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Vane smiled. “I am your husband. I am going to be doing far less comfortable things to you soon.”
Isabel’s entire body heated at his words. Did he mean marital duty? And what did that mean if he did? Had he finally acknowledged that she was not with child?
As tumultuous thoughts ran through Isabel’s head, Vane reached under Isabel’s skirt until he grazed the intimate skin above her stocking. Isabel’s eyes closed, and she stifled a whimper.
Vane untied the garter and started slowly rolling the stocking down her leg.
Gooseflesh covered her skin, and Isabel clenched her thighs together, for a peculiar tingly feeling originated at her center.
“Doesn’t seem like you hurt it terribly,” he murmured. The low timbre of his voice caused Isabel to shiver again.
What is happening?
Vane sat perpendicular to Isabel and placed her leg on his thigh. “I hear it’s best to keep it elevated,” he said, his hand still on her shin.
Isabel looked around. Surely this was not right. She was bare from her knee down. Someone would see!
She sat up and covered her leg with her skirt. “It should be better in a few days. No need to fret. It is not the first time I have rolled my ankle.”
“I am certain it isn’t. You seem quite accident-prone,” he said with a smirk.
“Accident?” Isabel was affronted. “First off, I have not been tackled this many times in my entire life before I met you! And secondly, this was not an accident.”
Vane frowned. “You are not trying to imply that Button did this on purpose!” He gestured to her foot.
Isabel clenched her teeth. “Not Button.”
“Millie?” Vane let out a laugh. “Do not be ridiculous. She isn’t malicious enough to hurt somebody on purpose.”
“Of course, she didn’t hurt me on purpose!” Isabel threw up her hands. “That enormous monster you call a dog has never caused her injury, so how would she know what strength he truly possesses? She just wanted to divert attention away from me or perhaps the governess talk.”
“By siccing Button on you?” Vane’s clear skepticism grated on Isabel’s nerves.
Paired with her ankle’s dull pain, it made Isabel all the more irritable. “As I said, she most likely didn’t thinkButtonwould tackle me. She just thought to stop me from speaking about the governess and didn’t want you to leave her. And by the way, what person names a dog as large as a horse Button! If anything is ridiculous, it’s that!”
Vane blinked. He clearly needed time to process the flurry of words. Finally, he clenched his jaw. “Millie named him.” Isabel raised her brow, so he continued. “She thought his nose was shaped like a button when he was smaller. She was a tiny babe and could barely speak, so she’d tap his nose and call him Button. And that stuck.”
“Why would you buy a tiny babe such a large dog?” Isabel grumbled.
“Why do you have to question everything about him? His name is Button, and he’s Millie’s.” He threw his hands up and looked at her in frustration. She just cocked a brow. “I bought him after… after….”
“Yes?”
“After her mother left.” Vane looked away as if it hurt him to remember it—much less say it aloud. “She didn’t have a mother anymore, so I thought she might need a friend or a companion… a protector.”
Pain flashed in his eyes before he moved her leg away and stood.
A protector.People did not refer to mothers thus. Isabel swallowed. She wanted to know more. For some odd reason, she wanted more than anything for him to confide in her, but she didn’t push.
“Well, I am not stating that she wanted to hurt me on purpose. I am saying that she was trying to distract our attention during the entire picnic. She thinks I am here to disrupt your lives.”
“And you aren’t?” Vane grumbled under his breath.
Isabel raised her eyes heavenward, suddenly tired of sparring with the square-headed marquess.
“I don’t know how you see our marriage, Vane. But I would think that your daughter getting along with your wife should be one of your priorities. You managed to make my life smoother with the servants, for which I am eternally grateful, but I would rather I had a better relationship with your daughter.”
* * *
