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Rhys nodded and, after a few beats, glided out of the circle of dancers and seamlessly whirled Isabel from out of the ballroom and onto the patio.
“Here, now we are not spinning,” he said as they came to a stop.
“Rhys, you are mad,” she said as she disengaged from him. “Your wife could have been wrong. Millie could still be yours. You don’t know—”
“But I do know!” Rhys turned away and raked his hand through his hair. “I do know,” he repeated quieter.
He turned back to her, his eyes anguished. “The math didn’t add up. I hadn’t been intimate with Abigail for over ten months before Millie was born.” He shook his head. “I always knew, although I preferred not to believe.”
Isabel stood there watching the play of emotion on her husband’s face. Regret. Anguish. Pain. Her eyes watered, and she took a step toward him.
“And do you love her less because of it?”
Rhys turned on her sharply. “Of course not!”
“Then how can I love you less just because you can’t give me a babe?”
“You’re not thinking clearly. If you stay married to me… You willneverhave a babe of your own. And I know you want to.”
Isabel cleared her throat. “I have a babe. I have a wonderful six-year-old daughter who is as free-spirited and stubborn as her father. She is my daughter, Rhys, and you are my husband. My family. And I wouldn’t wish for another one.”
“You might regret it later,” he croaked.
Isabel looked into the ballroom at the swirling couples. Most married couples there did not share affection or even respect toward one another. When the night fell, they went to another chamber to seek solace in someone else’s arms. The only happy couples she knew were her sister Samantha and her husband, who could not share a bed because of his violent dreams, and Evie and her husband, the notorious rake whom scandal awaited behind every corner.
They were all scarred, but they were happy. And she would rather have an imperfect but happy marriage than what others perceived to be perfect but miserable for her. Because any other marriage, any other relationship that did not involve Rhys and Millicent, would never bring her happiness.
She took his hand in hers. “I might regret many things, Rhys. But the only thing I will never regret is marrying you.”
Rhys squeezed her fingers. “I hope you won’t come to regret these words either.”
Isabel smiled. “You know that before I ran into you in Evie’s ballroom, I was content being a spinster. No children, no husband, nothing but me and my quiet, peaceful life. Since I met you, I haven’t had a moment’s peace,” she said with a laugh. “And yes, I thought I wanted a babe, someone to love and give me solace in an unwanted marriage. But I gained so much more. You gave me so much more.” Her eyes started to tear up, and she licked her lips.
Rhys tugged her closer and placed his forehead against hers. Isabel took a deep breath, inhaling the lovely, calming scent of her husband.
“And I don’t know if you truly can’t give me a babe. I am not a young maiden, Rhys. Perhaps I wouldn’t be able to birth a child as it is. But I know one thing.”
“What is that?” His voice was hoarse.
“We can spend a lot of nights trying anyway.”
Rhys let out a chuckle and kissed her on the lips.
The music ceased in the ballroom, the waltz ending.
Isabel heaved a sigh. “I don’t want to go back to that ballroom. I don’t want to go back to those suffocating walls.”
Rhys looked at her, mischief glinting in his eyes. “We can leave. We don’t have to go back.”
Isabel let out a giggle. “It is our ball. If we don’t return, there will be a grand scandal.”
Rhys chuckled, then cupped her face in his palm. “I spent the last seven years avoiding scandal. But it turned out that a scandal with you was the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Isabel’s smile turned into a grin. “Then…” She looked back at the ballroom, remembering how she’d tried to be a perfect hostess, a perfect mistress her entire life. Rhys was right. The best thing had happened to her when she finally became the most scandalous lady of theton. She looked into Rhys’s eyes. “Then take me away, my lord.”
“I know just the place.” Rhys grinned before tugging on her arm and taking off in the direction of the gazebo.
