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Her face softened. “You think it was a plan, don’t you? To seduce you?”
He didn’t answer. He just watched her.
“It wasn’t. I was completely drawn to you.”
Was that a good thing or a bad thing?
“I know now that it was my mother’s fae machinations that drew me to you.” She grimaced. “That’s probably going to get too close for comfort, if we discuss it, however. May we move on to the next subject?”
He shook his head. “No. Let’s finish this one.”
“Her spell was for me to recognize the song of someone who loved me. To be drawn by it so I could find her. But in her spell-casting, she neglected to think that someone else may love me, as well.”
Ashley felt like hiding his head. He hadn’t even known how he felt until recently. How on earth could she know?
“It’s all right. You needn’t tell me.” She squeezed his hand. “I already know.” She tipped his face up to hers and touched her lips lightly to his. “And the feeling is mutual.”
“Your mother’s spell…” he began.
But she cut him off. “My mother’s spell drew me to you. It didn’t make me fall in love with you.” She laughed, a self-deprecating sound. “You did that all on your own.”
Ashley’s head spun with the news.
“My turn,” she said, interrupting his thoughts. “Did you love your wife?”
“Don’t you want to know if I killed her?”
“No.” She batted those dark lashes at him. “Not yet.”
He sighed heavily, taking a breath to bolster himself. “Did I love her?” He thought for a moment. “No. I never did.”
“Not ever?”
“No. She and I had nothing in common. We married to suit our families. She was frail from the day I met her. And only came to my bed because she was obligated to give me an heir.”
She tilted her head and listened to him. He’d never spoken of this to anyone. Ever.
“She was relieved when she found out she was expecting.”
“I would have been ecstatic,” she whispered softly.
“She was relieved because she no longer had to share my bed, you see. For nine months, she would be free of my affections. And, if we conceived a boy, she could be free of me forever.”
“You wanted more.” She didn’t ask a question. She just knew he’d always dreamed of more.
“I wanted a wife I could touch and talk to when I wanted, and not just when she was breeding. I wanted a wife I could tell my secrets to. Someone who would hold them dear.” Ashley shook his head. “It wasn’t until much later that I realized what was going on with her.”
“What was it?” Sophia’s brows drew together.
“She loathed my touch so much that she became ill whenever I was around. She got so weak that she took to a wheeled chair, so she could get about. She never left her bed unless someone forced her to do so.” He crossed to the sideboard to pour a drink. “I tried to be intimate with her. I tried to tell her things. I tried to talk to her. I spoke with her about my business ventures. About the investments I made. I would leave home to take care of business matters and always returned to her. She was so frail that I didn’t stay away for long, you see.”
“I do see…” she began. “You felt obligated to her care. Of course, you would.”
“She played me for a fool.”
“What do you mean?”
“There was a gentleman. A peer who approached me. He’d done quite well, and he often invested in schemes I was invested in. He was also seen in the company of my wife on occasion. I began to get suspicious. I planted some false information with my duchess to see if it would get back to him. It did. Every bit of it. He lost his shirt in the deal. And his stockings. And everything else.”
