The Husband Hunt (Madison Sisters 3)

Chapter Twelve

The sound of the door opening and a splash of light in the dark room startled Robert from sleep and had him blinking sleepily. "Oh, it's dark in here, Chrissy. Let me grab a candle from the hall," he heard Suzette say, and the words for some reason made him suddenly recall Lisa. Panic roaring through him, he glanced to the other side of the bed, but was unable to place her in the darkness and then Suzette reappeared with a candle revealing everything; she and Christiana still in their ball finery and the empty bed beside him.

Robert stared blankly at the spot where Lisa should have been and then back to Suzette and Christiana, who had paused halfway to the bed.

"Hi," he said weakly, but his mind was racing as he tried to sort out where Lisa was and when she'd left. He shouldn't have fallen asleep after. He should have made himself stay awake and talked to her. He had ruined her. They had to marry now. There was no choice.

"We just got back from the ball and thought we'd check on you," Christiana said after a pause.

"Yes," Suzette said, suddenly moving forward again. "How was your night?"

"Are you feeling well?" Christiana asked, casting Suzette a warning glance though he wasn't sure what she was warning her of. "I - yes," he said on a sigh and sagged back in the bed. He'd had one hell of a night and was definitely feeling . . . hell, he felt great . . . well other than a slight tenderness from his wound. He probably shouldn't have exerted himself this early after the injury, but Lisa in that damned gown of Morgan's had been irresistible. "Well . . . good," Suzette said finally, though she sounded annoyed more than anything and suddenly turned back toward the door, taking the candle with her.

Christiana bit her lip and glanced after her sister, then she began to back away, following the glow of the candlelight. "We shall let you sleep then. We just wanted to check on you. "

Robert nodded, but as the women reached the door, asked, "What time is it?"

For some reason, the question made them both pause and exchange a glance and then Christiana said, "Not yet midnight. "

"That's rather early," he commented. They usually went much later, sometimes to dawn and even beyond, but supposed Christiana's being with child had some effect on their usual patterns. "Yes, well, we are all a little tired and out of sorts after all the excitement lately. And then we were worried about you and Lisa so we decided to leave early," Christiana explained.

"Oh," he murmured, thinking it was good Lisa had woken and left. While marriage was inevitable now, he was glad she didn't have to suffer the humiliation of getting caught in his bed. "Good night then, Robert," Christiana said softly and then the door closed, leaving him in darkness again.

Sighing, he settled back in the bed, staring into the darkness above him as he contemplated all that would need to be done. He would have to talk to Lisa first thing and tell her of his decision to marry her. She would no doubt be grateful and weep a bit, and then he would tell her they should head to Gretna Green right away. He hadn't been careful, hadn't even thought of withdrawing or using any type of caution to prevent her getting pregnant. She could even now be carrying the Langley heir. A quick jaunt to Gretna Green would ensure there was no nasty little scandal. It would also mean he wouldn't have to wait to sink himself into her warm wet body again.

Damn, Lisa had been as responsive as a man could wish; writhing, moaning, whimpering, and crying out even as her body wept with pleasure at what he did to her. She might one day betray him with another, but their marriage bed would certainly be a pleasure until then. Well worth all the misery and betrayal later, Robert thought wryly. He just had to bear in mind that she would eventually betray him and writhe, moan, whimper and cry out for another, her body weeping its pleasure on another man. If he kept that in mind and simply enjoyed her while he could . . . well, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad when she betrayed him.

A soft shush of sound caught his ear, and Robert stiffened, trying to place where it was coming from and what it could be. It seemed to be coming from under the bed, he realized, and sat up to peer around.

Moonlight was pouring through the open curtain and his eyes had adjusted enough that he could make out shapes and shadows. But his eyes widened incredulously when a small shape suddenly popped up beside the bed. They widened further when that shape shifted to stand and he recognized that it was a woman.

"Lisa?" he whispered incredulously.

"Shhh. They will hear you and come back," she hissed, shifting something about in her hands. Her robe, he realized when she drew it on and belted it.

"What were you doing under the bed?" he asked with amazement.

"What do you think I was doing, Robert?" she asked with lowvoiced exasperation. "I heard Christiana and Suzette talking as they came up the hall, so slid under the bed to hide. "

"Why?" he asked blankly.

"Why?" Lisa echoed with disbelief. "So I wouldn't be caught in your bed, of course. For heaven's sake, there would have been an uproar, and you would have been forced to marry me, and - Robert Langley, are you laughing?" she asked with disbelief. "Come here," he said between chuckles and caught her hand to draw her onto the bed. She dropped onto it, mostly because she lost her balance, but he ignored that and her stiffness and wrapped his arms around her, dragging her down to lie with him, "It was very sweet of you to try to protect me, Lisa. And I am glad you didn't have to suffer the humiliation of being caught in such a compromising situation, but it doesn't matter in the end anyway. We will have to marry now. "

Lisa didn't squeal with joy or throw her arms around him with gratitude as he'd expected. In fact, much to his surprise, she seemed to go still and stiff in his arms.

"Lisa?" he said uncertainly and then frowned when she eased from his embrace and sat up.

"There is no need to marry me, Robert. No one knows we were together. We can just continue as if it never happened," she said coolly and stood.

