrowing into his comforting heat. And she must have drifted off, because the next thing she knew a hand stroked her awake, softly cupping her cheek. Annabelle pressed her face deeper into that hand to escape the light that pierced her eyelids.
“Mrs. Harris.” Arthur spoke softly. “You are without doubt the bravest, most reckless woman to grace this earth. Why, I ought to turn you over my knee for the insanity of what you and your sister attempted last night on your own.”
She opened her eyes to peer up at him. “Kiss me, Arthur.”
And he did. He met her lips with pulls and nips as his hand crept softly up her leg.
“Should I discipline or reward you, wife?” he murmured at her neck.
“Arthur…”
“Yes, luv?” His tongue traced a path down her collarbone, his hand nearly at its destination.
“Arthur, I do not wish to wait,” she whispered. For she didn’t. She’d nearly lost him, nearlybeen lostherself to Finch. Arthur Harris was all she wanted now and forever.
“Blast it, Bella!” His demeanor instantly changed. “I told you before I’ll not—Christ, woman, why must you be so bloody insistent?”
Annabelle was aroused, embarrassed, and wounded, all at once. No, she was humiliated.
He must think her no better than a tease.
“I am sorry I displease you.” She swallowed her hurt and grief. “You are right, of course. I am intolerable in a great many ways, but as your wife, I do not think I am being unreasonable in this.” She willed her heart not to break. “Perhaps it were best we part beds, now that pretense is no longer needed.”
“Bella…”
“This way you may get on with your business, and I with my life.”
She threw off the bedclothes to vacate his chamber as fast as her legs would carry her. She was like any other woman with loose morals who offered herself atThe Leaf.No, worse. Becausethosewomen Arthur had bedded, and he would not bed her.
From the hall she heard him loudly utter, “Fuck!”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
“Ma’am, y’ mustn’t take it personally. Jasper’s had an awful time of it an’ needs his space is all.” Murdoch’s attempt to soothe only irked Elizabeth more.
“But I am hiswife.” She remained ardent. “Who better to care for him, tend his needs, than myself?”
Murdoch plunked the breakfast tray across Elizabeth’s lap, expelled a loud sigh, and sat on the edge of the bed. “Ma’am, yer husband don’t wish fer yer company right now, an’ you’d be wise t’ heed him. What he don’t need is more upset, so you can rant all you likes t’ me an’ staff, but you’ll obey his wishes in this.”
“I do not appreciate your tone, Murdoch.”
“An’ don’t I know it.” The housekeeper’s lips thinned. “But me duty’s t’ Jasp; I’ll not be swayed. You do yer job as mistress o’ this house, an’ I’ll do mine. An’ when Jasper’s ready—whenhe’sready, mind—he’ll be yer husband again.”
Elizabeth huffed, for what more could she say? Her husband did not wish to see her, though she longed to see him. She must be patient. She must do her duty. She must obey his wishes. Even now, in this, she was forced to follow his bloody rules.
A week had passed since they’d brought Milton home, and by all accounts he was healing well. But she did not know thisfor herself, because he still refused to see her. He let only his most trusted servants into his room, along with his mother and Li, which made Elizabeth privately seethe. Miss Li had begged an audience with Lady Milton, as had Mary Audrey, but she’d refused both in a fit of pique. It hurt too much to know her husband trusted everyone but her, his wife.
She knew she should be patient—he’d suffered horrors she could not begin to comprehend. But she could not quell her overwhelming need to connect to him again. Nor did she understand why he rejected her so completely.
