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“All my wishes?” One side of her mouth kicked up in a smile.
“Yes, your most fervent wishes.”
Annalise blinked. She knew her fervent wishes. She wanted a family. A real one. The one she had never had but read about in her books. A family with an adoring husband and a few chubby babes. She lowered her eyes to her tray of food. “You’ll have to work a little harder to get that. One breakfast and a pleasant conversation doesn’t grant you access to my most fervent wishes.”
“Then what does?” Blake’s voice was low, his gaze concentrated on her face.
Annalise stared right back at him. “I do not know. Perhaps time?”
Blake swallowed and nodded. “Well, at least you think the conversation is pleasant. Which is quite reassuring.” He smiled.
* * *
Annalise sighed as she settled more comfortably against the plush seats of her carriage the same afternoon. She’d changed her attire soon after her husband left her room and ran off before he had a chance to detain her.
Ran offwould be an appropriate term to describe her defection. After every one of their brief encounters, her entire body was abuzz. She needed time to resolve her feelings.
Besides, she had promised Lavinia she would talk to Caroline, and she was extremely curious to hear from Caroline how the betrothal had happened. A few moments later, her carriage halted. Annalise drew on her gloves and prepared to exit.
Lavinia’s tear-streaked face and Caroline’s stony expression when the betrothal was announced flashed before her eyes. The door to the carriage opened, and her footman helped her out.
Caroline’s butler opened the door as soon as Annalise climbed the steps to the front door, and he let her into the familiar parlor. Annalise was a frequent guest in this house and especially this parlor since the first time she’d met Caroline. She knew this place as if it was her own home.
Yet today, it felt different somehow. She looked around but couldn’t quite put her finger on what was wrong.
The door swung open, and Caroline burst into the room, her hair windblown and her face flushed. She never looked as disheveled as she did now. She was always composed, nary a hair out of place.
“Annalise, dear, I am so glad you are here,” she said and stretched her arms toward her.
“Good afternoon, dear.” Annalise smiled. “Is everything all right? You seem… winded.”
“You caught me in the middle of the great move.”
“The great move?”
“Yes, another one of my uncle’s peculiarities, I am afraid.” Caroline waved a dismissive hand and indicated for Annalise to sit. When they both were seated, she continued. “Ever since the betrothal agreement was signed, he’s been acting strange. Or rather stranger than before. He started instructing me on what I should take with me from the townhouse, writing down things that would make up my trousseau. Can you believe it?”
Annalise looked around the room again, and then she realized what was different. All the paintings had been taken down.
“Why is that?” she asked, returning her gaze to Caroline’s.
“I wish I knew.” Caroline huffed an impatient breath. “He’s been withdrawn lately, more than usual.”
Annalise furrowed her brows. If things were this uncertain for Caroline, perhaps the betrothal would be a lot more difficult to dissolve than Annalise first thought. “Regarding the betrothal, I’ve been meaning to ask you—”
“Oh, I am sorry, dear.” Caroline covered both Annalise’s hands with hers. “I’ve been meaning to tell you, I promise. I just didn’t think he’d actually go through with it! I mean, he’s been talking about getting me married forever, but I never actually believed he would follow through on the threat. He usually forgot by morning.”
“What do you mean?” Annalise frowned.
“Well, I told you, my uncle started talking about me needing protection and a powerful husband some weeks ago, but nothing came of it until a few days ago. After Payne returned—after your betrothal to Kensington fell through—I suppose, he saw a perfect opportunity. He reached out to the duke and arranged a betrothal agreement.”
“He did it? Without your consent?”
Caroline grimaced. “I might have… Well, it could have been said that, in a way, I-I gave him my consent,” she finished lamely and looked away.
“You did? But I thought you didn’t want to marry?”
“I didn’t—I don’t! But he’s been so worried, and I had to ease his mind.”