"What?" he asked with disbelief and then lunged off the bed to stop her when her shadow moved around the bed and headed for the door. Catching her arm, he drew her to a halt and moved in front of her. "Just a minute, dammit. We have to talk about this. "

"There is nothing to talk about. No one knows, and I am not making you marry me. Everything is as it was. "

"The hell it is," Robert said grimly. "Lisa, you could be carrying my child even now. We have to marry. "

"I am not marrying a man who doesn't want me and doesn't trust me and who will spend our entire lives together sure I will someday betray him," she said unhappily. "This was a mistake. "

She tried to move around him then, but he caught her arm to stop her.

"Lisa," he began, but then paused, completely flummoxed as to what to say. While he could tell her that he definitely did want her, that wasn't what she meant. She meant he didn't want to marry her, and mostly that was true. He didn't want to marry anyone. And she was right, he would spend their entire lives together sure she would betray him and waiting for it to happen.

"Go to sleep, Robert," Lisa said and he frowned at the disappointment in her voice, suspecting she had been hoping he would deny what she'd said. That if he had, even if she hadn't fully believed it, she might have given in and married him. But even now he couldn't bring himself to lie to her.

"We will talk in the morning after we've both rested," she said quietly and this time when she moved around him, he let her. He just let her leave.

"What do you mean you were hiding under the bed?" Suzette snapped.

Lisa sighed at her sister's irritation and glanced at the other three people in the parlor: Christiana, Richard and Daniel. She had left Robert's room and slipped into her own to find Suzette and Christiana there questioning Bet, trying to figure out where she was. All three women had been relieved to see her. It seemed they'd begun to worry that something had gone amiss, that the suitor had somehow got his hands on her and taken her away. They had been about to start the hue and cry to get the men

searching for her when she'd entered. Instead, they'd rushed forward blurting questions, and after Lisa had shushed them for fear of Robert overhearing, they had dragged her down to the parlor where the men had joined them to find out what had gone wrong with their grand plan. "Why the devil were you hiding?" Suzette asked now with disbelief. "That was the whole point of this business. You were supposed to get caught in his bed so he would have to marry you. "

"Yes, well . . . " Lisa frowned and shook her head. "I decided that maybe that wouldn't work. "

"Of course it would have worked. It - you did sleep with him?" Suzette asked with a frown. "Didn't you?"

Lisa's answer was a blush that she was sure covered her from head to toe.

"You did," Suzette said on a sigh and dropped back in her seat with a shake of the head. "I don't understand any of this. We had a plan in place. You were to sleep with him and we were to catch you. We stuck to our part of the plan. We left the ball hours ago and were just sitting in the carriages out front waiting for the candle to go out. Which took a hell of a long time and was a damned boring business, I might add," she pointed out irritably. "But it finally went out and we went up there all prepared to be shocked and horrified, only to find him in bed alone . . . and now you're saying you were there, hiding under the bed? What the devil are you thinking?"

Lisa hesitated, and then blurted, "I do not want a husband who is forced to marry me and will resent me for the rest of time because of it. And I do not want Robert if he will spend our entire married life doubting me and waiting for me to betray him with another. I could not bear it. "

"Oh, Lisa," Christiana said sympathetically and left her own chair to move to the sofa where she sat to hug her. "We understand, dear. "

"The hell we do," Suzette groused. "The idiots love each other. Anyone can see that. But they are never going to get together at this rate. "

Daniel chuckled at her dissatisfied words and sank to sit on the arm of the chair she was in and slip his arm around her shoulders. "You are such a romantic, my love. "

Lisa stared at them with disbelief as Daniel pressed a kiss to Suzette's forehead. What her sister had said hadn't sounded the least bit like the words of a romantic to her. What was the man thinking?

"What do you want to do?" Richard asked quietly, drawing her gaze to him as he followed Christiana to the sofa and settled on her other side.

"I do not know," she admitted wearily. "I wish he loved me. "

"He does," Suzette said with exasperation.

"Love involves trust, Suzette," Lisa said solemnly. "And I don't think Robert can trust, or therefore love, anyone until he gets over his childhood. "

"But - "

"Do you trust Daniel?" she asked quickly.

"Of course," Suzette answered with amazement.

Lisa nodded. "And does he trust you?"

"Yes," Suzette said without doubt and Daniel hugged her, murmuring, "With my life. "

Lisa ignored Daniel and met Suzette's gaze. "Well, how happy would you be if Daniel was always watching you out of the corner of his eye, expecting you to betray him in some way?"

Suzette scowled at the very idea and then sank back in her seat with a sighed, "Right. "

"Lisa," Christiana said tentatively, drawing her gaze. "I understand that you might not wish to marry him the way things stand. But you could be with child now. And surely that child deserves - "

"If I am with child I will marry," she said simply. "But until I know one way or the other . . . " She shrugged and stood up. "I am ever so weary. I think I shall go to bed. Good night. "

The room was silent as she left, but she heard the murmur of their concerned voices begin as soon as she closed the door. They would fret over her now, but there was nothing she could do about that. She would not marry Robert. Tonight had been beautiful, an experience she would never forget. But she was not going to spend her life with a man who didn't trust her and resented her.

Lisa just wished she'd realized all this before tonight. She never would have slept with him and known what she would be giving up by marrying another if it came to that.

"Shall I read to you?" Charles asked. "Or will you read to me?"

Lisa dragged her eyes from where they'd wandered to Robert and smiled faintly at the question. "Why do we not take turns? You can begin and I shall take over after a couple of pages. "

"Very well," Charles said agreeably and settled back with the book he'd brought for her. Opening to the first page, he began to read aloud and Lisa found her gaze drifting back to Robert again. He sat under a tree at the opposite side of the clearing, glaring at them coldly.