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)
I huffed a laugh. “I offered him a solution—an honest one—to purchase Milton Manor. He refused it. He wants blood.” I drummed my fingers on the desktop. “I must carry through with this.”
“No!” A gasp came from behind Edward. Maddie stood in the doorway, grasping the frame, her eyes wide, her face pale. “If he is determined to kill you, you cannot!”
I rose from the chair, making haste toward her. “Hush, Maddie mine. All will be well.” I drew her trembling form into my arms, cursing myself for not making sure the door had shut behind us.
She gripped my waistcoat, staring up at me. “You cannot,” she repeated. “Please, Alexander. Our child.” A sob caught in her throat. “Do not leave me alone again!”
I hastened to reassure her. “I will not.”
I carried her to the large wing chair I liked to sit in, settling her on my lap. “Edward and I will make sure all is well.”
“Of course we will, my lady,” he assured her, his voice firm, although his eyes were filled with doubt.
“I must do this, Maddie—for my honor.”
“I don’t care a whit about that. I know how honorable you are.”
“Your father will label me a coward, and we will be ostracized. You will suffer. Our child will suffer because of my cowardice.”
“He wishes to destroy me.”
“His wishes will be denied.”
I met Edward’s worried gaze over her bent head, stroking along her soft curls gently. How, I did not know, but I had to survive this.
“I will do everything in my power to bring your husband back to you safely,” Edward assured her.
“You saw the state of your father,” I said, tilting up her chin. “He was barely able to stand upright. He does not have the fortitude to hold a pistol straight and shoot me. I doubt he will even try,” I lied. “He will aim for the sky, and we will part ways.”
She didn’t respond, her alarm a living, breathing thing that surrounded us.
I cupped her face. “I will return to you.”
She dropped her head to my shoulder and cried, and I realized nothing would comfort her. We both had to suffer the worry until the morning.
And that made my hate for the baron burn even hotter.
MADELEINE
The hour was late, and I was beyond weary, but there was no hope of sleep tonight.
Curled on my side, I faced the windows that framed the gently twinkling stars of the night sky. It was a sky I had admired many nights before. A sky that had borne witness to the hideousness of the day. A sky that would also bear witness to the wretched spectacle of tomorrow.
If any harm befell Alexander, I didn’t know how I would survive. Even thinking of the possibility of my father hurting him or—God forbid—worse, made my breath freeze in my lungs. It made my stomach churn and ache.
Tears threatened my vision, blurring the brilliance of the silvery stars. I closed my eyes tightly, willing them away. Weeping would solve nothing, and I had already sobbed enough to fill a lake this day.
But I couldn’t banish them. They slipped past my lashes, traveling in hot streaks across my cheeks. This was all my fault. I had brought the danger upon my husband. And if anything happened to him, I would own the blame. My father had come to Wheaton for me, and the only way he could have me was through hurting my husband.
A sob escaped me. I bit my lip, trying to hold in my sorrow. Alexander was a large, beloved presence at my back. But he had fallen into a steady slumber after he had slowly, painstakingly made love to me earlier, and I had no wish to wake him. He would need all the rest he could get to face my father in the duel on the morrow.
“Maddie mine.”
Alexander’s deep voice cut through the silence, laden with caring and concern.
Another sob emerged. He faced possible death in the morning, and it was he who was worried about me.
“Forgive me,” I said.
“For weeping?” He stroked his hand up my spine beneath the bedclothes, warm and reassuring. “Never, my sweet. You are in a delicate condition, and it heightens your emotions.”
I sniffed, eyes fluttering open, as I stared back into the night, wondering how it could be so glorious, so perfect, so calm, when my world was about to be torn apart. The sky that had been my comfort these past few months had become a traitor. I longed to claw each star from the black velvet night. I was furious, and I was terrified. How dare those stars shine so brightly upon my misery?
“Maddie?” Alexander prodded softly, his hand splayed between my shoulder blades.
“I’m not crying because I am with child,” I said quietly. “I’m crying because I am responsible for all this.”