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She took a couple of steps toward him, glad he didn’t pull away. “There must be some reason you don’t want me.” Gracious, but admitting the truthhurt. Dinah blinked back a few tears and lifted her chin higher. “Some reason you don’t want methatway.”
Henry broke eye contact. He turned away a bit, running a hand over his chin. “What would you prefer? Different food at breakfast? Perhaps more pin money?”
“You cannot honestly believe more pin money is what I’m asking for.”
The dark, intense expression she’d expected fully changed his features. His scowl was deep, and his eyes seemed to be piercing straight through her. In moments like this, Dinah didn’t wonder why he hadn’t married before now. The genteel ladies of thetonwouldn’t be comfortable with a man like Henry.
Shewasn’ta member of theton, however. Not truly. She’d faced far more coarse and off-putting men than he.
“Is this about Emily?” she asked in a whisper, dreading his reply. “I know she expected an offer from you at one point.” His jaw tightened, but Dinah pushed on regardless. “Do you still love her?” She hadn’t seen anything between either Henry or Emily that made her wonder if there was more than sibling affection between them. However, there had to besomereason Henry refused to be more than friends with her.
Henry cast his gaze upward and let out a gruff sigh. “I neverlovedEmily. She was the logical choice, that was all. However, as we grew older it became clear we were not well-suited to one another. Shortly after I decided against offering for her, she showed a clear preference for my brother.” He leaned forward at the waist, bringing his head close to hers. “I am very happy that she is only my sister and nothing more.”
Dinah could not deny how relieved she felt at those words. The thought that there was more between Henry and Emily had niggled at the back of her mind for some time now.
“If that is all,” Henry said, turning about.
Dinah took hold of his arm. “You still haven’t answered my question, why don’t—”
“I want you?” Henry turned back toward her and breathed out a sigh. “I know we had a less than desirable start to our marriage, but I have to confess that I find I quite enjoy spending time with you.”
“Please stop acting as though you don’t know what I’m talking about.” It was so unlike Henry to flat-out avoid a topic. He normally tackled problems head-on.
“You will recall, I told you the day we got married not to expect me to fall in love.”
He still wasn’t telling herwhy,though. Why couldn’t he just open his mouth and say what was wrong with her—or wrong with him—or wrong withthem? Dinah pressed a few fingers against her temple. The only other time she’d ever heard anyone in this house dance around a topic so determinedly was the few times she’d asked about the late Lady Stanton.
The realization struck her hard. Dinah lifted her head once more. “Is this about your mother?”
Henry turned away as quickly as though she’d slapped him.
That was an acknowledgment that she’d found the true cause of his pain if ever she’d seen one.
“How did she die?” Dinah asked, her voice soft.
Henry slowly turned her way, opened his mouth, and—
The door to the nursery flung open, and Little Eddie came flying out.
“We gonna out’ide with Mama,” he squealed. David Jr. was just behind him, and then came their nursemaid carrying Baby John.
“Pardon us, my lord, my lady,” the nursemaid said with a curtsy before hurrying down the stairs with the boys.
Dinah and Henry watched them go, the stillness that was left behind all the more empty for those few brief moments when the boys had filled the space with joyful noise. Dinah’s heart ached once more. She wanted that someday, bouncing, bounding, blossoming boys and girls. She wanted to enjoy drinking chocolate with them in the mornings, take them out in the garden in the afternoon, watch them try to avoid eating their greens at dinner, and sing them to sleep at night.
The memory of Henry singing to Adele came back in full force.
She was already married to the perfect man, too. Only, they’d done it backward. They’d hardly met before being forced into a marriage. They’d skipped over the falling in love stage completely. What if that chance was gone for good?
Dinah drew in a breath. No, she wouldn’t give up. No matter how hard it was to push ahead, she would continue on.
“Please, tell me,” she said.
Instead of facing her, Henry strode toward the now empty nursery and moved inside. Dinah followed him, stopping at the door frame and taking in the room. Two large windows allowed plenty of sunlight into the room. A large colorful and cheerful rug covered most of the floor. It was an ideal nursery—rocking horses, a doll house, an adorably small table and chairs.
Henry moved to one of the windows and spoke with his back toward her. “We didn’t lose the late Lady Stanton when she died.”
Dinah didn’t miss that he hadn’t referred to the woman asMotherbut by her title instead.
