Claiming His Wife by Golden Angel Read Free Book Online Page A

she was also relieved, as she didn't quite know how
she would react to misbehavior.  She wasn't comfortable enough
in high society to know how a lady would react - although it would
be helpful to see the Countess and Eleanor's reactions.
    Not for the first time,
Irene inwardly railed at her own mother for the lack of training
she'd received.  She was so used to being told exactly what to
do and how to do it, that being on her own was quite frightening,
especially in the presence of a woman like the Countess.
 Wesley's mother wore her authority like a mantle, easily and
confidently.  Irene could only hope that one day she would do
so as well.  
    Eleanor invited both ladies over for
tea the next day, but the Countess had a prior engagement and had
to decline; however, Cynthia gleefully accepted.  Irene
wondered if being away from the Countess' presence would mean that
Cynthia's true mischief would emerge.  She almost hoped so.
 Just so she could see.  Perhaps it would make her feel
less guilty over her own untoward behavior a few weeks
before. 
    ******
    Grace had never thought she'd be
relieved to arrive in a sleepy place like Bath, not while the
Season was still going on, but she truly didn't think she could
stand another hour in the carriage with her husband.  The man
was driving her batty.  
    Both nights on the road, she'd had to
sleep in the same bed as him - which, of course, meant she got very
little sleep at all.  Her tingling awareness of his proximity
meant that she could barely relax.  Especially since the few
times she did so and managed to fall asleep, she invariably awoke
in his arms.  She couldn't even blame him, because it was
quite obvious from their positioning on the bed that both of them
had moved towards each other.
    Riding in the carriage wasn't any
better.  She'd truly expected him to spend at least some time
on his horse.  Instead, the blasted man joined her in the
carriage both morning and afternoon.  The confines of the
conveyance seemed to shrink, as if he filled it with his very
presence, far beyond his physical form.  Sometimes he spoke,
sometimes they rode in silence, but he was always watching
her.
    The worst was when she fell asleep in
the carriage, exhausted from lack of sleep the night before.
 Every time, she awoke in his arms.  The first time,
she'd cursed him and immediately thrown herself across to the other
side of the carriage.  To his credit, he'd released her
immediately, but she'd been well aware of his arousal.  By the
third time, she'd no longer been startled and had been weak enough
to relish the feel of his arms around her.  She hated herself
for pretending to still be slumbering, just so she could feel the
press of his warmth against her, pretend - for just a moment - that
they were back in time, before she'd overheard his conversation
with her father.  
    But she could never hold
back the memories, or the bitterness, for very long.
 Especially because she didn't understand why he was doing
what he was doing now.  He hadn't spanked her since that first
day, thankfully, but then again she'd been doing her best to ignore
him.  Once she'd realized that fighting him was futile, that,
for some reason, he'd decided he preferred reconciliation over
divorce, she'd done her best to shut him out.  It didn't seem
to matter to him that she never answered; he sometimes filled the
silence by speaking to her.
    Things about his estate,
about his company.  About his life.  Sometimes she caught
herself beginning to smile when he made a rare quip or witticism.
 She could only hope he didn't notice.  She didn't want
him to think she was softening towards him, although she was. Even
if he had apologized about the way he’d handled the original
situation between her and Irene, there were so many other issues
between them that they didn’t discuss at all.
    So she was relieved when the carriage
rolled to a stop in Bath and Alex helped her out.  The torment
of traveling