Page 51 of Stolen By the Duke of Stone

“Then what on earth possessed you to disturb my sleep like this?”

Andrew threw himself into a chair. Now he was here, on the verge of discussing it, he wasn’t even sure how to go about the discussion.

“I never wanted a bride,” he began, after several false starts. “Even before my father and brother died. There was no woman I wanted to bring into my life and make my wife and… You know.”

“Yes, yes, you’re thoroughly damaged.” Nicholas propped his chin on his fist. “But you do have a wife.”

“For William’s sake.”

“And yet I think it may be slightly more than that,” Nicholas said slyly. “Or were you not glaring into the back of my head last night with the force of a thousand suns?”

Andrew scowled. “You must have been imagining it.”

“I never imagine the ire of jealous husbands,” Nicholas assured him. “Your wife is wonderful, by the way. A delight. You are a very fortunate man.”

Andrew rested his forehead on his hands. “I think it might make me lose what’s left of my sanity?”

“For what reason?”

“This marriage was supposed to be entirely…” He let out a long breath. “I don’t know. It wasn’t supposed to feel like this. You know my past. Everything I’ve been through shouldn’t weigh her down, but I’ve already told her about Rebecca.”

“She already knew a great deal about Rebecca,” Nicholas pointed out. “They were friends.”

“But my burdens are not hers.”

“I have it under excellent authority that that is marriage.”

“Not the marriage we were meant to have,” Andrew snapped. “It was meant to be an entirely dispassionate arrangement purely for the sake of taking care of William. A practical arrangement alone.”

Nicholas ran a hand through his hair. “I presume you think now is too early for a drink?”

“For God’s sake, Nick.”

“You look like you need a drink,” Nicholas said unrepentantly. “Have you even slept?”

“If I had,” Andrew said, dropping his hands to glare at his friend, “I would not be here.”

“So, to sum up, you are feeling like a fool because you confided in your new wife, and now you feel as though your burdens have become her burdens, and that you will make a poor husband?”

“I also—” Andrew couldn’t bring himself to detail what happened last night. “Things have become a trifle more intimate between us,” he said at last. “And I… believe I have acted in error.”

Nicholas groaned. “For what reason? Of all the women in the world, she is the one you should be satisfying the most.”

“There are no other women, Nick.”

“All the more reason to be taking your pleasure from her, then! That may not have been the reason you married, but it’s certainly an advantage. She’s a beautiful lady, and no doubt she will have other offers in time. You know as well as I that the ton only pretends to virtue. You ought to ensure her sights are set on you alone.”

Andrew scoffed. Perhaps he did not know Jessamine all that well yet, but he knew her well enough to know she would not be stepping outside their marriage. His reticence was because he knew how easy it was to hurt someone to whom he was close. They could not afford intimacy to turn cold and angry. William required two parents—even if neither were his actual parents—who were able to be around each other with a calm sense of duty. Introducing other aspects to that relationship paved the way for disaster.

“It’s not as simple as all that,” he said.

Nicholas sighed and lay back on the bed. “So keep your distance from her. But for heaven’s sake, still treat her as though she matters to you. It’s obvious she does, so if you retreat back into yourself and become Captain Kinley with her, you’ll only make things worse.”

“Captain Kinley?” he asked wryly.

“You know. All stiff and distant and proper. Just be yourself, and don’t bed her, if you’re so worried about that. Although, if you’ve done it once, she’ll expect you to do it again.”

Nicholas raised his head to waggle his eyebrows at Andrew, who tossed a cushion at him and rose to leave.