Page 73 of What a Lord Wants

“Best to send all correspondence to me here, I think.” No need for Dom to grow suspicious of her condition until she’d found the right time to tell him.

With a nod, he gestured toward his own carriage. “Can I offer you a ride?”

“No, thank you.” She couldn’t bear the thought of being locked up inside a carriage, not when so many emotions were churning through her that she thought she might burst. “It’s a pleasant day. I’ll enjoy the walk home.”

“Very well.” He smiled happily as he cautioned, “But do not overly exert yourself, my dear.” He tipped his hat to her, then hurried down the stairs toward his carriage. “Congratulations to you and His Lordship!”

Her hand went to her lower belly, although it was as flat as ever and would most likely continue to be for several more weeks, until it grew huge like a hot-air balloon at Vauxhall. Then everything would change forever.

“The marquess will be thrilled at the news, I’m certain.”

Eve wasn’t so certain at all. But she gave a parting wave as his carriage drove away. Then she sucked in a deep breath to gather herself before heading home.

But she didn’t return to Mercer House. Instead of turning left when she reached Park Lane, she turned right, and then walked through the open gate in the wrought iron fence and into the park.

The day was crisp and bright with golden sunshine that played on the trees whose red and orange leaves had stubbornly refused to fall. The bite of last night’s heavy frost still hung in the air, along with the lingering promise of approaching snow. But she barely saw any of it, too stunned to take it all in. Inhaling a deep breath of chilly air that tingled into her lungs, she pulled her wool coat tighter around herself and walked toward the Serpentine.

The park was practically deserted.Thank God. Most of fashionable London had departed for the country, to spend the fall on their estates. The handful of society that was left didn’t care to venture out into the chilly air. After all, what was the point in promenading when there was no one to watch?

Not that she minded having the city to herself. She’d been grudgingly accepted into society’s ranks, but only because of Dom and only because as a marchioness she now outranked the majority of them. They certainly hadn’t welcomed her with open arms, and their coldness wasn’t because of the painting. Dom had been right about that. No, they disliked her because she was the upstart daughter of a shipping magnate who should have been living in Shoreditch rather than in their midst on Park Lane. Whose father reminded them of the changing status quo that had previously held a stranglehold over England, and that their own family fortunes and positions were more precarious than ever. Who had the audacity to marry one of their own.

And happily, too. Which Eve was certain irritated the daylights out of them.

She and Domwerehappy…overall. He was supportive of her, encouraging her to wear her new role as marchioness with pride and to become involved with charities of all kinds. He’d even given her complete say over running Mercer House. As for the intimate side of their marriage, well, that had been wonderful, too, just as Mariah predicted. Their marriage was a true one in every way.

Except for love.

She stopped on the path near the edge of the lake to stare blankly across the water. These past few months together only proved to her how deeply she loved him, more than she thought possible. And Dom certainly cared about her. In that, they had more than most society marriages, and she knew she should be grateful.

But selfishly, she wanted more. She still wanted his heart.

The time they’d spent together had been heavenly. Eve had made certain of that, planning all kinds of pleasurable distractions…a midnight picnic beneath the stars in Mercer House’s gardens, an outing to the theatre in which they never left the carriage and spent the evening circling the park. She’d even rented an old Thames skiff with a makeshift forecabin that she’d decorated to look like a Venetian gondola—thathad earned her plenty of laughter from Dom, before he made love to her inside it, right there on the embankment.

When Dom was with her, everything was wonderful. She felt alive and beautiful, even when they did nothing more than share a quiet dinner…

Until he returned to his art, when she didn’t know if he gave her a single thought.

Frustration and loneliness burned hollow inside her chest. She’d never wanted to replace his art.Never.She wanted only to share equally in his passion and had fought with all her might to have just that.

But she was losing.

At the water’s edge, a little boy of not more than four or five was attempting to sail a toy boat. His coat, hat, and gloves lay discarded on the bank, in typical boy fashion, heedless of the chilly air. His concentration was on sending the boat out into the water, but it wouldn’t go where he wanted and instead kept drifting back to shore.

The boy looked up and caught her watching him. When she forced a friendly smile, he scowled, with no patience for interfering grown-ups when his boat refused to sail.

Pushing down her uneasiness, she approached him. Except for a glance as she knelt on the grass beside him, he ignored her. Also in typical boy fashion. “Having trouble launching your boat?”

“It’s aship,” he corrected, as if she were daft.

“Ah, yes. I see that now. And what a fine ship, too.”

That earned her a grudging smile.

“But the lake is against you, isn’t it?” She reached for a stick lying on the bank. “Let’s try this.”

She gestured for the boy to place the boat back into the water. But this time, when he pushed it out into the lake, Eve tapped its side at its rear with the stick to point it away and catch the slight breeze. Another tap, and it sailed smartly away from the bank.

“It’s sailing!” The boy laughed and clapped his hands.