Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Good heavens, what a dreadful mess I must look. I took the cloth from my brow and used it to dab the area around my mouth, the nausea slightly subsiding.
“It isn’t that,” Lydia said, her voice strained.
“Well, what is it, then? Tell me what you are thinking. I know you well enough by now. There is something you aren’t saying. What is amiss?”
Lydia bit her lower lip. “It is only that… Well, I haven’t taken notice of when you had your courses.”
I frowned. “What has that to do with catching an ague? I don’t recollect the two ever being related. And besides, I had my courses back at Cliffwood.”
“Precisely.” Lydia was still looking at me with that same, wide-eyed expression. “And it has been more than two months since you were last at Cliffwood. You should have had your courses by now.”
“You think that is why I’m ill, because I haven’t had my courses?”
“No, Maddie,” Lydia said gently, hovering over me and patting my arm. “I think you’re with child.”
I was finally dressed.
I had rinsed my mouth, washed my face.
Lydia had helped me into a beautiful new morning gown that I had received the day before from the dressmaker on Bond Street. A white sprigged muslin, it hugged my figure perfectly. My hair was secured in a simple chignon.
But all I could think as I tapped at the door connecting my chamber to Alexander’s was that I was going to have a babe. Alexander’s babe. I was going to be a mother.
My knees went a bit weak as I listened for his voice tinged with surprise.
“Come.”
He had expected to meet me at the breakfast table as we had planned when I’d left him naked and sated in bed. But I wasn’t certain that my stomach could withstand the sights and smells of so many foods just yet.
And besides, I had two bits of very important news to impart.
With a deep breath, I opened the door and entered his room. Alexander was dressed, shaved, and handsome as ever, his hair already brushed and confined at his nape. His dark eyes swept over me as I crossed the carpet to him.
“Is something wrong?” He wanted to know, striding toward me. “You look pale, darling. I thought I heard some odd noises a bit ago coming from your room.”
My cheeks went hot. He had heard me retching. That hadn’t crossed my mind before now, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. And according to Lydia, I would have more mornings like this one to come.
“I was feeling a bit…ill earlier,” I admitted, glancing over his shoulder. “Where is your valet?”
“Off tending to his duties for the day,” Alexander said, frowning mightily as he took my hands in his. “Do you need to sit? I expect I am to blame, running you ragged as I have all over Town.”
“You aren’t to blame,” I hastened to reassure him. “I have loved every moment of you spoiling me here in London.”
And he had spoiled me mightily. We would return to Wheaton with a carriage laden with gowns, art supplies, shoes, jewels, books, and more.
“And I have loved spoiling you, Maddie mine.” He studied me intently. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to sit?”
“No.” I swallowed hard, summoning my courage. “There is something I must tell you, Alexander. Two things I must say, actually.”
“Of course. Tell me what it is that troubles you.”
I inhaled deeply, looking up at the man I had married. The man who had saved me. The man I loved. The father of the babe growing within me.
“I’m not ill,” I told him. “I am in a delicate condition, however.”
Somehow, telling him I was having his child was easier than saying those three words that continued to elude me.
He stilled, his expression shifting from surprise to awe to happiness. “You’re going to have a babe?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
A magnificent grin curved his lips, and he took me into his arms as if I were as fragile as Sèvres porcelain. “Oh, Maddie mine. You’re going to be a mother, and I shall be a father.”
“Does the news…please you?”
“Need you ask?” The corners of his eyes crinkled as he stared down at me as if I had just performed some manner of miracle before him. “I am thrilled, my sweet. Elated. I am the happiest man in all England.”
I smiled, pleased to see him so taken with the notion already. “Good. Then I must tell you the other news as well.”
He raised a brow. “Whatever can it be?”
“That I’m in love with you.”
I held my breath, awaiting his reaction, and stared at the painting on the wall behind him, too afraid to look. A hint of dizziness returned, making me sway. A sudden burst of nervousness assailed me.
Perhaps this was too soon.
Or he didn’t return my feelings.